Mermaid Netsuke Carving - Part 1

Описание: DISCLAIMER: This video is intended for entertainment purposes only. If you attempt to follow anything I show on this video, you do so at your own risk. I assume no liability for anything that may go wrong if you try to replicate what is seen in this video.

This video is the first in a series of videos where I am carving a mermaid using half a tagua nut.
I have been tempted to turn this half a tagua nut into a netsuke for many months now. Originally, I found this nut to be too flat to produce a netsuke, so I sawed it in half and used to other half to create inlays. Ironically, this half a tagua nut began to entice my imagination. When looking at this nut I could see in my mind’s eye, a mermaid revelling against powerful waves. The bulk of the tagua nut is on the right side. My skills in drawing are notoriously poor, I am incapable of properly expressing perspective on paper. This sketch will simply serve as a rough guide. The final netsuke will only resemble an air of the original sketch.

As it is sawed in half, I was able to excavate the brittle and useless material that is found around the void in the centre of the nut.
I am not 100% sure how to go about the himotoshi with this one. The basic idea I have in my head is to inlay the netsuke with a conch shell carved from buffalo horn and attach the himotoshi through there. As I carve I will decide the best method to approach the himotoshi.

In this first part, I briefly discuss the design process before “blocking” the main features such as the face and torso. This is rather similar to painting on a canvas where you block in the basic features of a subject, although I am using the subtractive method as opposed to the additive one. As the nut is quite small I must minimise the amount of wasted material as much as possible.

Tagua nut is a strange material in the sense that the carving properties are somewhere between wood and ivory. It is harder than wood, yet more brittle than ivory. As you get closer to the centre of the nut, it becomes smoother. It is less brittle than ebony and bone. It is quite forgiving in regards to grain direction. As you get closer to finishing you must carve with the grain as much as possible for the best results.

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ありがとうございました。