Coastal Art - Fish

Oops - sorry but this thread seems to have posted twice - My clumsy fingers again I guess. . . Ihave just posted another of my fish sculptures and have been asked how they are produced. As the explanation is too long to explain in the comments under the posting I thought I would give a brief summary here for those who are interested. The piece is posted at : http://www.painters-online.co.uk/Gallery/Michael-Edwards-Coastal-Art---Latest-Piece/_ga86952_pg1 Actually I wish I had taken the photo at a different angle to show off the mouth more as this is a main feature. Also photos do not seem to do full justice to the finished works. Well firstly I look for pieces of wood which suggest something to me - it may be the shape, the positioning of a knot (useful to depict an eye) or a rough broken end which suggests a tail. I then invariably have to cut chisel and even hack away until I get the shape I want. Sometimes the tail is already present other times I add a piece for the tail. I do like a piece of wood which has a rough surface which I try to retain where I can. I rough up the surface wherever I feel it needs it by, among other things, using a wire brush, hammering bits of chain, old nails, and anything else I can lay my hands on, into the surface of the wood either in the vice or with a hammer. Recently a piece was too smooth so I gave it to my son’s cockerpoo (Cocker/poodle cross ) who put teeth marks in it which gave a great texture to the finished fish. Now to weather the wood, when it is shaped and I am happy with it, I spray it with black and silver paint which I then sand off leaving the paint in the ridges and dints. I then use wood dye to stain the surface areas where the sandpaper has eaten into raw wood but only if I feel it needs it. The final paint is acrylic which I apply with a rag - the reds greens etc. When finished I have been using matt varnish but I have found that by using a lot of brushwork to get the varnish into the corners the result is more of a gloss finish . I am now using good old bees wax which I prefer and is easier to apply. The eyes are either natural knots, coloured rawlplugs or bits of dowel – it all depends on which mood I am in. I chose a base and finish the whole thing off with some felt on the underside. By the way I find the wood all over the place but currently a local building site is my biggest provider – if I were nearer the coast I guess driftwood would do the job just as well.