Jim Sprankle

This process starts with a block of wood which is tupelo. We have a side view pattern and a top view pattern and we just trace it on the block of wood and cut it out with a band saw. Then I take a power tool and start to shape the egg shape of a duck. Now that I finished roughing out the shape, the next step is to start doing the detail work which I do with a high speed grinder. I do the feathers on the side and breast with this dental stone. The feathers on the side and breast, because they are exposed to water, have a tendency to look a little more coarse but when you get up on the back then I switch to a burning pen which gives me much more detail, you know, a finer detail feather. What you try to do is create between 80 to 100 lines per running inch. Once you finish carving the bird with the detail you seal the bird. Wait 15 to 20 minutes before painting. I use acrylic paints and with acrylics the secret is putting on thin layers to build up the desired color needed. Painting is about 80 percent of the end result. I don't care how well it is carved, if you cannot paint well you are not going to have the end result that you want. I think one of the questions most often asked of me is "how long does it take to do a carving, carving and painting?" The answer is a flat bottom decoy can take as much as two weeks but when you talk about something more complicated with extended wings, it can take up to a couple of months. So it all depends on the complexity of the carving.