Sig’s lady and Robin’s fella

Sig’s custom Big Voodoo with 3d ladybugs and the “Forever Yummy” script on the shank is completed.  This is shipping on Monday in time for a bit of an early Xmas for his wife.  I’m including a few of the hand-scribbled sketches I did for the piece and a little note explaining the design choices.

If you recall, this ring had a bit of an angry brow.  It’s not the apathetic Big Voodoo I usually carve, but more of an aggressive version.

 

It’s always tough carving images inside of the shank, but luckily the ladybug in flight turned out just fine.

Hopefully you can see it in the image above.  It’s hard enough to photograph silver and catching the detail in the hollow of the shank where all that light is bouncing around is hard as shit.

I’ve been working like a fiend on holiday orders for Christmas.  Most of the pieces weren’t custom enough to warrant posting here, but I have to show you what Robin ordered for her fella.

How lucky is this freakin’ guy?  He’s got a King Skull AND a 20 inch Gotham necklace coming his way.

 

Chains take a very long time to make, but to me it’s a zen thing.  Not only do you have to cast all the links, but you have to open each link, close each link, solder each link shut,  tumble, sand, blacken, tumble again, and polish.  It’s an investment.

But the results are worth it.  Too often the beauty, blood, and sweat of making a great chain is sort of pushed into the background by the charm that gets placed on it.  I didn’t design the Gotham to carry a charm.  (It’s fucking heavy enough as it is)  Plus, the toggle itself is a sort of feature piece.

At any rate, I hope Robin’s man enjoys the bounty of silver he’s getting this year.  Jealous much?

 

 

 

 

Ladybugs and Voodoo

Are you a tough guy?

No.  No you’re not.  And neither am I.   I don’t care how bad you think you are.  Hell, I’ve got a 335 bench press, a mean left hook and a decent Brazilian JJ streak in me.  I’m sure YOU are even tougher than that, right?   Well next to guys like my new client Sig (you read that right), you and me  are total grass-fed, wet blanket pussies.

Sig is a Marine, and not just ANY Marine.  Sig is in Afghanistan serving alongside some of the most agressive, highly-trained, iron-clad, steel-balled warriors we have ever had the privilege to be protected by.  These guys are in situations on a regular basis that would make you and I crap our pants. And for them, it’s just a day at the office.

And Sig wants a ring.  A Big Voodoo for his special lady state-side and I’m going to carve it up.

The idea here is ladybugs.  (Yeah, you read that right too.)  Actually we’ve got a pretty cool back story here relating to his family and the strong dynamic they have with each other.  The idea is we need three ladybugs.  One represents Sig, one is his wife, and another for his son.  This ain’t a mushy skull either.  Sig wants it MEAN.  So I spent the first few hours on the wax turning that apathetic mellow ‘couldn’t give  a shit’ expression of the BVD into an angry skull.

I’m actually really happy with how this looks.  You can see below a shot of how it stacks up to the standard Big Voodoo Frame.  I’ve done a few angry skulls before, but this one is coming out especially well.

Around the shank, we’re going with Forever Yummy – an inside reference between Sig and his lady.  I’m going to do the typeface up real nice and wrap the entire shank with it.

I’m doing two ladybugs in 3d on the forehead for Sig’s wife and son and then I thought it would be cool to put the third bug inside the shank so it’s always resting against his wife’s finger.  Below you can see that bug etched into the wax.  Hope you can make it out.  The wings are spread like he’s in flight.

And below you can see the two 3d bugs on the forehead.  I positioned them so they enhance the meanness of the skull.

I don’t know….think I might be done here.  Sig, you’ll have to shoot an email over to me and let me know if we’re ready to cast.