Critique Request My First and Second Hobo's

[leroytwohawks]

Well alot of people have inspired me to start on the hobo path including some Marcus just put up, so here are my first 2 the "Hobo" hobo is on ebay now and I'm surprised at what it's already up to. The next is the first in a cartoon Albert Einstein series, you got to love Albert.:big grin:

Kevin

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Nice attempts Kevin. The first coin is very similar to some of the original coins. Have you considered trying a smooth field instead of a matted one? It takes some getting used to and it's a bit laborious but I think it gives better results. It's something Steve Ellsworth advised me to do when I first started carving nickels.

The Einstein coin is great. What I said to Threefingerdave could also apply here. If you carved it rather than engraved it it would be fantastic. The secret is to think in layers from front to back so the nose and mustache would be to the fore followed by the ear and with the hair towards the back. It sounds complicated but once you get your head round the basic principals it's not too difficult. The Tramp Woody and Hobo Hal that I did were cartoons supplied by the client so I had to think in 3D as opposed to 2D to turn it into a carving. I think this character would look great as a bas relief.

If these are your first coins they are really good. Well done.

 

[Cloudy]

Kevin- how do you find particular carvers of the coins on e-bay?

 

[Keith]

Cloudy,
Kevin put his name in the title on his coin. Many carvers put their name or initials in the title listing. Some use their name as the ebay name. After the collectors buy from you they know who you are, they are a small group. My wife lists mine and puts my name in the listing and also in the description. Try carving some and put them on ebay.
Its a great way to practice and also carve what you want while making some nice cash, be careful you might get addicted.
Also at www.hobonickels.org there is a nickel carver's section with photos of many carvers.

 

[KCSteve]

Just do a search on "hobo nickel" and you should get them all. There are a lot of 'junk' nickels and, for some reason, some hand bags to ignore but it's not hard.

I just put a new one up myself.

 

[Keith]

Kevin as I said on the other forum good job, my first wasn't as good as yours.
Keep carving and have fun.
Later,
Keith

 

[leroytwohawks]

Thanks for the support from everyone and Marcus I'll have to keep work on my sculpting, I'll get there, it will just take some time but in the mean time yes Keith I'm just having fun!!!

Kevin

 

[JAT]

Hey fellow carver here. Nice work, the hobo looks good and the Einstein is very cool. I have used clay to sculpt a rough idea of what I want in a hobo nickel and it gives me a good idea of how I want to do it in metal, this might help. Also try to leave the date on the coin. I don't always do this because the date isn't readable to begin with and sometimes I need the space to complete my idea, but a lot of people like the date on the coin. Some say tomato some say tomotto either way keep up the good work.

 

[nomentalgiant]

Kevin, nice job on the nickels. The traditional carving as well as the Eintstien both have a certain appeal to them. I see you did fairly well with them on ebay too. Congrats and keep them coming.:thumbs up:

 

[KCSteve]

Add my congrats on your sale!

It is addictive though - I need to get my next one done before the one I have up finishes. A tip I got from Billzach is to never flood the market so I try to just have one up at a time.

Besides, I'm still (mostly) improving enough with each coin that I don't want to compete with myself.

But if I don't have that one coin out there it just feels like something's missing.

 

[Billzach]

Very good for your first two coin carvings, I,m getting the itch to carve a coin..