Nonchalant – A Black Bear Emerges
Walnut works so nicely for animals like black bears. The color works to the benefit of distinguishing the species (the bear, not the tree). Here it works to even a greater extent to define space.
I suspect that very few people in general, are aware of the fact that walnut has two colors. Most are aware of the characteristic “milk chocolate” color of black walnut wood. But less aware of the lighter cream colored sapwood of the same tree. Because the sapwood is generally stripped away when the logs are milled into lumber. The lighter sapwood is not desirable for commercial purposes as in furniture or flooring. And truly the occasional flicker of lighter sapwood in a nice dining room table would for most of us appear as a flaw to the uniform tone we would desire. And along with that, the sapwood is less substantial, and softer, than the darker heartwood. But for novelty, as my bear in the tree stump is predisposed to be, it can sometimes provide it’s own “spice” to the result.
The Accent Mark
In Nonchalant, I have carefully exposed the sapwood in contrast to the heart wood to provide definition between where the tree is, and where the bear it. The contrast neatly separates one from the other. It floats Nonchalant, and supports the illusion that I am creating, that the bear and the tree, are two separate entities, while reality dictates otherwise. The contrasting value of the sapwood also acts as an accent mark. It adds its own impact as it makes the image “pop” to the forefront of the composition, forcing the viewer to focus on what is important.
Nonchalant is finished, and has been uploaded to my ETSY store. You can follow the link below to see him in his completed form in static pictures.