I have been working on another Powder Horn for a couple of days and wanted to take photos of the project to share as I went along. Of course I forgot to do so as I got deeper into the job 
...
This horn is from a steer and a nice size (over 12" finished), with some white for the lower portion of the Powder Horn. It was very raw as you can see, and I couldn't remove all the rough parts, however to my eye the 'imperfections' add some unique character and somehow charm. With this surface to work with I decided to just carve in some heavier lines to create a broad design.
I wanted to do some bold profile 'turnings' in the upper end and at the spout. As I worked the horn I ran into some layers of horn that were lifting (it's like micro-layers of an onion, but fingernail-like material). Damn. So, I had to carve/cut below those liftings to get into more solid horn. There went my design.
I tinted the horn and did a secondary tinting inside the arched carvings. (For adding color, I use a dye mixture, which does penetrate into the horn. I then seal it with several lifght applications of shellac and then a supercoat of Paste Wax for a very durable finish,) I don't know where I got the idea of adding color to the design, but I think it adds an almost Pennsylvania-Dutch feeling to this one. I might continue with this coloring method and add some more folk elements in the body if I have more clean space to work with.
This is my Number 4. The next one will be another creative adventure, no doubt.
...This horn is from a steer and a nice size (over 12" finished), with some white for the lower portion of the Powder Horn. It was very raw as you can see, and I couldn't remove all the rough parts, however to my eye the 'imperfections' add some unique character and somehow charm. With this surface to work with I decided to just carve in some heavier lines to create a broad design.
I wanted to do some bold profile 'turnings' in the upper end and at the spout. As I worked the horn I ran into some layers of horn that were lifting (it's like micro-layers of an onion, but fingernail-like material). Damn. So, I had to carve/cut below those liftings to get into more solid horn. There went my design.
I tinted the horn and did a secondary tinting inside the arched carvings. (For adding color, I use a dye mixture, which does penetrate into the horn. I then seal it with several lifght applications of shellac and then a supercoat of Paste Wax for a very durable finish,) I don't know where I got the idea of adding color to the design, but I think it adds an almost Pennsylvania-Dutch feeling to this one. I might continue with this coloring method and add some more folk elements in the body if I have more clean space to work with.
This is my Number 4. The next one will be another creative adventure, no doubt.
Attachments
Last edited:
