The Old Grist Mill

This is another Charles Dearing Pattern. It is an old Grist Mill. It took me longer to cut this one than most of the portraits I normally do because of all the detail in it. It was well worth it in my opinion though. The detail is what makes this portrait so nice to look at.

I went a completely different route than my usual on the frames for these. I used construction grade pine two by fours to make the frames. You'll notice some nail holes in some spots. Normally, nail holes in wood tags it for the fire place. It fit nicely though for the old, but new, look I was going for with these. After constructing the frames, I stained them with Minwax Dark Walnut stain. As I brushed the stain on, I came right behind it wiping it down with a rag. This is a technique I discovered by pure accident long time ago. Then after the stain was dry, I finished them with Polycrylic. I like polycrylic for something such as this because it offers a protective finish without adding too much of a shine to it.

The first photo is the cutting painted gray over a black background. The second one is luan over a black background. The last on is plain plywood over a gray background. My original intention was for the plain plywood one to be the gray painted cutting. However, after finishing it and standing back for a look, I liked the wavy grain look on it so much that I left it alone and painted one of the luan cuttings instead.

I hope most of you haven't gotten completely tired of all the portrait style cuttings as of late. I have been going through a rough time lately with my back pain issues. I promise that as soon as I am up to it I will tackle something with more structure to it. For the time being though, I am having to stick to projects I can do that involve less standing. I have my Delta scroll saw, that I do portraits on, set up so I can cut with it sitting in a chair.