I carved this shield in walnut wood at the end of my year in Woodcrafting Superior School of Avignon. With its two intertwined dragons, it is derived from fantasy and medieval inspiration.
The making process is classical for wood sculptures : start with a drawing, elaborate a model out of clay, then work the wood. The clay model allows a precise judgment of volumes, in order to choose the proper blocks of wood.
The wood is then trimmed and planed, then glued at flat joint. We can then define the depths by routing and milling the different parts, sparing high zones (islands) to level the machine always at the same hight.
Then starts the handcraft with gouges, from drafting the full sculpture to chiseling the details.
Once the sculpture fully gouged, the finishing is done with wax, gilding with gold leafs, painting with acrylic, and surfacing with Judea bitumen and bronze powder.
Last, the eyes of the dragons and the “umbo” (metallic spherical piece at the center of war shields) are shaped under heat, hammering on a round base used as an anvil.
For the handles, the leather is embossed, tainted and painted.
All is stuffed with vegetal fibers, and assembled with upholsterer nails.