http://8gaugestudios.blogspot.com/2010/ ... gends.html
While watching this bird from afar, all by himself, content to be himself, several things stood out. He looked dark on the water, but not black, I couldn't see the "ticking" on his head but rather just the putty color of it, and as he reached over his shoulders, he seemingly dropped a wing and displayed his speculum.
I carved this decoy from a patter I drew while remembering the day I shot my first black duck. I've been hunting a long time, and as the story notes, when Gauge was bringing him back, I pretty much acted like a teenager.
The decoy:
Being new to carving/painting, I struggled to the get deep dark chocolate color of the body, the puddy of the head and very much struggled w/ the minimal ticking. In fact, I almost didn't do any "ticking" but felt I owed it to the decoy to do a bit. Total time on paint was around an hour.
Don't mind the white looking lines around the speculum, those where just chalk lines to keep my painting honest and will be removed once the paint has dried.
He'll have a black 'nail' and nostrils added; along with tack eyes added, a leather strap and a lead pad weight......and will hunt over the more traditional black duck grounds of the Nova Scotia, New England and the Delvamar, with additional hunting for mottled ducks in south Louisiana and Florida.
-justin
