I carved this ale bowl from some more of the red alder I mentioned in my last post. Then I tried something new for me: I painted (ebonized I suppose) the outside with waterproof black India ink. I like how it completely absorbs into the wood, allowing the lines of the grain to still remain evident.
The ink is water-based, but I didn’t notice much grain raising. I think this is mainly because the surfaces were straight from the knife. Had it been sanded, all of those torn fibers would have absorbed the water from the ink and raised up on the surface.
I like the contrast between the black and the natural reddish brown interior. I even like the solid hard black knot area on the interior.
When carving the exterior, I left a series of loose, shallow faceted flutes that merge and fade beneath the neck of the horse. After the ink dried for a couple days, I treated the entire piece with flax seed oil, followed by a flax oil/beeswax blend.
It feels nice with the web of your hands under the necks, and it’s big enough to share, easily holding 24 ounces of ale. The dimensions are 12 3/4 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 5 1/2 inches high.
David Fisher, Carving Explorations 
That’s funny, I was thinking of colouring the White Oak bowl I’ve been working on black with vinegar and wire wool mixture. I’ve had to have it in a bucket of water to try and keep the moisture content even whilst I dither around doing “stuff”, so the tannin has been leeched out a bit. First ever bowl for me, so the learning curve is steep to say the least.
I like the combination of the colour of the Alder and the almost burnished effect of the India ink.
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Good luck with the white oak bowl. If you’re concerned about the continued leeching of the tannin, you might try to just keep the in-progress bowl sealed in a garbage bag rather than submerged in water.
Glad you like the color combination. It kind of reminded me a bit of the red/black combination so common in Greek pottery.
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It looks like it’s made from wrought iron. Where do the ale bowls originate from, is it a Scandinavian tradition ?
As for my bowl, my expectations aren’t very high for it and if it’s in two parts when I come back from England, I can at least put it on the burner come the winter. I took a ceramics class a couple of years ago and most of the bowls I made ended up being destroyed before being fired. My ratio of bowls started to bowls finished is very low, but I like the process very much.
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Here is a link to a post I wrote about ale bowls https://davidffisherblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/ale-bowls/
I think you’re doing well to focus on the process. Peter Follansbee was just in Sweden https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2016/08/28/taljfest-at-saterglantan/ and he told me about a bowl class that Beth Moen (who also taught at Greenwood Fest https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/greenwood-fest-instructor-beth-moen/) taught there. Beth told the students as they began their first bowl (at the class in Sweden) that they would all burn these first bowls together. She wanted them to focus on the process and work without fear of ruining something. Bold and, I would imagine, very effective.
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Hi Dave. Gorgeous, as always. How big was the original log?
Gordon Hafner >
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Hi Gordon. I think it was around 12 inches in diameter, maybe a little bigger. The height of the bowl has to fall within the half-log, and stay away from the pith a little.
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a beauty–you should make a black chicken to go with the white chicken–
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Now there’s a good idea! And why would I question advice about birds from a birder?
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Hi David, love your work. Not having tried this, I was wondering how you keep that sharp edge between the ink black and the natural alder. I would thing the ink would bleed when you apply it.
Paul Dzioba
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Paul,
I was wary of that myself, but really didn’t notice any bleeding with the ink. I just worked carefully with the brush right up to that cut edge. Had I gone over, I would have lightly pared that bordering surface to remove any ink that overshot the mark.
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Beautiful work, as usual, but this one really caught my eye. Elegant lines. Inspirational. Thanks for posting it.
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You’re in a league of your own ! Superb design. Perfectly carved.
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