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Making Folk Art Decoys

by AnthonyAltorenna

Last updated: 04/04/2012
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Handcrafted "Flattie" Silhouette Decoys

Back in the day of market hunters, simple silhouette decoys made from flat pieces of wood were used to hunt shorebirds, crows, pigeons, waterfowl and just about anything that flew. Often referred to as "flatties", the silhouette style of decoys were lightweight, easy to store and to transport - and they were very effective at attracting birds within range of the gunners lying in wait.

Most of the flattie decoys were primitive and constructed simply from pieces of cedar and soft pine, then hand painted to mimic the many different types of shorebirds in the area. Surviving examples of these original "gunner" decoys are highly prized by collectors today, and they can be quite valuable.

Flattie silhouette decoys are an Americana folk art form, and they are still very popular as decorative display pieces in the home and out in the garden. Flatties are also easy to make, requiring just a little time and a few basic tools. Simply trace a shorebird silhouette pattern on to a flat piece of white pine, cut it out with a jigsaw, sand the edges smooth and then use acrylics to paint the decoy in rustic, folk art style.

Making a Flattie Decoy
Flattie Shorebird Decoy Carving Kit
Three Sandpiper Shorebird Decoys
White Heron Shorebird Flattie Decoys
Black Crow Flattie Decoy
Country Chicken Folk Art: Hen & Chicks
Carved Wooden Stilt Shorebird
Carved Wooden Shorebird Sandpiper Looking Back Brown
Shorebirds: The Birds, the Hunters, the Decoys
An Egret Silhouette Decoy Guards Our Pond
Decoys
Bird Decoys of North America: Nature, History, and Art
Decoy Books for More Information
Shorebirds: The Birds, the Hunters, the Decoys
FLEXCUT Carving Kit
Flexcut Starter Carving Set with FREE Relief Carving DVD
Acrylic Paints & Supplies
Decoy Photos

Trace the pattern on to a piece of ¾" white pine. Choose a piece of stock that is straight-grained and free of knots. Cut out the silhouette using a jigsaw or band saw, then shape and round over the edges with a wood rasp or file, and sand it smooth. Use a small (but sharp) pocketknife or carver's knife to add details such as around the eyes and the beak area, the wing outlines and to give the appearance of feathers.

Cut sections of a wooden dowel to make the bill and the leg. Most of the smaller sandpipers use 1/4" diameter dowels, though some of the larger birds need a thicker dowel for a properly proportioned leg or bill. Shape the bill to a rounded point using a rasp and sandpaper.

Mark the locations on the blank for the leg and bill, and then drill 1/4" holes into the body of the decoy. Take care to center the holes in the edge of the blank, and drill straight into the wood. If the hole is off-center or angled, the decoy will not sit upright properly on its stand. Glue the bill and leg into body, and you're ready for paint.

Prime the wooden blank with a water-based primer, and then paint the entire decoy in a warm white using acrylic paint. After the white base coat dries and using a photo or pattern as a guide, lightly pencil in the wing areas, the beak and eye areas and other sections to apply darker colors of acrylic paints. Thin the paints slightly with a little water, and brush on the pigments in light coats.

Experiment with layering different colors to represent the bird's feather patterns around the head and shoulders, on the wings, and along the back down towards the tail. Water-based acrylics make it easy to build up color layer by layer, or to blend the colors to create highlights and feathering effects. Don't worry about making a mistake; simply wipe off the wet paint and start again. Or allow the paint dry and then sand the blank lightly before applying another base coat and trying again.

Cut the stand from another piece of wood or better yet, collect a few pieces of weathered driftwood. The stands in the photos are cut from driftwood branches that are approximately 2 1/2 to 3" in diameter, and sliced into 1 1/2" in thick sections. Drill a hole in the center for the dowel leg.

Sandpiper Flattie Silhouette Patterns

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Flattie Shorebird Decoy Carving Kit

Ready for you to carve and finish: The sandpiper blanks in this shorebird decoy kit are cut from flat pieces of white pine and include short pieces of hardwood dowels to make the bills, plus longer sections of hardwood dowels and pieces of driftwood for the stands. The holes are pre-drilled for easy assembly.

Each sandpiper blank is approximately 5 ½"tall, 6" long and ¾" thick . The three different positions represent sandpipers in the running, standing and feeding positions, and I cut and shape all of the pieces individually. I cut the stands from collected driftwood, and each stand is slightly different due to natural variations.

Finishing the decoy is as simple as a little sanding and painting, or you can add more details by carving and shaping the blank. The decoy kit is a great gift for the craftsperson or the novice carver, or finish the sandpipers before giving a personalized gift. The accompanying photo shows just two possibilities (the finished decoys are not included in this auction).

This sandpiper decoy kit features:
3 - sandpiper silhouettes
3 - short hardwood dowels for the bills
3 - longer hardwood dowels for the stands
3 - driftwood stand sections

DIY Shorebird Decoy Carving Kit - 3 Sandpiper Blanks

Three Sandpiper Shorebird Decoys

This decorative grouping of three small sandpiper shorebird decoys is handcrafted in a rustic Folk Art style using the process and templates outlined above. The three different positions represent sandpipers in the running, standing and feeding positions and mounted on a piece of cedar driftwood.

Each sandpiper is approximately 5 ½"tall, 6" long and ¾" thick, and has a bill shaped from a hardwood dowel. The dowel "legs" are not glued into the base, so you can position the sandpipers in any of the three pre-drilled holes in the driftwood stand.

Each of the decoys are cut and shaped individually. Finishing the decoy is as simple as a little sanding and painting, or you can add more details by carving and shaping the blank.

White Heron Shorebird Flattie Decoys

This pair of decorative White Heron shorebird decoys still represents the flattie style of decoy, but adding wing sections on each side gives the birds a sense of depth. The simple silhouette design is retained, with the wings creating shadow lines and accentuating the curves of the neckline, back and tail sections.

Trace the heron body on to a piece of ¾" thick straight-grained pine, carefully orienting the neck along the length of the grain to provide the most strength to the finished piece. Cut the wings from a piece of thinner wood, or cut one wing from another piece of ¾" pine, then carefully rip the wing down the middle to create two thin wing sections.

Line up the wing sections along the back of the body and glue into place, using small clamps to hold the wing sections in place until the glue dries. Then round over the edges with a rasp or file, sand smooth and you're ready for paint.

Heron #1 Flattie Silhouette Pattern

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Heron #2 Flattie Silhouette Pattern

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Original Folk Art: Pair of Heron Silhouette Shore Bird Decoys

This is an original piece made from white pine, sanded and then finished with acrylic paints in a simple, rustic Folk Art style. The base is signed and dated. The taller decoy measures almost 22" high (including the driftwood base), nearly 1 �" wide. The shorted decoy measures just over 19" tall and almost 1 �" wide. The driftwood base is 7"long and almost 3" wide.

Egret Flattie Silhouette Pattern

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Original Folk Art: Egret Silhouette Shore Bird Decoy

This is an original piece made from pieces of white pine, sanded and then finished with acrylic paints in a simple, rustic Folk Art style. The decoy measures just over 7 1/2" high (including the stand), nearly 1 �" wide and 14" long from the tip of its bill to the end of its tail. The driftwood base is signed and dated.

Black Crow Flattie Decoy

Set up in small flocks, the black crow flattie decoy was very effective at attracting crows and ravens in close to where the hunters were lying in wait.

The crow measures almost 8 ½" high (including the driftwood base), nearly 2" wide just over 11" long from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail.

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Crow Flattie Silhouette Pattern

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Up for Auction: Original Folk Art: Black Crow Silhouette Decoy

This is an original piece from white pine, lightly sanded and then finished with acrylic paints in a simple, rustic and Folk Art style. The crow measures almost 8 �" high (including the driftwood base), nearly 1 �" wide just over 11" long from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail. The base is signed and dated.

Country Chicken Folk Art: Hen & Chicks

This mother hen with her three little chicks are original folk are pieces made to represent the flattie decoy style. The mother hen measures nearly 9 ½" high (including the wooden base), almost 10" long from the tip of its beak to the end of its tail, and 1 ½" wide.

The chicks measure 5" high (including the wooden base), nearly 5 ½" long from the tip of its beak to the end of its tail, and ¾" wide.

Mother Hen and Chicks Silhouette Pattern

Square: Each Square = 1 Inch

Duck Decoys in the News

Waterfowl art, decoys raise big bills for foundation: Aesthetics and utility fused at the Potomac River Waterfowl Show on Saturday, where people gathered to admire duck decoys as both hunting aids and works of art. The show and auction were a fundraiser for the Community Foundation of Charles County.
Decoys, artists and their art fill Havre de Grace: Although the overwhelming theme was duck decoys, all sorts of wildlife and water creatures were represented. Ray McKenzie, of Chambersburg, Pa., had a display of painted fish carvings. The artist, who airbrush paints most of his creations to give it ...
Absecon carver finds his niche: Rhodes said he started cutting duck decoys for his own use when he hunted ducks. His first carving was a bufflehead duck. ?That's a small, black and white duck; there are a lot of them on the bay,? Rhodes said. ?I thought it would be easy.
Scot Lehigh A standard for driving fun: I'd always vaguely wondered why so many other drivers spent so much of their commutes shaving or applying makeup or whittling duck decoys or putting on puppet shows or conducting imaginary symphonies. Or, of course, yakking on their cellphones.

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Carved Wooden Stilt Shorebird

Amazon Price: $61.00 (as of 05/31/2012)

Carved Wooden Shorebird Sandpiper Looking Back Brown

Amazon Price: $35.00 (as of 05/31/2012)

Shorebirds: The Birds, the Hunters, the Decoys

by: John M. Levinson, Somers G. Headley

Amazon Price: $36.68 (as of 05/31/2012)

Decoys, Shorebirds and Decorative Carvings

A short video featuring the Antiques and the Arts Weekly's cover photos.

Massachusetts Masters: Decoys, Shorebirds and Decorative Carvings: by antiquesandthearts | video info

0 ratings | 715 views

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An Egret Silhouette Decoy Guards Our Pond

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Brooks May 16, 2012 @ 3:03 pm | delete

Love decoys. started bestturkeydecoy.com. good stuff

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RenaissanceWoman2010 Feb 19, 2012 @ 10:09 pm | delete

Excellent tutorial for creating folk art decoys. I have a few vintage decoys and decorative shorebird carvings. I'm thinking I need to learn to carve shorebirds, as they seem to be my favorites. Love your pond with the egret guardian. Very nicely done!

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HSSchulte Feb 17, 2012 @ 7:27 pm | delete

You explain this so well, I feel even I could make them. :)

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karmicchristian Feb 12, 2012 @ 3:43 am | delete

You are exemplary with your DIY projects. Wish I was half as skilled!

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Tipi Jan 21, 2012 @ 11:06 am | delete

Stopping back to enjoy your folk art decoys...you do it just right and then show it so well. I love how your egret silhouette decoy is so naturally displayed guarding your pond.
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Decoys

Additional Resources & Information

Bird Decoys of North America: Nature, History, and Art

by: Robert Shaw

Amazon Price: $21.18 (as of 05/31/2012)

Making Folk Art Decoys

Handcrafted "Flattie" Silhouette Decoys

Table of Contents

Making a Flattie Decoy

Sandpiper Flattie Silhouette Patterns

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Flattie Shorebird Decoy Carving Kit

DIY Shorebird Decoy Carving Kit - 3 Sandpiper Blanks

Three Sandpiper Shorebird Decoys

White Heron Shorebird Flattie Decoys

Heron #1 Flattie Silhouette Pattern

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Heron #2 Flattie Silhouette Pattern

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Original Folk Art: Pair of Heron Silhouette Shore Bird Decoys

Egret Flattie Silhouette Pattern

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Original Folk Art: Egret Silhouette Shore Bird Decoy

Black Crow Flattie Decoy

Crow Flattie Silhouette Pattern

Scale: Each Square = 1 Inch

Up for Auction: Original Folk Art: Black Crow Silhouette Decoy

Country Chicken Folk Art: Hen & Chicks

Country Chicken Folk Art: Hen & Chicks

Mother Hen and Chicks Silhouette Pattern

Square: Each Square = 1 Inch

Duck Decoys in the News

Do You Have Any Decoys?

Thanks for voting! Now invite your friends to vote.

Carved Wooden Stilt Shorebird

Carved Wooden Shorebird Sandpiper Looking Back Brown

Shorebirds: The Birds, the Hunters, the Decoys

Decoys, Shorebirds and Decorative Carvings

Did You Like This Lens?

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Decoys

Bird Decoys of North America: Nature, History, and Art

Decoy Books for More Information

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Shorebirds: The Birds, the Hunters, the Decoys

Classic Duck Decoys: Now on eBay

FLEXCUT Carving Kit

Flexcut Starter Carving Set with FREE Relief Carving DVD

Acrylic Paints & Supplies

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