How I Made a Wooden Haring Mini-Statue

What got into me? What made me do this? Well, my fifth wedding anniversary (traditional gift: Wood) was fast approaching and I was out of ideas. I'm a big, big fan of Keith Haring. I have a little girl. And because I wanted to give my wife something special, different and romantic (see my post on 4 Ways to More Romance) to decorate her new office.

What I did
1. I went to the Haring site and found the design for the Man Lifting Child Aloft (my title not his).

Copyright disclosure: The copyright, the licensing, the whole intellectual caboodle belongs to Keith Haring and his estates. I'm using it for non-commercial purposes only and I only made one. Note to Haring lawyers: Please don't sue me.

2. In Photoshop, I got rid of the colors, leaving only a dark line drawing. I printed it out and played with the sizing until I got to about a 5"x2" figure.

3. At the local hardware store (not named Lowe's or Home Depot), I got a little piece of scrap wood, about 5"x7" and an 1.5" in thickness, and a sponge block sandpaper, little package of brushes, 2 types of wood stains.

4. I placed the paper drawing over on the wood and using a dull pencil, traced/scored the design onto the wood. Then I penciled it in darker on the wood.

5. Using a jigsaw (in case you don't know, it looks like these), I cut the wood along the lines to get my mini-statue figure. For the gap between man and child, I drilled a small hole to get the jigsaw in there. Extra: I added a Chinese character for "5" on the man's chest.

6. I fine-tuned it with a smaller jigsaw bit, then sanded it down.

7. I stained top (baby) with a light stain (two coats), then stained the rest with a darker color (two coats).

What it cost

• Wood $1.75
• Brushes $3
• Stains $10 ($5 each)
• Sandpaper $2
• Jigsaw $0 (borrowed)
• Time (not counting two days for drying between applications of stains): 3 hours.

For a grand total of: $16.75

Do try this at home. Just remember: Safety, safety, safety. Make sure it's for non-commerial purposes only. Haring has alot of simple, child-like and timeless art. But it doesn't have to be Haring. I might try a Modigliani or a Matisse next.