OPUS X: ALMOST THERE

By freehand, I drew out the Fuente Fuente Opus X label on a sheet of MDF enlarged to 30" across. My first attempt at a cigar label had gone quite well in the carving process. My only downfall was that I decided to carve almost EVERYTHING. While it made for a beautiful carving, it took forever to complete.

Once completed, I began the process of painting it. As if the carving wasn't difficult enough, the painting was just as painstaking of a process. Getting the colors right was quite a task, but it was obvious that Carlito Fuente put a lot of effort into them by the result.


I had only finished painting the carved portions (as seen above), when I decided to bring the carving by Enrico's Cigar Hideaway. Since they are primarily a Fuente shop, I figured they would enjoy seeing it. Within ten seconds of walking in the door with the carving under one of my arms, the man behind the counter said "I'll give you $1200 for it!" While selling it was the last thing that was on my mind, I was quite shocked and flattered by the offer.

Up until this point, the carving had been a typical piece of art for me. I knew all of its flaws and wasn't completely happy with the piece. Maybe I was missing the forest for the trees. After the offer for the piece was floated, it was then that I knew I was onto something.