Lemmy I'd like to help you if I could, but to try to give you pointers from photos is close to impossible. What you've produced is excellent, but it is excellent to the extent that I can see in the photos --- I'm only talking about the blade here.
When we hold a good quailty Balinese keris in the hand we can see that everything is contoured to incredibly tiny differences in three dimensions. The differences are so small that even very experienced collectors who have not been educated in the indigenous artistic ethic often cannot see the differences and need to have these differences pointed out to them. I once spent several hours on two consecutive afternoons trying to explain the contouring and form of sogokan on a Surakarta keris. The person I was trying to instruct was a collector of edged weapons, including keris, and an artist and sculptor in his own right. Maybe it was just my inadequacy as a teacher, but it did take a total of probably about 4 or 5 hours before he was able to see and partially understand what I was trying to get across.
Many people in Jawa regard the keris --- ie, keris blade --- as the premier expression of the Javanese plastic arts. This status is not lightly given and to understand why this is so, we must first understand that the keris in art and in tradition, is more than just a dagger blade. When we sculpt a keris blade we must incorporate into that blade a human feeling, a feeling that can be sensed by a person experienced in keris art as a representation of the essence of mankind. When we talk about a keris blade we apply the same descriptors to it that we apply to a human being:- brave, humble, clumsy etc, etc.
Lemmy, when you set out to make a keris blade, you began the creation of more than just another different kind of dagger. For you to understand what you have begun you need to involve yourself in serious study of the subject. If you do not have a thorough understanding of the subject you cannot really create a keris. You can create an expression of your own artistic ability that takes the form of a keris, but cannot create a keris.
What you have achieved so far is excellent work, and as a copy from photos it demonstrates your very considerable ability. But to go further, you need the study to achieve understanding.
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