With more snow in the forecast for tomorrow and this being the coldest, snowiest winter in many years I'm a little bit surprised that the carving bug is continuing to bite me. But that's just how it is right now so I'm not going to fight it... just give in and milk it for what it's worth... or until the carving doldrums set in, but hopefully not.
After the little face in my last posting I've decided to continue carving in the small face category and I'm using the larger end of the same rhododendron stick that I used in the last carving. That particular stick was well cured and a left over from last falls auction, a walking stick. That means that I cut it over a year ago and there was no precious moisture left in it's veins so carving it is a bit on the tough side. If you're new to carving then I'd strongly reccomend sticking with basswood if you want cured wood but I've been at it for many years and my hand/finger muscles are well developed for this task.
From the pictures you can see the progress that I made Sunday and I didn't get a chance to work on him today. As usual, I started out my face by roughing out the nose and eye-wells first. From there I could then decide on how puffy the cheeks would be. With a full-toothed smile I suppose that I'll have to try and get the cheeks a bit more rounded than usual but I'll just have to see what I can do with this thin 1-1/2" diameter stick.
After seeing those teeth come to life it immediately hit me that he would from this point forward be know as "Scrap Stick Bill". Naming my carvings makes it a little bit personal and seems to make me try a little harder. You know how that goes when it comes to naming your newest dog... there's just no turning back because a name makes him "family" from that point forward. Some say that I'm somewhat demented when it comes to things like this but the way I see it I first have to adopt something before I will treat it with the respect that it deserves.
...And hopefully "Scrap Stick Bill" will soon sit proudly beside his other stick friends where he will bring a new smile to all those who kick up the dust around his parts.
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