Carving blank to finished piece series

This will be the last carving of 2008. though that might change if I get new carving tools for Christmas.

The picture shows a piece of willow which is 25cm tall by 8cm diameter. its fairly green only being cut in September 2008. I have had it stored in the airing cupboard for a month prior to carving.

I didn't think about doing a series of posts to show the stages until tonight so the next picture is fairly advanced through the carving process.

The inspiration for this piece comes from the Willow Brothers. this one being much bigger. however I want to keep it in scale to replicate the antique ivory look of the Willow Brothers.

as you will see the nose eyes and head are formed, though not finished. The next post tomorrow(ish) will show the beard and mouth with a follow up post looking at the finished piece.