~Mahogany Carving Doodle~

I follow a number of carving blogs which are all inspiring, I picked out the idea of a carving doodle from a link I discovered through one of them. The idea is the same as picking up a pencil and paper and just doodling; so I picked up my knives and this piece of scrap mahogany and just doodled.

The amount of carving has taken me nearly as long as 2 or 3 Woodwose Carvings but the finished result is quite unique and I enjoyed the journey. However the number of carvings mean there are allot of photos. I hope you can spare the time to view them all.

The choice of subjects was purely random as you will see as you read on, which is what doodling is all about isn't it?

The first picture hopefully gives you an idea of size

I have never done a beardless face before and I want to try a female face soon so thought it would be a good opportunity to start down that road.

I don't usually do clothing as the beard covers it up, no beard so the guy needed a jacket...

The rune....well you know I like runes. This one is raised rather than burnt or carved into the wood. This rune is 'Algiz' a rune of protection used many times in my work.

I wanted something to run through the piece and thought that a creeping flower winding up the carving could do this. The flowers were carved, in the main, after most of the other carvings were completed. They are not depicting any particular flower or plant, again just a doodle.

The hand.... I don't know why I chose the hand other than its quite a hard thing to get right and this is about trying stuff out.

The ball started looking like the pommel of a sword or dagger so it stayed on.

The hand is 360 degrees around the piece as are some parts of the flower. This will mean that due to the fact this piece will be mounted in a corner that some of the carving will be covered up!

A lizard? Well on the day I started the lizard the family and I had been out and about and saw some great metal lizards and this inspired me to try one here.

For those of you who know about the natural world,

I am aware that Gecko lizards have 5 toes ... for no particular reason mine has 4 ...

... so is a very rare 4 toed Gecko.

I saw this fish design, or something very similar, and loved it straight away; I was looking for trout carvings for something else I might be asked to do and came across it online.

I haven't for the first time in ages added pyrography as I wasn't sure if it fit on a carving doodle.

The eyes on the carving of the gentleman at the top are not great and I am still tempted to put them right.... but this is a doodle right!

I hope you like the departure from the normal..... more to come? we will see.

Regards Dave

~ Happy Christmas ~