Santa Ornament.

[Isaac10991]

Hey guys,
This is my First-ever Santa ornament. I am so proud. I'm thinking about using it for a beginner project. What do you guys think, and how can I improve? imageedit_2_7310278784.jpg

[Arthur C.]

Good start, Isaac!

My suggestions are as follows: On the beard, make the "hair lines" more squiggly, varied lengths, some intersecting with each other. On the cap, make the crease lines on the side of the tassel only, like the cap is folding over that way; also, give more definition to the separation between the cap proper and the part that's flopped over. On the paint job, of course, clean up the blush on the beard, and put a touch of the blush on his lip.

Keep up the good work! You're on the right track asking for critiques, that's how we learn from each other.

[Isaac10991]

Good start, Isaac!

My suggestions are as follows: On the beard, make the "hair lines" more squiggly, varied lengths, some intersecting with each other. On the cap, make the crease lines on the side of the tassel only, like the cap is folding over that way; also, give more definition to the separation between the cap proper and the part that's flopped over. On the paint job, of course, clean up the blush on the beard, and put a touch of the blush on his lip.

Keep up the good work! You're on the right track asking for critiques, that's how we learn from each other.

What do you mean by blush?

[Arthur C.]

What do you mean by blush?

I mean removing the reddish paint on the beard and adding some reddening on the mouth.

[joepaulbutler]

With regards to the hairline, try alerting long and short "S" curves, shallow "S". I don't know if you have a wood burner or not, but if you do would experiment on another piece of wood with using it to highlight details, such as where the cap meets the head & to add some hairlines. But first of all your of to splendid start. I've been carvings again since '09 I I'm still practice and learning, I hope it never stops

[dave.keele]

Hey guys,
This is my First-ever Santa ornament. I am so proud. I'm thinking about using it for a beginner project.

By the looks of your carving, you may have already found this link:

https://shellknobwoodcarvers.weebly.com/projects.html

I made these .pdf's from PowerPoint slides I use in beginner classes. (None of the projects are original ideas.... all borrowed, er, stolen, from others.) Feel free to use any/all as you wish.

[Bob K.]

I'm with Arthur C. 100%. His advice and suggestions are spot on. The other way you can improve is to keep on practicing.

[woodburner807]

Looks fine and a great start. I wouldn't worry about color and just read the labels on the bottle...some of us are color blind.

[Steve Reed]

Isaac, agree with all the above suggestions. You are off to a great start, and don't get discouraged. Take what people have said and put it to use on the next one, perhaps the beard lines. Also, if you do have a wood burner, you can LIGHTLY burn the areas where you need to separate the colors. This keeps the colors from running together. Keep up the good work!
Steve

[brent]

Looking good!