The book from Fox Chapel showed up yesterday afternoon:
a little better but still lousy shot of the stick in progress:
I still have a little more to do and then I will oil it. It will take a few to get it right, but I am not too disappointed. The "mistakes" I made have to do with proportions and taking too much wood off the nose, but I quote "mistakes" because as long as you press on you just end up with a different spirit not a total failure. I will do a bit more texturing and bristle sanding. It should be easier to phtograph after oil dries and it isn't so white.
The book has Green Men and Wood Spirits with a tutorial on making a big rectangular Green Man (the one on the cover) and a hiking stick Wood Spirit (upper corner of cover). Mine is nowhere near as nice as the one on the cover, but I got lots of sticks.
There are several patterns in the book, including some small Green Man patterns that will be nice for scraps of decent carving wood. There is one called "Little Oak Leaf" that is a face on an oak leaf that I should be able to redraw in many shapes (it doesn't have to be an oak leaf) and sizes, some Gothic designs in a lot of shapes.
The one knock I have on the book is that it is presented as if there are no alternatives to the particular tools they used
a little better but still lousy shot of the stick in progress:
I still have a little more to do and then I will oil it. It will take a few to get it right, but I am not too disappointed. The "mistakes" I made have to do with proportions and taking too much wood off the nose, but I quote "mistakes" because as long as you press on you just end up with a different spirit not a total failure. I will do a bit more texturing and bristle sanding. It should be easier to phtograph after oil dries and it isn't so white.
The book has Green Men and Wood Spirits with a tutorial on making a big rectangular Green Man (the one on the cover) and a hiking stick Wood Spirit (upper corner of cover). Mine is nowhere near as nice as the one on the cover, but I got lots of sticks.
There are several patterns in the book, including some small Green Man patterns that will be nice for scraps of decent carving wood. There is one called "Little Oak Leaf" that is a face on an oak leaf that I should be able to redraw in many shapes (it doesn't have to be an oak leaf) and sizes, some Gothic designs in a lot of shapes.
The one knock I have on the book is that it is presented as if there are no alternatives to the particular tools they used
