More progress on the mountain man. Defined his eyes, (upper, lower lids, bags, & crows feet) and added frown lines. Fur on the hat is done with the Nibs burner. More definition added to beard and hair with gouges and V tools. Eye brows added & nose/ nostrils defined as well. All the hair features are highlighted with the burner.
Leaning toward staining the coonskin cap in a golden oak and the beard/hair in maple, leaving the flesh in natural wood. I have a couple other pieces of sassafras scrap laying around will try both water based gel stain and oil based to see which looks best. I am thinking oil based stains will enhance the natural grain. The uncarved section of the topper will be stained to match the shank it is attached to.
If you have never worked with sassafras I highly recommend it. The wood while carving or sanding smells like a fresh glass of root beer.
Thanks for lookin'
Mark
