[MJC4]

Attached are my first attempts at an owl and a wolf, (that became a red fox!) I added the small piece of oak pedestal they are sitting on. The eyes are the weakest (hardest) part of my carvings to date. Since these pieces I have been practicing eyes on scrap laying around here. Leaving a mound in the socket on the small diameter pieces required for walking sticks takes much practice for me and patience!

As a new carver its exciting to bring something out of a piece of wood and it never ceases to amaze me that I actually created it, know what I mean? Until I retired I never tried to do anything artsy. After getting home from the job there was never time to do anything but catch up on the household chores. I should have retired 30 years ago!

 

[CV3]

Those are good for you first time. My first carvings were really poor.

 

[gdenby]

Good work for starts. Working small scale is not easy. I did some sculpture years ago. Everyone in the class worked on fairly large chunks of wood, and rarely used small tools. Finesse was a plus if one could manage it. Most of the people i knew who were doing detail were carving either special waxes, or plaster of paris, and those would be used for casting.

There are eye punches out there. I was given a couple for Christmas. Work nicely on woods that are fairly soft.

Making art of any kind is intrinsically delightful, at least the ones I've done. The practice tends to repay one. Sometimes one runs into a dead end, some sort of stoppage or block. Best to just stop and do something different for a few days, maybe just let your mind wander. Often the problem evaporates when you get back to it.

Unfortunately, when one is doing for money then it can be a real chores, particularly since most people don't know how much time it can take to make something, and how much the supplies can cost.

 

[cobalt]

good start ,Like gdenby said it is difficult to work on small scale getting used to trying different tools and working with the wood , but some time you are forced to go against the grain then its annoying

 

[MJC4]

Thanks for the positive feedback.

I am working on a small bear head out of cherry that I would like to add as a topper to a nice piece of red oak. Where can I order brass ferrules from? I found a few @ Treeline, I am wondering if there are other suppliers sites to browse?

 

[cobalt]

I cant help you with supplies to far away.

try the web must be loads over there.A lot of people use fixtures from a plumbers which you should get locally

How do you intend to attach them? You can get silver nickel collars and both bone /water buffalo rings they all look good when set on the right piece.