My attempt at adding hair

[mszymanski25]

Howdy all, I have messed around with adding hair to my wizard heads. This is actually my 3rd attempt at it as I carved a few more heads last night, this just happened to be the piece that made it into my bag this morning. I did learn that I have an easier time with the V-tool when the wood is slightly damp, as it is a little more forgiving. Again any critique or pointers are more than welcome. Thanks for taking a peek.

Mike

[Eddy-Smiles]

Mike... It looks good. Youre on the right track. I'm not an expert myself but if I was doing it I'd extend my cuts out past the beard and the end of the hair. It looks as if you stopped right at the edge of the carving. In fact on the beard it almost looks like you have a bottom border. Push your tool right on through. Also, make some of your cuts deeper than the others to give your hair dimension and make sure that none of your cuts are straight lines.

[Bob K.]

Looks to me like you're well on your with carving hair. I think it looks great, but I fully agree with Eddy that you need to make (at least some) your cuts right to the edge. Look at this photo of a Santa I did to give you an idea of what we are talking about.

[Claude]

Looks much better, Mike!

Claude

[jmischel]

Good work, Mike. I think you have the wizards "down."

Eddy and Bob have some good advice: extend some of the cuts to the edge, vary the depth, and give the cuts some slight curves. I've seen some recommend shallow "S" curves on the cuts.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Lookin good Mike, the others have given some very good advice! I also like S curves! Keep at it and just have fun!

Dave

[bob easton]

You've got it! That hair is looking good. More practice and carrying cuts to the edges will make it even better.

About having the wood a bit damp...
What kind of wood is that? Good northern basswood (heinecke.com) usually isn't that hard. ... or does your v-tool need more stroping?

One of the practices I formed a long time ago was to never leave tools on the bench at the end of a carving session. I give each tool, no matter how much or little I used it, 20 passes on the strop before putting it away. It's amazing how sharp the tools can get with that practice ... and they're always ready for the next session. I find nothing more bothersome than having to sharpen tools when I'm ready to get carving.

Keep at it; you're doin' great!

[mszymanski25]

Thanks everyone for the pointers. I'll work on carrying my cuts through better. As for the wood, its Michigan basswood that my neighbor got when his brother took down a tree. It is kinda hard in spots, but not uniformly through the wood. Though no doubt I need practice at keeping the v-tool sharp.

That is a good practice with stropping at the end of every carving session, I will start doing that myself.

Mike