[MelNM]

Very nice carving and painting Mark, I like them both.
Mel

[Tony]

Nice job on these pieces. How did you keep the paint from bleeding off when painting the leaves? Thanks
Tony

[Mark N. Akers]

Thanks all for the comments,and the curl idea and the color of the beard is something I picked up in the Bishop's seminar this year,and yes thomp the beard was acctually painted a light blue and then dry brushed white.The leaves on the holly's where painted straight out of the bottle.

[Anthony Filetti]

Mark,
Great job on the Santas!! Excellent job on the finish.

[Myron Compton]

Wonderful detail. You have the face details mastered. The painting of the holly is a special touch. Very nice...Myron

[Carp]

Mark,

Those are both great carvings. Do I recognize a Bishop eye in the ornament? Also, what is the snow that Santa is standing in? Is it carved from wood or another material? It looks great. How did you get the subtle colors of white?

Great detail.

Norm

[jillsy]

I agree with what most are saying - Great detail and love the beard!! Congrats!

Jillsy

[bygeorge]

Mark, really nice and clean! Great paint job too. I like the way you do the open mouth on these guys, nice touch.

Chuck

[Claude]

Great Santas, Mark!

Claude

[Mark N. Akers]

Carp:
Yes I had alot of enfluence on my style from the Bishop's,the snow is carved and then painted with a buttercream delta paint which is also a great santa beard color.
Bygeorge:
the open mouth is something I had the bishop's work with me on a practice stick
and it was very interesting how they did it,has opened a whole new door on Santa's for me.When I do a seminar,I to let the instructor work on a practice stick rather then my carving,that way I can ask for a multitude of things that I seem to feel I have a problem with.