Greetings and 1st work

[Sailing-Randy]

Greetings! This is my first post. I thought I uploaded a couple of pics this morning, but they haven't appeared yet. Likely I goofed something up.
I kind of backed into wood carving. I started making a sliding bookend for my son who lies to read. First I was going wood burn the design on. Next I tried to just copy the image. Didn't work well at all. So then I started carving it in. Below you can see what took me about 3 years. I would get stumped and stop for months on end for fear of making too big of a mistake. It's made out of red oak.
Blessings,
Randy
The pic seems way too BIG, but I can't seem to shrink it. Sorry if it takes a ton of time to load!
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[gene-messer]

Randy .. good job ... I like your lettering .. very neat ..

Please show anytime and if you need help on posting pics .. ther are tutorials in the bottom post in suggestions that will help you ..

Gene

[Irishman]

The picture you carved looks familiar as my daughter like to read as well. It's not Eragon...or what ever the name is of the dragon they made a movie out of. That's a very good relief. Well done.
Patrick

[GeorgiaCarver]

Great job on the carving! Welcome to the forum as well, you will love this site.

Greg

[Banjo]

Welcome to the forum. You'll love it here. Lots of wonderful folks!

Your bookends turned out great! That dragon looks like it would have been hard to do, but you did an excellent job. Keep up the good work!

[squbrigg]

Nice job on the dragon and the lettering. The dragon is very accurate. If I may offer a suggestion, if you burn the detail now of the carved dragon, it will jump right off the wood! Try a test piece first to see what I mean, but I have found a little burning on detail and even shading on scales, can give you very dramatic effects.

Very good job on your first work, and welcome aboard.

Bob

[Joy]

Welcome! Great first carving. You got a lot of depth in your dragon, Eragon.

[Thor]

I like dragons. You did a very good job, and for your first carving project, it was a challenge. Oak is not easy to carve.
I think Squbrigg's suggestion is a very good one. He's done quite a few cool looking dragons too.

Another way to make a relief carving stand out is to texture the background. I have used a simple nail and just tapped it over and over in the background and after you put the finish on it, or stain, the textured part darkens and reveals the carving much more.

Your dragon is terrific just the way it is. The suggestion is for future projects.
Good to have you join us.
Thor

[Mottles]

Hello & welcome Randy, I have done some relief carving, but not lettering. I would hope that my first attemps at lettering would turnout as nicely as yours. Good carving on the dragon too!
Kathy

[Sailing-Randy]

Thanks for all the kind comments!
Bob, I agree with you and was considering doing something to darken areas, but under the pressure of time and my wife suggesting not - I think to limit the number of firsts on this project - I didn't.
I look forward to doing some carved lettering, but it will have to wait until another more pressing project is finished. Of course, when there is nothing else to do...
Blessings,
Randy