[Joy]

I think it looks great. You don't want a wimpy head on a powerful dragon.

[xsailer]

whitecree,
I've been working on Mr. Cipa's 12 mystical characters since Christmas and really enjoying them. I have 5 carved and starting on the 6th today. They are proving to be a challenging effort but much fun. I got hooked on his treetop Angel in the winter edition of our magazine. That was fun and fast. My daughter has it hanging in her bedroom. I'm not allowing any creative license with these pieces since my goal is to develop my carving abilities before starting my originals.
You look like you have very good start. Have fun.

[whitecree]

Originally Posted by Squbrigg

For head shape, think alligator or crocodile or even a T-Rex.

T-rex - - - would be rather interesting, eh?

Originally Posted by Irishman

For a small carving, it looks more complicated then I would have expected from the two dimension pictures I have seen of this dragon.

It doesn't seem that complex at first glance but you're right. I think it is the curled tail that does it, coming right behind the wings that are semi-spread.

Originally Posted by xsailer

I've been working on Mr. Cipa's 12 mystical characters since Christmas and really enjoying them. * * * I They are proving to be a challenging effort but much fun.

Very challenging. And I can't wait to get back at it!

Originally Posted by Eddy Smiles

Looks good so far. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished project!

Me too!!

[Thomp]

Pardon my limited experience with carving and dragons, but i think you wanted actual critique, here goes, no harm intended...

it looks like you got a great rough out going there,

Its always hard to tell when its time to start thinning the fragile parts out, to keep them safer from breakage or stray knife marks, but to get the look of this one right i dont think it will happen till the head and neck is proportunate.

fictional charters elves pixies gnomes and dragons, seam to be a broad generality of the artistic license, and not all of them follow many guidelines, from artist to artist, other than pointed shoes and ears...

as you said the head and neck are too thick, but not seeing the original i dont really know what im talking about for sure, maybe it is a deer head on a fat snake body. its what i see in the first 2 segments of photo #1
but there is plenty of wood to carve the dragon as i see it.. i find it funny it has no hind legs...

[whitecree]

Yeah, this is what I've been thinking. The head needs to be trimmed down. As is, I think it is a bit too wide for the body. And thanks for pointing out the neck will need trimming as well.

No back legs as it is that kind of dragon known as a wyvern. These apparently dragged themselves around with forelegs while their back ends hovered off the ground with wings.

I wonder if the first man to ever see or draw one was named Vern.

[Thomp]

I take them that dont look right to me and set them somewhere i can see them, and work on something else until the vision of what i need to fix comes to me..

i been working on a horse (andy anderson) anout 2 years now still havnt figured out exactly what it needs, but then too aint been round many horses in that same time period, its big and robust, and my grandson has it about black from handling it, while (pretending) to feed the chuckwagon cooks biscuts ...
good luck with the dragon.. i think i heard you got a curtin climber in training round there as well....

[Pete Rieger]

Whitecree, I'm looking at the pattern in the book right now and yes the head in the patern is much narrower than your picture.You,ve removed more wood between the ears than the original. But,whatever, yours looks good too,who says a dragon's head is a certain width? As long as its reasonably proportionate to the neck and body it should look great.Great book, Shawn's work is really fun and creative.

[whitecree]

My thoughts on the ears were to make them look much more spread out than the original pattern, sort of like the wyvern has aquired a target and is getting ready to do something nasty.

I'll be working on this later today, and assuming I don't botch it completely, I'll post an updated pic either tonight or tomorrow.