Finished - maybe or "for now"

[jartzh]

I am working on a piece that I don't know when I am finished. Its from the Grant Memorial group in DC. Its 4ft long so there are limitations on the amount of detail I can get in it. And its cedar so there are issues there with the sap wood. And its a twisty piece there are are structural issues (bark in the middle and rotten chucks).

I had this image of it being a minature copy of the DC group when I started. But I got into the carving and gave up on doing any measuring and comparison against the original.
I put some polyurathane on it to bring out the color and seal it off from the weather.
The question is when is it finished. I could go in and detail this forever. But would that make it better? Can't tell.

Its not like a painting that when you sign its done. So how do you know?

[Druid]

I suppose it's finished when your happy with it.
Looks fine to me!
You could easily over-do detail but with the colour of you chosen wood would any of it stand out? only my opinion but i like it as is (of course i had to look up the original what with being a brit) you have captured the essence of it very well.

Les

[mrgrouch]

i was typing a long opinion about your question, but then i realized it didn't make a whole lot of sense that someone like me would be telling someone like you how to carve...

i guess all i can say is, great work, thanks for sharing and if you decided to carve more detail to it please share it again.

cheers

[Mottles]

Very interesting piece with lots of action and really strong wood pattern and design.
Kathy

[Josef]

My lowly opinion is that any more detail would be lost amoung the brilliant colours and textures of the 'found' log. You have carved a magnificent picture and I doubt the need for any refinements. Well done. Joe.

[northwood bob]

At some point in time, you just have to say that the piece is as good as it gets. at what point that comes is entirely up to you. I think many of us are not convinced that there is such thing as a perfect piece but ony you can say "This one is finished"

Thanks for sharing the piece and your thoughts

Bob

[hwallen48]

Very nice job , you should be proud!

[Irishman]

I am always drawn to carvings that contrast detail with the raw wood...in otherwords, the carver gives the appearance of the figures coming out of the wood but they don't complete the whole figure. I would let the eyes fill in the rest from what you have done so far. Its a very nice piece and the wood color really addes to the scene.
Patrick

[Dan Wegiel]

I think its fantastic!!! Absolutely beautiful carving in an amazing piece of wood. Like the others have said, only you can decide when its finished but in my opinion its already there. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Dan

[paolo59]

With this strong wood pattern and colours, more details would be lost. In my opinion it's finished and fantastic as it is.
Paolo