[Mischief]

Lol!! I know something is not right with him but I don't know what...so for now...his name is Picasso man and I will take artistic license of him just being a bit off.

[tucker1931]

I like him, in fact I like him a lot. He's all yours and no one can say you copied him, very unique indeed.
Cliff

[Jim-Iowa]

Lots of character in that face! You should be proud. I like it!

[doris]

hi mischief, i am glad you showed us picasso man :-) nice character, and i see already a lot improvement in your carving....yes, i see also why you call him picasso man :-) .... you dont know why he looks off, you say...maybe i can help you see some... it is only one thing which not went as you wanted, namely you the symmetrie. see now ? but, that is minor, you have achieved some wonderful things, i was able only much later, forexample, look at those great nose you carved, it has a very nice pleasing shape, the bridge is narrow as it should, it has round shape at the tip, the wings are clearly defined. wonderful. well done !...and look, you dared carved ears already ! i postponed these for much later carvings. and you did great on these too. and your cuts show you have now more control over what you do. in all, well done. keep going ! and treasure this picassoman, to remind you on a nice step forward in your carving...

[bullshipper]

Nice Job Mischeif he does have alot of caricature, What kind of finish are you going to put on him?
Lonnie

[Irish]

Mischief, great carving!

I love the tile to face, the distortion.

If it were me I would try two small changes. First I would lower the lip a touch so that it lies behind/underneath the mustache. Right now it appears to me that the lip and mustache are one piece with no division. The lower lip lies well behind a good full handle bar as you are showing.

The second small change would be to lower the front side of the ear. Your ear has great shape ... don't lost that! I just have the impression that it is a touch too forward on your face.

I think if you make those two small adjustments, both are height adjustments, it will appear to push your nose and cheeks forward.

Susan

[Mischief]

Susan,

I get the lips but cant quite figure out what you meant by the ear bit. Do you mean the lower....wait a sec DUH!...in writing this out and feeling my own ear I realise there is no thickness to the front of the ear in real life lol. It just meant the face further up the head and now I get it. Funny how it just went BING like a light bulb after I sat here for 10 minutes trying to figure out what you meant.

Doris - It does feel like I have more control ...and shhhhhh but I have more tools too...haha. I did the beard over and over not liking the flow till I realise it was because I didnt have a flow. It was one stroke this way and another that way and they were of equal length. I see what they mean by carving can only be learn by doing ( coz I have read all 24 of the WCI Collectors set lol..oh wait it MIGHT have helped some.)

BullShipper - EEEKKKKK! I tried painting the first head I carved and faced a level of frustration I have never faced before and decided I wont visit that till later or else that is the end of carving for me. I bought some Satin polyurethanes and tried it on a block of wood and cant see the difference it makes to to the wood. Maybe I need to sand it and do another layer or something ..but for now...finishes and painting...EEEEEEEKKKK!

Tucker and Jim....I love him too but you should see the Picassoman in my head. He was meant to be snoring and blowing a bit of his mustache up and hat too. Effect lost in translation.

Thanks All!!

[doris]

mischief...no, you dont need sanding before finishing, but try your finish method on a block of wood where you have carved a little bit. just some little shapes, can look as strange as you want, and maybe some strokes like in the beard...a finish appears different on a carved surface than on a flat block of wood...

[Lynn O. Doughty]

That's really a nice face, filled with lots of character and humor. I wouldn't change a thing other than to go back with a very sharp tipped blade and clean up all your cuts. It's nice to see something that looks different than the usual and this little Gnome certainly does that.

[sharon cottrell]

He looks pretty darn good.does have lots of personality!I really like him.