[Ashbys]

Bob,
Thank you. I keep trying to push to get a bit more detail or to do something I have never tried. And Sharing with friends is a great way to improve.

Paul , Thank , you. One day we will have to get together. I really enjoy your work .

Tom,
Not sure I carve that clean , but I have a good wire brush.. and I hate sanding.
LOL


I am being a slacker today , went to visit the inlaws and had a late night. So decided to do the 1st Lion this morning and ran out of coffee so time to say enough for today.

Hope you like it.

Garry

[Thor]

Ash, this piece is going to be fantastic. I'm really enjoying watching your progress. The design you put together is really working well.
Thanks for posting the pictures of it in progress.

Thor

[tgamble57]

Ashbys I have just looked at all your work on this project and I am greatful for sharing this. I don't know anything about relif carving. I am a beginer and have only done two projects,and they are in the round.

Will someone plese explane to me what a celtic knots are?
Gresat job Ash and thanks for shareing

[Ashbys]

Thor,
Thanks learning the celtic knot gives an entire new appreaction for your work, And if you didn't see the celtic work of ljmulledy you should some excellt work there.

tgamble ,
celtic knots are from the old Norweagein, Irsih and Scottish carvings, if you go to Lora Irish's sight you will see many different examples www.carvingpatterns.com

and an excellent place for learning. Thank you for the compilments. I am learning as I go .

Finished the second Lion today , so while studing the pics, I though you might enjoy seeing them.
And as I look at them I see something that needs corrected. So I guess I am not quite finished .. lol

Ash

[tgamble57]

facinating, and very good thanks

[Kenny_S]

You are showing an ear on the left one but not on the right one. I like the way the right one looks not that the left one isn't looking good. The eye on the right seems to me a little more right than the left.

ALL in all Ash, great piece. Love the way you have added the ce;tic knots and the egales and the lions. Both signs of power like Jackson was.

Keep us [osted Ash, Love your reliefs.

[Ashbys]

Kenny ,
The ear was there but the one on the right chipped as the cuts were added to the inside, seemed to high light it a bit more , and after you pointed it out , I liked the highligh , so now both ears have been cut to get the light shadow.

Susan ,
Youwere ver correct , the hair line was to high on the left , I modified it , really made a difference , .

Ash

[Irish]

Ashby, Thanks for that little change. It lets me see the face shape now.

Ok ... I am going to suggest a few more changes but PLEASE know that I can suggest these because what you have done is so excellent that I can catch those few areas that don't quite match yet.

Oddly, it is often the case that the better the carving, the more accurate, the more we can see what works and what doesn't ....

In the Stonewall image, red lines, you can see in the photo that the dome of the skull in the forehead area is wider than the widest point of the cheek bones. You captured that difference in width excellently.

When you raised the forehead on the left side up into his hair line you caught that for this gentleman his forehead area from the corner of the eyes to the hair line is longer than the line from the corner of the eyes to the center of the mouth. Because he is bald there is more skin above the eyes than below.

In the Stonewall B image look closely at how his cheeks fall away from the eye.
Stonewall was an older man so the skin of his face had lost it's elasticity. The puff
of the cheek has fallen into his front jowl area. That's the blue arrow on the photo
pointing up next to his mustache.
Even though his cheek bones are the highest part of his skull the skin that covers those bones and the fat padding has dropped from age. So for him the high point of his cheek is almost parrallel with his mustache. It's not directly below the center of his eye.

Because the skin and fat have begun to sag notice how straight the line is from his
cheek into his mutton chop areas of his sideburns. That should be a very straight line or plane on your carving. In the Stonewall photo you can see the side edge of the cheek bone and how all of the skin below is dropping.

At this moment your carving of Stonewall is about 10 years younger than the photo from which you are working Your high point of your cheeks is still at the bone area and his cheeks are still defined where they disappear into the mutton chops.

Stonewall B, These are small areas of shadow in the photo that define that drop in his skin. The skull just above the temple is beginning to be very noticeable. That's because the forehead skin is sagging and catching in that area of his forehead.

The brow line is perfect .... DON'T TOUCH THAT AREA AGAIN!!!!! I love strong brow lines

But the left eye needs it's farthest corner tucked down, a lot! Your photo is not a
straight on picture. Stonewall has his face slightly to the left which means this eye corner has to be a little lower than any other eye corner.

OK ... One more little thing ... that man was so bald that he parted his hair very low then brushed the hair on our right side across the top to our left. Then he puffed his front bangs to hide that part ... So his part means that the hair section on our right is just a tad deeper into the skull.

Now I know very well these are very little very fussy points ... but you are soooo close to having him perfect .... And I know that he is a man who's life has impressed you but at the time of this photo, the one you are working from, he was old, he was very tired and he was a very sad gentleman. It shows in the sagging of his face and eyes.

P.S. The lions and eagles are beautiful!
Susan

[Ashbys]

Susan ,

Thank you. Your correct I did indeed notice the change modifed his appearence, and I noticed the eye would have to be adjusted, It really is amazing how hard thier lives were, and the effect it had upon them. If I remember Jackson was 35 when this photo was taken , and I did add too much youth into his face.
The nose could use more adjustment , but It is of course starting to get a bit short. So I made a few minor changes there , but I am to the point of being forced, but I took note of the other areas , modifed and here is the result. I think you will agree much better.
The first pic was fisrt pass, modifing to your notes the second pic was after studying the first pic and the present finial .

Oh And thank you for the lions and eagles the last eagle is comming well and should finish it tomarrow morning .

Garry

[Irish]

Yes, what an improvement. Funny, isn't it, how changing one small thing can change the entire appearence of a carving.

Before I was not sure if what I was seeing was in the forehead height, eye placement or cheek bone line. Once you change the forehead it was clear that the eye placement was very correct and that the second change was in flattening that far cheek as you have just done.

Keep going, Garry! You've got it now.

Susan