[tucker1931]

Mike, this is what I call a tutorial, I'm with you 100% on these close ups, I'm sure we will all benefit from this as we go along, thanks so much buddy.
Cliff

[Iowa Carver]

Looking good Mike! Thanks for the tutorial!

Corey

[gene messer]

Great job Mike ... keep -em coming ..

Gene

[Marci MN]

*sitting here with carving in one hand, knife in the other.. poised.. ready for intermission to be over* Oh I'm liking this tuturial... I so want to learn how to do faces better...

[Mike_B-NY]

Gene,
Hope you don't mind me stepping on your "flat plane" turf. Your stuff is awesome. They're gonna be my next carvings after I finish this project.

OK Marci... here we go("intermission" was me going to that darn "day job")

16. We're basically going to repeat that first wedge cut, this time for Santa's brow. About a third of the way up from that horizontal line you drew last, to the brim of Santa's hat, line the blade up parallel to the horizontal line and press a cut in and under the line. The knife should be tipped approximately 45deg from vertical. Do you notice I use a lot of "about", "approximately", and fractions? This ain't rocket science Folks... eyeball as much as you can... nobody is going to check your measurements and angles later... and this is not a test.

17. This is how it should look at the end of this cut. If you can't make this cut, don't worry. Start closer to line and do Step 18 closer to the line and gradually work your way out in both directions, getting deeper as you go. The other possibility is that it's time to sharpen your knife... go ahead... we'll be here when you get back and I won't tell .

18. Go below the line about 1/2 of the distance to your first wedge cut and cut in and under to the horizontal line. The knife needs to be tipped down this time, further from vertical than the cut in Step 16 (trust me... it's geometry).

19. This is Santa's brow. Again, don't sweat it if you can't cut this wedge out with two strokes... I'm probably just showin' off. Start with a small wedge on the line and work your way out in both directions and deeper untill it looks something like this.

20. Knives down, pencils up! Draw a square top "A" centered on the... well, centerline, and taking up the whole distance between Santa's brow and the top of his 'stache. This is Santa's nose. Slant the sides of the "A" and change the size of the flat top to make his nose broad and wide or thin and narrow to taste. You might want to skip ahead and preview our next cuts, because the nose will end up slightly thinner that it appears here(WARNING: Objects in mirror may appear closer...).




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[BasketballJones]

Yep enjoying it as well. Kind of a cheap thrill for me bet not too many know where Rome is. Glad somebody's still working there. Hope the snow melted. Thanks for doing this.

[tucker1931]

Hey Mike, I've got a hell of an idea, you should make a video of this carving and sell it, you'd probably do real well with it. (is that a snide remark?)
Cliff

[Mike_B-NY]

Lol, Cliff... don't go "there".

[Mike_B-NY]

21. You need to wedge cut out both sides of the "A", but because of obstacles this probably can't be done with two cuts, so... reach up from the mustache and wedge cut the top half of each side, then...

22. ...turn Santa upside down and, reaching down to the mustache, get the bottom of each side of the "A".

23. ...and this is what it looks like upside down...

24. ...and right side up.

25. OK, knife down, pencil up! At the bottom of each leg of the "A" there are new corners now. Mark small triangles off each of those corners. There should be four.




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[Iowa Carver]

Very cool Mike. Thanks for doing this!

Corey