I started by tracing the drawing onto the slab of wood , then bandsawed it into a round shape and turned it true, then turned in a detail to form a rim to the outer edge of the peice on the wood turning lathe.
This is the blank after being turned on the lathe, I think it ended up under six inches ( 150mm ) overall.
I then decided to put it back on the lathe and turn a recess around the lion so I had a constant depth to aim for around the whole background, this would make it easier to keep the depth constant.
I attached a square block to the back so it can be held in the carving vice for working on.
Then its a case of going around the outline of the subject with the V tool.
Once thats is done as much as you can get into with the V tool its a case of removing the background so that just the design will stand proud, I am already thinking this should have been twice the size as its really fiddly and very easy to chip bits off you want to keep unless every cut is thought about with reference to grain direction. With the carving having the square on the back it can be rotated to make the direction of cuts easier.
This is the stage I have reached so far , its taken a good few hours, when finished the plan is the background will either be left tool finish with small scoop marks off the gouge or maybe punched with a chequered punch as leatherworkers or silversmiths use and the lion will be rounded off and made as 3D as the depth will allow. Its proving to be far more tricky than I thought it would be so going slowly.
Cheers Mick.
