Part 3 of my project to make my own wooden tortoise was to carve Bertie’s head and face.
If it isn’t obvious, this is the real Bertie, my model.
The stages in carving wooden Bertie’s head are shown below. I was careful to select the angle of grain to give me the best chance of getting the lace grain across his head and shell.
To say it worked a treat is an understatement.
As you can see, the grain flowed down his head to help create the scaly look of his skin.
The second picture shows the outline head shape, with the eye marked on in pencil to make sure that I left enough wood to create the eyeball and lids.
In the third picture you can see the nostrils and form around the eyes roughed out.
I have also left a roll of skin on his neck to give him room to extend his neck.
The picture below shows his finished head:
Next time I will move on to his legs and claws.