In living color

Here are the three carvings after being painted. I had asked my boys what color I should paint the cap of the third Santa. It was my older son’s suggestion, actually more a joke to paint him with a purple cap. As you see I did it and was very happy with the result. Out of the three this is my youngest son’s favorite even though he still thinks his cap should have been red.

On a side note when I was at the craft store looking for paint for the faces it was my younger son who picked coral. This color was a little lighter than I thought I might like but thought with a touch of brown it would work pretty well. On the purple cap gentleman I used the coral by itself (as suggested by my son) with a little extra color added to the nose and cheeks and am happy the way it turned out.

So back to the carvings; by the expression of purple Santa, he seems confused or bothered by something. Maybe he doesn't like the color of the cap either. I like playing with the expressions of the carvings. This adds some fun to the character and gives me a variety to look at as I carve multiple roughouts. Out of the three, his proportions are the more pleasing for me and I will stick with similar proportions in future carving. As for the purple we will see, maybe other colors will be tested, you just never know.