Well he is all painted and done for the most part. I decided he looked like he was in need of a smoke and by the one he is smoking you can tell he has had one of those days. I guess a bent cigarette is better than no cigarette at all. Remember he is based on photos of WWII soldiers and they smoked back then so it's ok, really. It could be that he was out on bivouac or on maneuvers, either way he it looks as if he earned his smoke. I considered giving him a cigar but wanted him to be Mr. Joe average soldier not a nail spitting platoon sergeant. The idea was to represent all the average Joe who went through the military during that time frame and after and then came home raised a family and ran the local business, the back bone of the war effort if you will.
You may have noticed his head is slightly leaning to the side. The way I achieved this was by using a piece of copper wire coming out of his neck into the body of the bust carving. This gives me some flexibility on how I pose his head. It also firms the head up and helps hold it in place. Of course there will be limitations based on how wide the opening of the collar is as well as to the thickness of the neck. It's a caricature carving so it doesn't have to be to scale but I don't like the ones where the neck looks to be a toothpick compared to the size of the head and body. I do like carving them separate so I can have options in the direction he is glancing. I may have carved with a certain game plan but in the end change the direction of his glance and thus possibly changing the direction his head should be turned.
In the end I am extremely pleased with the way this one came out could be one of my best overall carvings thus far, but I have more wood in the shop so time will tell.
as always
"Good night and may God bless"
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