Not Quite What I'd Planned ... but OK.

WELL, I WANTED to do some carving and I did. Started it before "Lost" and finished it after. (Who is shooting at - or around - Ben's daughter?! Questions, questions! And did she ever think she'd seek protection by using her father's name?)
As usual I jumped right into the project. I did a few trial sketches and didn't come up with much that pleased me. I did decide to do leaves, so I drew a few on the "Mastercarve" medium. It cuts like butter. I was a little frustrated at the beginning and just made cuts along the top and sides randomly.
I had forgotten how to achieve the effect I wanted (so much for taking such long breaks from making art), so I went from a negative image to a positive one as my stamp carving went along. But somehow it always seems to look fairly pleasing. Above is the block and the first impression. It helps me to ink it up as I go along so I can see what I'm doing wrong. (It's also encouraging to see something actually happening too.)
The second photo down shows the block further along. You can see my sketch of the vines coming down from the leaves. Now I change over to just going around the leaves and taking a little carve for the vein. The carving tool (skinniest blade) does the best job. Just barely put the blade in the block. You can always make it deeper, but you can't put it back.
Well, I'm done with this and now that I remember how much fun it is, I want to turn this one over and do the other side.
I can also do the edges ... something the Mister suggested.
Nine more days and we are on our way to Cabo San Lucas and then to Todos Santos. The mangoes will not be ripe until June, but I hope the gray whales are still off the coast. Adios until manana. - femminismo (no tildes on these fonts)