My Hero

OK, so everyone knows that I have an obsession with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yeah, he's wise, kind, strong, brave...oh, and he's pretty easy on the eyes, too. Here's a few stamps of my hero:
A young Obi-Wan, from Ep. I.
My first Obi-Wan attempt, oh-so-long-ago; from Ep. II.By far my favorite carve...from Ep. III.Another from Ep. III - a tragic look on Mustafar.And, lastly, my Old Ben carve from A New Hope (Ep. IV).

Portraits are interesting and challenging, to be sure. I usually will take an image, preferably a photograph, and draw right over the top of it for my transfer. I ambitiously include any shading and am pretty careful around eyes, noses and mouths (you can really mess up a portrait muckin' up any of those things!). I always carve the eyes first, then the rest of the face, before tackling the rest of the image. If you are going to make a fatal mistake, it's better to do it at the beginning, rather than after many hours invested.

Speakin' of time, how much time will it take to carve a portrait? It's hard to say; everyone carves at different speeds. However, I usually will take between 2 - 5 hours from start to finish, depending on the size of the portrait. I tend to be a pretty fast carver, but that's only because I have carved a zillion stamps...well, maybe not a zillion, but close! lol!