it's almost finished. but I wanted to show it off anyway, in case I slice the snout disc off or something.
this was such an interestingly gnarled bit of wood to start with, I was worried it would be more difficult to carve than it was. as it is, all the little variations in texture and color have worked advantageously: that curved streak over the shoulders, the divot of soft wood right where I curl the tail, the pale striation where the tusk will go, even the rosy patches that landed right on the snout and between the butt cheeks.
which isn't to get, you know, mystical about the process. I'm not "revealing the true form of the piggy that was always within" that section of branch or anything. I'm imposing my will on a natural material, and while the overall shape of what I want to do, carve a piggy, is determined at the start, a lot of the little moment-to-moment decisions, like the exact proportions of the feet and snout, which way the tail curls, whether the ears sweep back or flop forward, etc., are determined by the material itself. working with the wood, instead of against it, because I really hate slicing my own fingers.
wood is cool. I should cut some more whittling branch sections today and bring them in to start drying.
