I could use your design opinions please

My wife loves Christmas so I was thinking about making her something that she can use to decorate with.

I drew up this design, my wife and I both have Norwegian heritage so just for something different I used "Gledelig Jul!" which is the Norwegian equivalent of "Merry Christmas", unless I'm wrong and it's actually a Norwegian curse word........LOL

I wanted this to be a surprise, so I can't ask her opinion, but I just feel like the entire design is lacking something, or maybe I need to go a whole different route, I don't know.
I would paint this, I'm thinking older style color scheme. More of a burgundy santa suit, ivory trim, greyish beard, maybe gold leaf lettering, that kinda thing........
But I'm open to ideas, suggestions or criticisms.

I've just hit a wall on this and could use another set of eyes on it.

Thanks in advance

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I think the design is fine. I would take feather off the santa pattern (turn off Floor Feather if Designer 3).

Agree. Turn off feathering of Santa.

Great design! I love the Santa.
If you do not have a feather on the inside of the oval I would maybe experiment with that and see if you like the look of it.

I got rid of the santa feather and it does look much better, that was an artifact from a different layout and I didn't think to remove it.
I like the idea of experimenting with the oval feather too.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it!
I've looked at this off and on for a couple days and I needed a fresh set of eyes.
Simple little changes, but I got stuck in a rut that I couldn't seem to get out of.

I think I'll try moving santa a little left and see if that balances out a bit too.

I still need to pick up some maple to carve this, so I'll be open to suggestions right up until I fire up the machine.

I'll post some photos when I get it done.

Thanks again!

I noticed a big difference using a separate oval frame pattern. Layering the height really unified the pattern without the feathering gaps.

I beveled the frame edges because I thought it looked better but if you want a straight edge frame let me know. 30 seconds to make one.

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Originally Posted by oscarl48

I noticed a big difference using a separate oval frame pattern. Layering the height really unified the pattern without the feathering gaps.

I beveled the frame edges because I thought it looked better but if you want a straight edge frame let me know. 30 seconds to make one.

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Thanks man!
I gotta gotta try that, I really like the depth that it gives, it brings the Santa to the front more.
It's a subtle change but it pulls your eyes toward it and makes it more of a focal point.

The bevels on the oval do make it more finished looking.

All the little details really do add up.
I'm starting to wonder if I'm just out of practice or if I looked back at my old work over the years if there was a lot of little improvements I could have made.
I suppose the answer is probably, both.

I glued up some maple planks yesterday and plan to start routing this morning.

I tweaked the design some more since my original post.
I used the Pattern on Trajectory tool to add rosettes to the oval frame I added them in two sets with different rotation angles, I also used the sweep rounded to give the oval a little profile.
The Pattern on Trajectory tool gave me fits, I really struggled with it. It has a lot of strange behaviors that I wasn't expecting or understanding, but I got it to work somehow.
I still don't fully understand how it functions, but this is the first time I've used it too.

And as always I fight with and swear at the whole Group/clip/merge process. I never have been able to wrap my mind around it.
My past and current process involves trial and error mixed with large amounts of profanity and tantrum throwing, maybe not the most efficient strategy, but it does seem to always work.

Here is the most recent iteration.
My finishing plan will be pretty time consuming, I think.
While it's carving I will be experimenting with some glazing techniques, some metallic finishes, and some antiquing waxes.
Not sure what I'm getting myself into, I have it all planned out in my head what I want it to look like, I'm just not sure how to do it yet.
But I would assume the carve time on this will be long, so I have some time to teach myself how to do what I'm thinking.

I'll post some finished photos, unless it turns into a miserable failure, then I'll just lie about it and say I changed my mind......lol

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Looks good! I know what you mean about the group/clip/merge thing. It's always a trial and error procedure for me. Please post a picture of the finished project.

Looks great, can't wait to see the finished product.
Rick H

Can't wait to see the end result. The design looks great.

Thanks everyone!

I made one minor design change before I started routing.
I was thinking about what oscarl48 said, and I lowered the oval border a little more to bring the Santa to the top a bit.
About 5 hours into the carve I was wishing I would've done this in layers and appliques instead, I could've really built some nice depth into it.

Right out of the machine.


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I realized that the number of tabs I place is directly proportional to the carve time, this is what over 10 hours of tabs looks like....LOL
A bit of overkill..........


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Sanded up

I have it sanded and sprayed with primer now.
My original plan was to stain the textured background and paint everything else, but I have a lot of faint stepover lines and that's a lot of sanding to try and get rid of them.
I'm concerned that sain will only magnify the problem too.
I sure wish I would've had time to build my Universal carrier before I carved this, I'm hopeful it might improve my cut quality a little more.
My rosettes could've been just a little more pronounced, but with my plan for finishing I think the might still be OK...... Probably.
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Your pictures do not show up..

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Originally Posted by fwharris

Your pictures do not show up..

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I think I've got them fixed now.

I've been painting off and on today between other projects, but it'll probably be next weekend at least before I'm able to finish it.

Well done! Waiting to see the finished project!

Well..... I'm still a long ways from finished, but It's starting to shape up, I'm happy with the direction it's going so far.

I have a fair amount of touch up and detail work to do on Santa yet, and I still haven't decided what the rest of the sign will look like yet.
But if it keeps going like it did today I might even have this ready by Christmas.

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Coming along nicely. Santa looks great!

Looks great!. Your painting skills are way better than mine.

Ditto on the comments. Looks great so far. Can't wait to see the final project.

Wow! Your painting skills are amazing. Wish I could paint like that.

Thanks everyone!

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Originally Posted by Mikewiz

Wow! Your painting skills are amazing. Wish I could paint like that.

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Painting a carving for me is almost like a coloring book, because I have lines to follow.
I couldn't paint that on just a plain flat sheet of paper.

Just remember, you can't screw up because you can always paint over a mistake.
Relax and go for it.
I run short on patience sometimes, so I get up, walk away and do something else for a little bit and then come back to it.

I'm not using anything special, fairly cheap brushes and low cost acrylic paints like Folk Art brand.
Next time I'm in the shop I'll snap a couple photos of what I'm using and the way I do a couple things, maybe it'll help you out a bit.

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Originally Posted by spalted

I realized that the number of tabs I place is directly proportional to the carve time, this is what over 10 hours of tabs looks like....LOL
A bit of overkill..........

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The number of tabs shouldn't affect carve time much. Why do you think so?

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Originally Posted by DickB

The number of tabs shouldn't affect carve time much. Why do you think so?

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lol.....I just meant that if I'm doing a quick carve I'll gamble and go for the bare minimum least number of tabs I think I can sneak by with, but when my carve times start hitting that 10-20 hour range I get worried and start adding tons of extra tabs because I'm afraid it'll break loose and ruin it.

Ok, gotcha.

looks awesome!

I've been sitting in the shop painting whenever I had a bit a free time, I've also been hacking, coughing and sneezing with some crud that's been going around here, but I did manage to finish it up and give it to my wife as an early Christmas present this morning.


Hung up in its final resting place.

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A little closer shot.
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This one that I took in the shop before I gave it to her shows some of the antiquing a little better.
It's hard to catch a lot of the things I did in a photo.
The maple I used has some pretty wild color variation so I painted the background behind the lettering, then washed over it with some brown mixed in a glaze, and a few paint spatter fly specks were added, trying to make it look older than it really is.
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The aftermath of hours of painting.
Nothing extravagant, cheap Folk Art paints.
I use scrap wood, bits of sheet metal and plastic as pallets to mix and blend paint on until I get the color I want.
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Most of what I own are just pretty cheap brushes.
The flat one sitting crosswise on top has been my workhorse for painting carvings for a long time.
The shape works well for getting reasonable crisp paint line transitions.
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This has be a super fun project.
I haven't had much time to use my Carvewright for much other than some little odds and ends projects for a few years, and it's been many years since I've done any painting of this type, I've really enjoyed myself.

Thanks for the ideas and compliments, and thanks for looking!

You have done a great job and your wife should be very pleased with your results. It is an eye catcher for sure!

Beautiful project. Really awesome painting skills.

Outstanding work!!! Thanks for keeping us up to date as the project progressed!

Very Nice!

Very nice carv and out standing painting

Love the project. The various textures give each part their own definition and your finish work really shows it off. Should become a family heirloom.

Thanks everyone, I sure appreciate the kind words.

I think I needed a project like this again.
Years ago I did a fair number of things like this, then I kinda drifted away from it.

This was a good kick in the pants to get me excited about it again, I sure had a lot of fun doing it.

Who knows, with all my rekindled interest again maybe I'll even take the time to figure out my damn Rotary jig for once.......LOL