1: Bought the book and carved one
THe book is excellent. It gives a very nice detailed accounting of how to carve a mallard duck detail, soup to nuts. The illustrations are beautiful, the text generally excellent. Covers wood selection, tools, details of carving (down to the shape of the nostrils on the bill and the overlap of the feathers), painting (which takes the bird from a fine shape to the gorgeous bird on the cover).
I am a budding sculptor, and I have a lot to learn. The most important lessons appear to be:
1. Get A LOT of reference material. It would be ideal if you have live ducks wandering around nearby so you can get ready 3D inspiration.
2. Stop FREQUENTLY just to LOOK at the work. It's easy to get too caught up in the process and lose sight of the shape of the whole. I messed up the wings on my first duck and had to start over.
The book has some references for glass eyes, carving tools, etc, but it was a bit sparse. A larger list might be nice.
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