Drunken Viking- Unfinished

One Horn Too Many I think...

This little fellow has had one too many horns of ale. He is inspired by a bunch of great guys from Peel on the Isle of Man who I met in 2005 on a viking longboat racing weekend in Killeyleagh, Northern Ireland. 

Often I will start a piece and spend the next few months picking it up and putting it down again. Unless I'm carving for a particular occasion/person/gift I find that it is the act of carving that I love more than the production of the end result. This guy has been in my pocket for about three months, he occasionally swaps with a sketch of a mouse that I've also had on the go for ages.

He is probably going to take a back seat now as I'm just starting work on a little gift for a friend. I won't say what it is yet as she might read this blog and we would rather it be a surprise when she gets it.

It is however in a timber that I haven't carved before and in fact don't even know the species, I inherited it from my Dad.

When I do get to finish this chap I am thinking perhaps of using pyrography to burn in some of his features such as beard and decoration on his shield, that sort of thing. He might even get sent off to the Isle of Man, who knows...

Nearly forgot to mention he is carved in Ash which is from the tree in our back garden and is largely still fairly green. He stands a little over 2 inches tall. I won't be putting too much more detail into him as the timber really doesn't like much fussy stuff but I think I will smooth him down quite a lot before giving him a couple of layers of Danish Oil.