Carved Santa Ornament

Last year my youngest son, Travis, went on a service call where the lady had several of these out on a table that she had made.  During the time he was there, he showed a real interest in her carvings and talked about art mentioning I sketched and painted and have for years.  He shared where I started out painting on wood and gradually changed course into what I do today.

When he was finished with the work he had to do, the lady gifted him (as a special thank you) with two Santas........one an ornament and one free standing to sit on a shelf.  She sent two so that he could give me one.

Travis gave me the shelf sitter and then the ornament as his gift to me to keep as a set.  I absolutely LOVE these hand carved Santas!!!  Something I might like to explore to learn to do on my own.

Although I've sketched these carvings before (last year), I wanted to do so again as a graphite sketch. 

I wasn't sure if I wanted to add color because I wanted it to look like a graphite sketch and maintain a rustic look.  I feared messing it up adding color.  I mulled over that decision throughout the day and then decided to go ahead and do so reminding myself if I did the sketch once, I could do it again if I needed to.

Because the ornament is the main topic, I chose to only emphasize it with color and leave the hand alone.

FIbook75x75 / Stonehenge Aqua / Pental Graphgear 1000 .07 mechanical pencil / DS watercolors