Carving A Thistle

[LNLeather]

I think those look great! What o you mean by petals there is the pod, and the leaves, and the thistle.

I have an emboss plate made by duckcreektraders and here is what that look like

the top 'thistle' is more like lines (or a brush)

Hope this helps

[Chavez]

by the petals I mean the top.

I thought about leaving it blank and putting a lot of decorative lines with a swivel knife but not sure if it's going to look good and whether I can get enough consistency on them =/

I either end up with the "top" that's not detailed enough or just doesn't look natural. Either way it looks out of place when compared to the rest of the carving.

I'll try a few more ideas tomorrow =/

Leaf liner didn't work, camo didn't work,

[rosiart]

From looking at your trial pieces, I think they bother you as they seem too substantial on the top part. The thistle is sort of wispy on top. I wonder if you used a hair blade along with decorative cuts, if you could get that effect.

[LNLeather]

btw - not sure you want to put acorns on your Scottish thistle... ?

[Northmount]

I second using a hair blade. Try the fine and coarse to see which looks the best. I'm tending to the fine blade, since the thistle is wispy.

Tom

[Sylvia]

When I look at your trial pieces, I feel like the flower part... the purple part is over worked. The beveling doesn't enhance the fine detail, but rather makes it look somewhat like a scallop edged spoon. Sometimes LESS is more.

I think if you use a hair blade (or several pointy crafters xacto blades taped together) and make deft long cuts so that it looks a lot like hair... and then only do a little beveling around the entire flower (purple) part and the bulbous area, you will be much happier with the results.

[Chavez]

Thanks guys, I'll try it this week. Don't have any good quality hair blades but let's see if the cheap one works...