My First Carve.

[BarOverT]

This is the first carve I have ever done. I inherited some tools from a family member and took to it about a month ago. Iv always had a desire to learn Sheridan carving and someday build my own fully tooled saddle. Let me know what you think I would love your constructive criticism. How do you guy's n gal's get your flower petals to look so darn good? thanks.

[rktaylor]

I think that looks pretty good. It's not world class, but neither is mine. I plan to spend a lot of time in 2015 just working on floral patterns. It's just time in the saddle.

I wonder if it's better to carve the same pattern multiple times to track success or move on. There's a lot of different ways to draw all the components and each seems to require different tooling.

Carve another one.

Randy

[IngleGunLeather]

I've only completed two projects myself. Prolly not the best to give advise. So, I won't try to do so on the tooling. However, I have studied Chan Geers patterns and try to mimick his work.

[Bob Blea]

One thing I notice is that around some of the leaves and flower petals it doesn't look like you've beveled around your swivel knife cuts. I particularly see this on the top petals of both flowers. I'm not sure if it's just the picture or your not getting good depth when you are beveling. It also looks like the leather was maybe too dry when you were working with it. Try to get deeper swivel knife cuts and make sure you are casing the leather well before you carve. Check out Hidepounder's pinned tutorial here on casing as good casing will make your leather much easier to work with and give you better relief.

Keep it up you're off to a good start!