Whittling The Wee Leprechaun #3

I know!  There's a lot of steps.  You think it's hard to follow them?  try to slow down your whittling into the same number of steps, take a photo, write a description, and keep track of everything.  Try doing it with a mind that has a few years on it.  Might even say "rode hard and put up wet" to many times.

In this step, make a stop cut defining the bottom of the arms, and remove the chip.  Check each side to make sure the arms are in about the same position.

Make a stop cut at the top of the shoes.  make this stop cut all the way around the Leprechaun.  Cut down to this stop cut.

Round and shape the belly and chest. Round and taper the legs to the shoe tops.

Mark and make curved stop cuts for the pockets on each side.  Be sure to make the stop cuts for the pockets the same height from the shoe tops.

With your knife, taper the arm into the pocket.

Shape the shoes.

Draw lines for the vest and make shallow stop cuts at these lines.

Cut up to the vest stop cuts to leave the vest a bit higher than the belly.

Draw the hair line and the lines that define the arms at the back.  Make stop cuts on these lines.

First remove a chip from each arm (on the back) where the arms and the hair meet.  Make this a nice deep chip.  Next make cuts into the stop cuts at the arms.

Draw a line on the back that will be the bottom of the vest.  Make a stop cut on this line.  Remove a slice of wood up to this stop cut, to make the bottom of the vest higher than the rest.

Make shallow stop cuts on the lines that define the beard and the mouth.  Use the knife to cut up to the beard stop cuts, so the the beard stands out a wee bit from the face.  Do the same for the smiley mouth.

At this point I would call this Leprechaun rough whittled.  It needs some cleaning up.  I'll use several steps to make a cleaner piece.  First I'll use the knife to make some final details and remove any "fuzzies".  I'll thin the hat brim, round the top  of the hat, round the arms, and make some squinty eyes.  After that I'll give the piece a good scrubbing with a denture brush and some liquid soap.  After the piece dries I'll do any final clean up with the knife.

Some may want to do some more extensive whittling to thin the body so that the arms stand out more. but I think for a quick whittle it'll do.

I'll post a final photo in the next few days....After I get some more time.....