After hand carving several walking sticks with wood spirit faces, I had the idea to try painting the wood spirits face. I had a really vivid mental picture of what I wanted to accomplish, but was concerned that it may not turn out well. But, as with all wood carving projects in their beginning stages, you have have a clear mental picture and then work to accomplish the results that you expect.
I set out to hand carve the wood spirit face in the walking stick first, just like I have done on other sticks. I left the eyes without any carved detail because they would be painted during the painting and finishing stage.
walking stick carved