Chisel Landscape Carving

With the heavy snow and rain the last few days, life has slowed down.  I was inspired from seeing various metal engraving projects, so I set forth with a small carving on a finished cabinet door.  I'm not sure what type of wood I'm working on, but it isn't all that important.  I want to practice engraving, so I decided to start with the tools and materials I have on hand.

I started by doing some sketches of the wonderful view you see at the top of the pairoducks page.  Bill mentioned in his engraving lesson that landscapes are quite forgiving, so I decided to start with one.  The visage of Mt. Rainier is visible from our back porch and it is steadfast inspiration everyday that I can see it.  After narrowing down the image I wanted to create I copied the sketch onto the cabinet door and started cutting away with a small v shaped chisel.  

I used a few different chisels, but mostly this v tool, a carving knife and a very small 2 mm flat chisel.  I ended up with some chipping from the clear finish coat on the cabinet door, but I was not concerned with the small amount of scabbing.  I wanted to practice controlling the chisel and making detailed small cuts.  

Every now and again the chisel runs off on you and you scribe a much regretted line across the work, but this is the learning process.  Controlling your cuts is no easy task. 

After I finished the carving I threw a little olive oil on there to sink into the grain of the wood. I'm going to build some metal legs for it, so I have a small portable desk to use while seated on the ground.