And the process continues…
I drew guidelines of where to start carving the concave sections of the shell niche.
In order to position these lines correctly, I made 3 levels of location marks to make sure the lines are accurate – one mark at the outside edge, one half-way down the length, and one towards the center, where they all converge. There will actually be a scroll design carved in this central section, so I made this final mark right before this large block of wood that has been left. I simply located the center lines with calipers – dividing them off in the correct proportions. Then I located the edges of the concave sections based on the center lines.
I used a flexible straight edge in order to keep the lines accurate as they curve along the surface.
I am very pleased with the way this is turning out. I am waiting on my spoon bent gouges and should be receiving them Wednesday. I have a few that I have been able to use, but they are not ideal.
Once I get these carved very close to the block of wood where the center scroll detail will be, I will carve this scroll. It will look like it is curling up, and therfore these concave sections will appear to be tucking under it. So, I will need to wait until I am completely finished with the center scroll detail before I complete the final ends of the shell ribs.
What I love about this design is that the bottom edge is going to appear to be an actual scroll. I think this is going to be quite a beautiful ending to the shell. It gives the shell a much more real and organic feel.