I just posted another video on my woodcarving school site on techniques I use to clamp the wood securely – for protection of me, and protection of the wood.
I probably use some unorthodox ways of holding wood, but I simply use what holds the wood the tightest, and also allows me to have access to the carving surface without potentially damaging the woodcarving tools, or me.
I also go through some of the processes of how to clamp wood if you do not have the full workbench with vices, bench dogs, etc. When I first started carving, I carved on my kitchen table – so I had to be pretty creative about how to hold the wood down – without damaging my kitchen table too! In spite of my efforts to protect the table, I did put a few nice gouges in it.