Santa

Every year I carve my mom a little Santa for Christmas. You may remember Persian Santa, Kung Fu Santa, and climbing Santa from years past.

This year I was talking to SarahLyla and she mentioned the potential of including a snowflake in this years design. That sparked this year’s idea: Santa riding a snowflake like a sled.

I decided to carve the two pieces separately. First up, the snowflake.

Jigsawed!

While it’s really easy to imagine a delicate complex snow crystal, it’s kinda annoying to draw even the most simple self-dignified snowflake. At first I tried to cut a snowflake out of paper and then copy it onto wood, but even my paper snowflakes were dismal. I vow to never under appreciate the workmanship of a high quality paper snowflake. In the end, the best method for me was to use a protractor and a ruler and draw directly onto the wood. Where I falter in my art, I make up for in simple geometry.

I used a jigsaw to cut out the rough snowflake design.

This Santa was one of the trickier ones I’ve completed. The challenge was that usually my Santas are in a static position. I wanted this Santa to be actively balancing while trying to ride his bucking sled.

That's his leg sticking out on the left.

Note the beast of a carving tool I’m using there. It’s a monster machine I inherited from my grandfather. It makes quick work of the wood, but I wear all sorts of protective gear whenever I operate that monster. It has a tendency to kick off the part and swing into whatever’s holding the wood. As much as possible, I try and use a clamp to hold down the original block.

Santa prepainted, on his sled.

Painting was fun, I used white and blue for the snowflake and a purple/gold for the Santa.

Snowflake!

As I painted, I was hesitant about the choice of dark purple for Santa’s coat, but it cleaned up quite nicely.
The finished product!

Done!