You wait ages for a dragon, and then two come along at once; a matter of weeks after completing the Newport Primary School dragon, another set of workshops was arranged at St George’s Primary School in Hull ~ and what else could the carving be but another dragon?
I had originally been commissioned to carve a log bench for the school in memory of a pupil who had tragically died suddenly, with the children choosing the designs.
The interest and enthusiasm for the bench led to the idea for the workshops, and a nice straight length of beech was subsequently delivered.
I’d come prepared with some drawings, and got to work drawing the dragon onto the trunk with a graphite stick.
The hardest technique for young children tends to be using the V tool, so I usually start them off.
I gouged a little around the shape to make the dragon clear, so the younger pupils could grasp what we were doing.
At the end of the first day, the dragon is already leaping off the trunk. After day two, the body and wings are starting to get some shape….
After the last session ~ and our dragon is alive!!!