Help needed with carving design

[BillF/TRF]

I recently finished building a Chambers York County rifle and am ready to do some decorating.  I have attached a photo of my practice blank (carved from a chunk of hard maple).  I drew a design that was inspired mainly from colonial gunsmith George Schreyer along with some of my own embellishments.  I am looking for some constructive criticism--too complex a design (I have some woodcarving experience with basswood & butternut carvings and a good collection of gouges and chisels), design elements that don't belong or are drawn incorrectly, design too close to border, etc.  Thanks in advance!

[smallpatch]

Nicely done.  Just one thing I notice.
Floral designs flow from a base.  Like a real plant.  The tendrils, fore and aft of the cheekpiece, should "grow" from there.
Other than that, very smooth transitions are what it's about.
A couple of tweaks, and start carving.

[rich pierce]

Has a 1790s feel.

[Jerry V Lape]

I think the design is pretty nice.  As Smallpatch noted above, you need to make a couple changes to "grow" the elements out of the wood.  Here is my suggestion.  The Scroll behind the cheekpiece needs to be moved forward and down with the stem perhaps partially onto the sloped rear shoulder of the cheekpiece. That will make it look more grown from a logical place.  The scroll forward of the cheekpiece should probably be flipped upside down from its current orientation for the same reason.  Also, the work under the cheekpiece is all straight lines.  Change those straight outlines into some curved organic looking lines.  Natural growths like ferns and vines have very few straight lines. Vines and stems with parallel sides are uninteresting anyway.  You can still use the cross hatching if you like.  If you have access to Rifles of Colonial America Vol I look at Numbers 67 Dickert, No. 77 Ferree and especially No.78 Isaac Haines to see what we are talking about with respect to both the growth of the scrolls and the organic treatment under the cheekpiece.  If you don't have the Vol I contact me on PM and we can probably get you a couple photos.

[Mike Brooks]

I recently finished building a Chambers York County rifle and am ready to do some decorating.  I have attached a photo of my practice blank (carved from a chunk of hard maple).  I drew a design that was inspired mainly from colonial gunsmith George Schreyer along with some of my own embellishments.  I am looking for some constructive criticism--too complex a design (I have some woodcarving experience with basswood & butternut carvings and a good collection of gouges and chisels), design elements that don't belong or are drawn incorrectly, design too close to border, etc.  Thanks in advance!

Actually looks very good. BUT....I'd go more Schreyer and less BillF/TRF.

[Pete G.]

To my eye the upper scroll looks a little to large for both the stock and the rest of the pattern.