JD Beck: what I see when I study your drawing and then your carving is that you have drawn and cut what you 'interpret' from JP Beck's work, not what you are seeing. In order to capture the essence of original carving, you must abandon your own ideas and concepts and recreate what is actually there.
The lines of original work are smooth without flat spots or kinks. And elements that create those tendrils and bulbs are almost parallel to each other, diverging just enough to create an organic feeling in the work. In your drawing, the lines opposite one another seem to have no relationship to the ones opposite. I am having difficulty describing what I mean, and would find it easier if we were sitting at a table together examining your drawing and carving. But going back to my first statement, try to as best you can, draw what you see rather than what you think is OK. And relief carving on originals is often much lower than what it appears. 1/16" would be mountainously high carving. Relief carving that appears to be high is an illusion created by stabbing in the edges, accentuating the elements.
