Carving the Whittle Pup

Separating the head

Extend the side lines again, down from the top of the piece to the bottom. Then, draw the neck line from the bottom of the jaw, around the side, and 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) or one pencil width behind the side line. This is where we'll cut to separate the head from the body.

The neck line should be flat (parallel with the desk) or angle up very slightly. Do not make it angle down towards the back. You should be careful here and try to make the angles the same on both sides of the neck. We'll be rounding and shaping later, but it's easiest if you start with the sides looking at least somewhat similar.

Make a stop cut along the neck line, from one side, across the front, to the other side. This cut doesn't have to be very deep. Maybe 1/16 inch (0.15 cm). All you're going to do at this point is take a small amount of wood from the body to show the separation. The figure won't have much of a neck, if any at all.