I finally finished this vase. I replaced the gold Rub-n-buff with gold leaf. It looks a lot better. There are still a lot of things I would do if I do it again.
Because of the way I recessed the carved part it makes it look like it has a second foot to stand on. At least from this angle. I think I would eliminate the real foot.
I'm not happy with the texture I chose for the gold leaf portion. I think it needs to be quite different from the other texture. I used the same dremel engraver but I put a fine point on it to give the gold area a finer detail. I don't like it but the wood is too thin at this point to go back and sand it off to start over.
The outside I'm fairly pleased with, but I carved it with a rotary carver and didn't have as much control over the shapes as I would have with a hand held carving tool. I'll have to practice more with my gouge to achieve these kinds of cuts. It's too easy to get tearout so I was afraid to use it.
