Beginning: Untitled

So I just recently ordered ten skate decks and I am so excited for them to get here so I can get to work. Till then I am trying to be sketching and working on other jobs. This is the sketch I have come up with for my next design. I have yet to name this one, but something will come up. 

I have a few things I am still debating about. 

1. should this design be carved or painted? I really feel like some vibrant color and heavy lines will make it pop. However, I really want to stain a board and carve it. I feel that with the symmetry it would be pretty cool as a carved piece. I guess technically I could do both, but that'll probably just get messy. I want to be sure to do whatever will enhance the design the best, so I'll keep my options open for now. I've got a few days till those boards come anyway.

and 2. Does this guy needs a body? Right now its just a head, but I'm pretty okay with that. I don't feel any real need to add a body to it. I tried some when sketching but I kind of just like it they way it is. Maybe throw in some more design effects within the ears but nothing extreme. 

Beginning: Brutus Deck

Original sketch of Brutus:

My plan is to use this design for a skateboard deck. I'm not really sure how it will work out or if it will look remotely good, but might as well try. I went to a local skate shop and picked up a blank wooden board and drew up the design. I kind of got ahead of myself and failed to take photos from the beginning, but I'm sure you'll be able to imagine.

Anyway, on top of the design of Brutus, I wanted to throw in the text of his name. I was unsure about the font to use, so I basically threw a bunch of lines and decided to find the text within the lines. Figured it might help in finding some kind of funky font. This top image is of the lines with the text that I found and the bottom is of the text without the lines. 

And this is top of the board after I carved 'Brutus' into it. It is kind of hard to see since I haven't inked the board yet, but it gives you some kind of idea of what it looks like.

Its probably difficult to see, but these are just images of the board after I carved some of it.