Thanks Vaughn, but I think I pass on that. I truly think that I could do it, after all the shapes are not so difficult to carve, IMHO it is a matter of perseverance and having a model as reference to look at, and I apologize if I sound pedantic. I do not want to take away the merit from those pieces but I would like to see more intention on them than a perfect reality mimicking
To me it is the paint job that does the trick, as Rob mentions, which I couldn't do BTW, but once you've seen one, the others lose interest. (I've seen his page). I can recall mentioning here that in any piece of art, the difficulty on the execution should play a very small role in its appreciation, which unfortunately many times and for many people it is the opposite. For the same token, a piece made in a dark room wearing boxing gloves should be a great one, shouldn't it?
The "trompe l'oeil" or "cheat the eye" pieces were used extensively since the renaissance in many countries specially in France, mainly in painted walls of palaces and rooms of wealthy people.