A roughout is the start of a carving that allows the carver to skip the first few steps to go right into the good part. Theyre great for developing your creative eye, because they have a basic but distinct shape that lets your imagination take off. The rough figure might have its own shape, but no one said which side was the front, back, top, or bottom. Thats up to you to decide. Hold the roughout one way and maybe youve got a grizzly old rebel in the making; turn it upside down and theres a lazy bullfrog. In his friendly, laid-back way, Tom Wolfe guides