DIY pixel face wooden pencil holder

I made this this holder from a scrap piece of pine.

First of all I cut the bottom of the piece. Then I cut one side. I continue by making two parallel cuts on the sides. Those last cuts do not go all the way.

Then I take my chisel and easily remove material with the direction of the grain. This way I hollowed the body of the piece.

Now I glue all the parts together and apply clamp pressure.

I fine tune the meeting points with my chisel.

I draw the facial characteristics on a scrap piece of plywood and cut them all on my scroll saw.

I glue them up. I apply pressure with a weight.

I fill the gaps with glue and wood dust by sanding over the glue. I sand the whole piece.

I apply a white base color to the piece.

I paint it black.

I wanted the facial characteristics to have a swirly look. So before the black dries completely I applied the green color. This way the two colors mix a little bit.

After the piece is dry, I apply 2 coats of clear satin water based varnish on it. To make things a little easier I made a base using hot glue and screws. This way I don't have to wait for the bottom to dry, before I varnish the rest of the piece because the piece can sit on it.

My pencil holder is ready.