Lew,
With the beautiful carving you show above I must disagree with you. You have the skill to carve anything you want.
I know my attention span is not what it once was, so I carve pieces and parts of a duck. I block it out, rough out the block, do the side pnls. the tail, etc. I plan on spending no more than one hour at a time on a carving. Most of the time I get so involved I spend more time but then I must be having fun. If it starts to not be fun, lay it down. If you are interested in carving a duck, I have a booklet here someplace that is almost like a dot to dot instructions. I have used this with my students for many years. Our classes always ran one night per week, for two hours. Some carve at home but many only carve during the class. If you want to, I can see the hand skills you already have are way ahead of most of my students. If you want, contact me e-mail, denny@conranch and we will get you going. Several of my students have gone on to become World Class Carvers. I have never charged anything for my classes. Students buy only their wood and own tools. Have loaned tools to some so they can determine what works best for their hands.
I love those tie tacks!!

Denny