This is my first go at carving maple and first foray into any kind of rococo scrolls. If you know how to sharpen and use a chisel, you can carve decorative designs wood, no big mystery to it. The only thing that is particularly new to me is the long skew chisel, which really is a knife in use. Took about three shavings to get the hang of relieving up to a line and gauging where the point is under the chip, great tool. Push it with your thumb and when it starts resisting because it's about to dig into a dip in the grain, draw and slice out of it.
My first incised wood engraving took a minute on a test piece. I kept slipping just enough to spoil the curves and get little overruns. "Hmm, this is like engraving metal, which I do asian style. Need a mallet. A very light mallet." My wooden file card was handy so I grabbed that and started tapping away, problem solved!