Artisans, 
The wood is popular. The primer used was a dark grey to give the Cherry Red Metallic paint a depth to the piece. The piece is hand carved, I use a 3/8 curved knife, a 1/4", 1/2" straight chisel and an array of plastic, rubber and steel plates. Please visit my YouTube podcast: "woodtalkwithtru" Episode 005 to see a montage of my work.  Subscribe, Like and Share if you will. Thank you for your kind comments. Tru