Coming from down at the but end of the stem to include the flair of the buttress which is where the head now hangs, in order to capture that thrust of grain to correspond with the shoulder, as much as possible. More than anything though this was an experiment in carving and analysis of lines, how they flow and merge in relation to the different elements of the handle like shoulder, back, foot etc..., taking things in the particular rather than the universal or general as you might find represented in a pattern lathe made or even vigorously ground and sanded handle making technique where the relationships are obscured beyond recognition.
This wood from down there, the subject of its own peculiar characteristics like a wavy grain, yet not so wild that it runs beyond the boundary of the handle form too much. As is often the case with ash it shows the results of the formation of compression wood but not excessive otherwise it renders a handle attractive but none too functional. These and other features combining to make a piece of wood which poses certain difficulties to the handle carver and yet which can be overcome with light cuts and sharp edges and at the same time offers some advantages for handles.
The concept in fact not by any means imposed because if it had been you'd not see such a wavy curvy form, with crests and troughs like that, me going instead, as a rule, for the straight shot but I ran into this bugger and had to decide either to abandon the work or go around it hoping for the best: the remains of a dead branch which has been grown over.
I think the lines indicate an opening for individualizing the handle while remaining within the scope of forms that have evolved and become accepted. By no means do I claim to have reached any level of accomplishment - this I cannot even say is something that I aspire to - though to get at some refinement was instructive and helped expose a certain potential there to be gone after if the inclination exists.
I have even gone so far, though no pictures to indicate it, as to give the handle a finish coating of raw linseed oil that will provide some initial protection against grime and not much more than that besides a darkening.