a small writing desk start to finish #3: learning to cut half-blind dovetails and a wood gloat

I started practicing through dovetails a couple weeks ago, since I had never even attempted hand cutting before, they are still a bit rough, but I realized that for this project I will need half blind dovetais, since with the curved front I will not be able to make a drawer box with a seperate face, and I really wouldnt want to do that for furniture anyway, it’s just what ive done in the past for cabinets. So tonight I cut my first practice set of half blind dovetails. here’s a couple pics.

Last weekend I bought some black walnut from a guy on craigslist. It was completely rough, and seemed very dry, then he told me that it has been sitting in a barn for nearly 20 years. Sold!
I bought:
8/4×14” x 9’
4/4×12” x 8’
4/4×10” x 8’

So far I have milled the leg blanks, and took a small piece from the end of a 4/4 board to practice my dovetails, there was a small section between an end check and a 3” knot that I knew wouldnt be very usable, so I figured it would be a good practice piece. you can see a beautifully figured, twisted grain piece from near the knot in the pics above, but here’s the rest of what ive milled.