Trying to get a Head.

Here is the third installment of carving the happy fisherman. In the last blog I finished the main body and started on the head, in this post I'll be finishing it. Just to refresh your memory this is where we left off...


Carving the body is always fun, but the head is the part that really give the piece character. If the body is done well but the face is out of shape or lifeless it can ruin the whole piece, so it's important to take your time and focus on the details. I find that small things, like the smile lines at the side of the mouth or the squint of the eyes are what make the face, and bring it to life.

So "head" to the photo gallery and check out the rest of the pictures, (some of them are a little out of focus, sorry about that, but you'll get the idea), and thank you all for you kind comments.

Goin' Fishing' Part II

Here is the next installment of "As the Carving Turns". Last time we watched we were doing the preliminary work, getting the idea down on paper and sawing out the form. This is how it looked when we left..
This time we will finish carving the body. I show it step by step to make it easier, but quite often I move around on the piece, I'll work on the hands for awhile then stop and do the torso, and so on. Doing so keeps it from getting too boring working on the same spot for too long, also it keeps the whole piece in proper proportion, so the arms aren't too long or the feet too big.

To see more pictures go to the "Favorite Sites" column on the left and click on "Carving Photo Gallery". That will take you to Picasa Web Albums, just click on the album called Goin' Fishin' Part II. Let me know if you have problems going from here to there, I do want it to be easy, thank you.

Carving 101

I have been asked by a few of you to show how I do my carvings. While inviting you all over would show things better I don't think you'd all fit in my shop, so I'll try to do my best here on my blog.

All my carvings start with getting an idea down on paper. and while I don't carve too bad I 'm not the best pencil artist! A few of my carvings come from books and magazines but most are my own concepts. Caricature carving exaggerates certain body parts but everything still has to be in correct proportion to one another. To do this I start with a drawing in a book I have for the basic form, and using pivot points like the shoulder, elbow, etc, I move the limbs where I need them for the carving I want to do.

Here is the sketch for the carving I will be doing, I'm calling it "Goin' Fishin'.

You will notice that the poor guy has no head, that's not my poor drawing skills, it's easier to carve the head separate from the body, plus you can mount the head on an angle giving the piece the feeling of movement.

To see the rest of the pictures for starting the carving go to the link on the side bar tilted "My Carving Photo Gallery", you may have to click on "My photos" on the far left underneath Picasa, that will open all my albums then click on the Goin' Fishin' picture.

Stay tuned for more posts where I'll show more of this carving.

No I didn't die, I'm just thinking.

It has been such a long time since I posted that some of you may have thought I died, or left the country or something like that. Well I'm still here it's just that my mind has been running a blank on what to share with you all. While my wife can find tons of stuff to post about, my life is either very boring or I have a bad case of writers block. I am planing on staring another carving soon and hope to take pictures of the process to share here, so stay tuned for that. Until then, if I come up with something I'll let ya' know.