Advice for newbie-Roughouts

[mavycc]

I have been carving for a year or so, and have always started my carving from a block of wood. I have trouble "seeing" the carving from a blank. But I have also seen the roughouts that are practically carved for you, but I feel like this isn't "real" carving because it's mostly done for you, you just add the details. This would feel to me like cheating...Could I get some feedback on carving from roughouts as opposed from a block of wood? I'm curious as to what new and experienced cravers think about using roughouts?Bouncing S

[rick-in-seattle]

With a roughout, the framework is located for you, giving you a pretty good start on a finished carving.
I prefer cutouts, they roughly locate the framework, but leave more wood for the imagination.

Carving from a block takes more time and the results are rarely as good as working with a cutout.
Several of my unfinished carvings are from a block of wood; that could be why they are still not finished.

[Kenny_S]

a roughout is a block of wood that has the Basic same made for you. Some are not as basic as others. Cheating? Odd thinking. Cheating is where you carve someone else work and claim it is yours.
You ought to try a couple of roughouts, you probably will like them.After all, you got to keep others in the business.
I carve from blocks of wood, blanks(cutouts), roughouts and enjoy them all. As for cheating, I hae never claim someone else work as my own.
Not as easy as one thinks carving from a roughout. Try one and find out.

best to you and welcome to a very helpfull and opinonated board.

[Mitchell]

This has been discussed from a few different angles in the past.

I'll give a little personal opinion:

Rough outs are popular and used by teachers as a way skip the heavy work and concentrate on the details during classes/seminars, etc. They are also used by carvers that try to make some income by selling carvings that they have designed and can carve quicker from the roughed out stage. They also sell the rough outs for income. People buy them MOSTLY to use in developing carving skills and to save on time.

It's not "cheating" if you are learning - one of the purposes for having rough outs - but any design credit should be given to the original artist.

Also, a rough out does not have to be carved like the original. The artist can change to fit their needs. I carved a scene of two Shriners that was from a Harold Enlow rough out of a male and female trolls ("Troll Mates").

Some rough outs are designed to allow flexibility by the carver. Tom Wolfe had a book that dealt with carving from his "Little Man" rough out and the possibilities were pretty much limitless.

It's only cheating if the carver wants to cheat and claim a rough out as their own design. That kind of takes us back to some of the old discussions which dealt mostly with ethics. Here's one of the discussions - http://woodcarvingillustrated.com/fo...ght=rough+outs

[Mitchell]

That being said, a beginner should strive to learn to design their own carvings. This can be done by drawing or by clay (or some similar molding compound).

Another bit of advice is to study the subject that you want to carve - animals, caricatures, etc.

Take Rick for example - he has taken a lot of time to study the "old" caricature carvings and is considered to be an expert by many.

Sorry, I diagress....

Rough outs still have to be designed by an artist (originally). They have a purpose, but should not be considered a crutch by the beginner carver.

[Lynn O. Doughty]

When you're first starting out roughouts are a great way to get your feet wet. If you don't have access to a bandsaw or others tools they can also be the way to go. However, like a paint by number set, you have to remember that the original work was done by someone else. Sure, you can change the features and the paint job but the model is basically the same one the creator started with.

Problems arise when these roughout based carvings are entered into competitions. Clearly, they shouldn't be given the weight as one done from scratch.

[Ashbys]

Mavycc

This would feel to me like cheating...Could I get some feedback on carving from roughouts as opposed from a block of wood? I'm curious as to what new and experienced cravers think about using roughouts?

First , depending upon what your perspective is , there is no cheating in wood carving except ethicial. Or the stealing of someone elses design. If you want to learn detailing , use roughouts. That you can do without spending hours , just working the block down to something you can start detailing. If you want to learn faces , forget everything else and work faces. The bottom line is the more we do, the more we learn what we want.

If you want to learn how to drape a tunic, using time to cut from a square block will not teach you draping. Roughing out is just part of the process to get to where we want to carve, if that is done with a band saw , a router , a duplicator a cnc .. it is all the same your just working a blank to get to a working point .

You make the choice.

Lynn said:

Problems arise when these roughout based carvings are entered into competitions. Clearly, they shouldn't be given the weight as one done from scratch.

I agree that if a roughout is used in competition and not a roughout designed, and developed by the person that has entered the competition, that is using someone else work , if it is your own I see nothing wrong with it provided it is not against the rules of the competition .

But to learn as you go roughouts will help you learn the skills of carving not the skill of removing wood to make a working blank.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Almost everything I do is from cutouts, mine....I have never tried a roughout. But then I have a background in art to draw the pattern and I have the bandsaw to cut them out....not everyone has been blessed that way! I should say a few of the cutouts have been from someone elses pattern.....Lynns mostly LOL

[Donna_T]

Hello Suzanne,
I understand your concern about carving from a roughout. I think many of us who started carving, may have started with blocks of wood or cutouts, at the most, because we didn't know about roughouts. As we progressed with our carving skills and perhaps digressed with the amounts of time that we have to carve, we resort to roughouts that save us time in removing all the waste. We can still use some creativity in how we chose to finish the carving--change the expression, slightly move a hand or arm, change the clothes, etc.

I'm not an artist with lots of creative imagination--nor do I enter carving contests where originality is a prime consideration. I do, however, take some satisfaction from taking a cutout or roughout, looking at the pattern or "go by" and making it my own creation by making some modifications. Once you've learned to remove every chip of wood to get to your carving, you also learn there's another way to get to the end result--depending on what result you want.

Happy carving!
Donna T

[wade clark]

It's really about enjoying yourself and learning. Use every tool you can, Just Carve! If originality is important to you, it's still ok to learn from others, then create your own art in your own style, but Just Carve! The process, the journey, will teach you, but listening, watching, learning from others will greatly improve your journey and your art! Just keep carving, even if you're trying to make the perfect curl off a stick, keep learning and carving! (advice to self!)
Wade