[jillsy]

Any suggestions on how to make fabric look more realistic? I'm having a heck of a time especially with trying to make it drape over a person's arm. (I tried carving a soldier holding a flag that was draped over his arm and botched the entire carving).

[Nancy_G]

Jill - the best and easiest thing you can do is get a flag, drape it over someone's arm and take photos. Take a photo from several positions -- front, back and sides.
If a flag is not quick to locate you can use a towel or something.
The photos will show you how fabric drapes and looks soft.

[Thomp]

Jilly,
since you say you have boched the flag is it possible to remove the flag and keep on going with the civil war carving,

even harold enlow says some times we make unlucky cuts or mistakes, some turn out better than intended.

so, if you start out carving a horse and wind up with a dog, at least you have a dog.

we all have had times where we didnt wind up with the desired effect, whether it be from lack of study, planning, or paying attention..
ya got choices to correct it by using what you got as a reminder, or clean it up best you can or start over.

most likely other folks wont see the mistake, we know what we were doing or intending to do, others dont have that insite..

[jillsy]

Nancy - great suggestion, never even thought of that!

Thomp, also a great suggestion. This one though, I really totally mangled! I thought I could save him until I made his legs look like toothpicks! Then I thought, he's a civil war soldier, maybe he lost his legs in the war! But, that was going too far. He was a wreck. I pretty much knew from the start I was over my head, it was for advanced carvers, but I really wanted to give it a try. I think it was from Tom Wolfe.

I dont know why I have such trouble with legs. When I first tried carving a dog...what's his name...rufus? Alot of beginner carvers carve him, anyway, same thing.. That poor dog had bigger knobby knees than legbones!

[Thomp]

jilly
if the civil war dudes legs is wrong cut him off at the waist and carve a bust,

like you said sometimes you just got to push yourself outside your comfort zone, or use a new tool in a way never heard of before...

as for legs, i started carving old giz'ers they generaly dont have as much thigh muscle and a 6 inch charter would usualy have a 1/8th inch gap at the crotch, Draw your pattern back on as soon as you loose sight of the idea, it helps keep on course,

i got a hump backed hound in the tom wolf design on my cowtown blog, it could easily be a turtle if the leggs were appropiately sized and painted like a turtle.

i got a muel that lost the front of one hoof, im going to have to add a section of wood to make it right, things aint going that good for me ither but i must have 20 projects going at one time here right now and fixing to cut the rough out for the cowboy chuckwagon cook out today for lynns carving a cook project.

after i stopped having all the difficulties on how to rid the tight crotch cuts, i found out i couldnt carve eyes worth a flip.
i bought the 2 herold enlow books carving ozark, and carving faces, offered here lately and i think im on the way to getting better at faces if i could ever set down and read them without going to sleep after the first paragraph, its not boaring but if i get still a few muniets im taking a nap becuse of meds....

remember when you got lemons, make lemonaid......

look on http://www.littleshavers.com/ClothingRef.html

at his tutorials on clothing, he has some great examples.
and should give you an idea of how to make pleats, folds and flowing ripples in wood to indicate fabric...

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

I dont know why I have such trouble with legs. When I first tried carving a dog...what's his name...rufus? Alot of beginner carvers carve him, anyway, same thing.. That poor dog had bigger knobby knees than legbones!

Doesn't sound like trouble to me. Sounds like one fun dog. Don't try to make him look like whatever the pattern is, just make him. When you get done you'll be surprised at what you have. Ain't nothin' wrong with a knobby kneed dog. Give him some floppy ears, skinny belly, paint some flies on him, etc.... all kinds of things you can do. Same with the soldier, just make him be whatever comes out and don't worry about the pattern.

[Coffeeman]

Take a look at Fraser Smiths web site and you'll gain a hole new perspective on fabric carving, he does fantastic work, I'm sure you'll bookmark his page for future reference materials, I did. Good luck, Bill

http://home1.gte.net/fraser/index.htm

[Donna_T]

Jill,
Phil and Vickie Bishop, the CCA (caricature carvers) have made a living for the past 10 years making and teaching how to carve skinny, knobby kneed cowboys and animals. Even if you start out with a realistic carving as your goal, you can still change to a caricature and salvage the carving.

When trying to figure out how to make a post look right, do like Nancy says--try posing material to duplicate the look. Another idea is to look through magazines or catalogues or surf the web to see if you can find similar poses. Or just look around you. One Sunday, while sitting in church, I looked across the aisle and saw a fella with his thumbs in his suspenders with his hands resting on his fat tummy, and suddenly, I knew how I was going to finish the Santa I had started.

Donna

[jillsy]

Thank you, everbody!

ps I didn't think my dog was so bad until everyone around me laughed at him! Its true though, almost cut his poor leg off!

[Gene Procell]

Hi jillsy,
People always remember those who make them laugh. It sounds like to me you were laughing with them. I am a flegling carver and I aways get a kick out of where one mistake after another takes me. I have never been disapointed yet
I hope this helps.
Mr.Mom