[jeralcooley]

Hello!
I've seen 'example sticks' on a few sites. You know the kind. A progression of a face/nose/eye carved on one side of a stick, and various expressions and examples on the other. Have any of you bought one of these? If so, did you have a good experience with a certain one over another? Thanks!

[woodtrapper]

I believe you are refering to a study stick.Very helpful for little money.

[millhoused]

I have bought two by Allen Goodman and have had good results from them.

I made one myself from Mary Finn's book Carving Egg Heads. A good portion of the book is dedicated to teaching you how to do the face and eyes and in the process she walks you through making your own study sticks.

Mine is on the shelf behind my carving bench now for quick reference.

[mikeg]

I bought Mary Finn's book when somebody on this forum mentioned that she included a good tutorial on carving faces in that book. Millhoused is right, she takes you through a good process to create your own study stick. She takes you through creating study sticks for eyes, noses and faces.

mikeg

[Ashbys]

Harold Enlow has these out and yes I do have one and yes they help.

Ash

[Burnurcomputer]

I was given some as a gift and I think it has really helped me! I can't always get my mind and hand to work together, so it helps for me to stare at it to compare against and keep my cuts correct.

[Lynn O. Doughty]

I bought one of Enlow's face sticks of a cowboy he did back when I was first starting out. One thing I did to help bring out the features of the carvings was to stain it dark and then wipe it off real good. That highlights every little chip that is otherwise hard to see.

[Mitchell]

Side note: making your own study sticks is a great way to practice and to learn.

[Eddy Smiles]

Jeral... I have two of them. I bought one from Woodcraft which is complete with nose, eyes and ears and the other from the Smoky Mountain Woodcarvers which goes hand in hand with Skylar Johnson's book, "How to carve a woodspirit in a carving stick." Both have been helpful but I'll second what Mitchell says.... Nothing beats practicing and making your own.

[Thomp]

We discussed lots on the teaching sticks here and some photos of sticks i made.. trying to get a teaching stick swop/trade project going. but i didnt have the skills to get it off the ground...

phil bishop, herold enlow & wilcox and many more offer resin castings of sticks,
Although not carved from actual wood (the ones you perchase) still yet there are some great examples if you can figure out where the carver started carving the face especally on multi face or multi animal sticks
thomas