First Carving Ideas

[Phaeton]

There have been several carvers looking for Ideas for first carvings, this is just one possibility.

Does anyone else have good easy gift ideas?

I started my first carving in October of last year and I still consider myself a beginner, someone said
"first you get good and then you get fast" and I'm still trying
to get good. Recently I was looking for a carving that I could do fast
that would make a nice Christmas gift when I found this great looking snowman
by Gerald & Barbara Sears.

This snowman is a great beginning carving it's 4"x4"x8.5"
(roughout and 5 view photo sheet cost $18 plus shipping),
This carving started after work on a Monday night and was finished
by the end on the weekend (that is slow by Lynn's standards but it was
fast for me...hehe).

I just took this picture of a 2nd roughout and the
finished carving, the carving and paint could have been better but I was trying for fast.
The second roughout is for me to use as a reference cast and
make a pattern from the pictures for future block cut-outs.

This type of carving does not have hair, face or hand detail and even if the final
carving does not look "just like" the photo sheet it doesn't matter because
it's a folk-art snowman and it will look good anyway. I didn't seal the white before
adding the other colors and there was some bleeding but what the heck..it's a snowman
and that is what wet snow will do to a lump of coal anyway...lol.

Other than Christmas ornaments this was my fastest carving and I
like it as much as anything I've done.

Bill
^v^



http://www.gnbsearswoodcarving.com/S..._Roughouts.htm

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Looks great! you did a good job on it!!

[Phaeton]

Thanks Dave, You are another fast and good carver, I bet you could have done two or three of these in the 14 hours it took me..lol

Bill
^v^

[whitecree]

Don't worry about speed. A long time carver can be quick because she or he has had long practice and knows how to solve problems on the fly. Once you've been carving a year or two, something like your snowman will done quickly as well.

Nice job!

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Originally Posted by Phaeton

Thanks Dave, You are another fast and good carver, I bet you could have done two or three of these in the 14 hours it took me..lol

Bill
^v^

there is an old saying about welders when told they need a job done fast.....the answer is "you want it fast or you want it good?" LOL, applies to woodcarving too!Cheers

[Phaeton]

hahaha..we have one of those too Dave, I'm a land surveyor by trade and sometimes I tell a client there are three things to consider
"fast, cheap and accurate" you can have any two of the three.

Bill
^v^