Looking for input

[ten99j4]

Hey everybody, I just finished up three carvings as my first attempts at woodspirits. Two of them are attempts at Dave Brocks' Simple Woodspirit. His youtube videos are great! The other one is a mix of Dave Brock and Gene Messers' Simple Face tutorial.

The pics aren't the best and I have a long way to go on carving what I consider good woodspirits, but any input on how to improve them would be great.

I used a v-parting tool on the beard and am not sure that I am really satisfied with the way that it turned out. Are there any tricks to making the beard look more realistic and not so uniform and level?

Thanks,
Adam

[Soggy]

Originally Posted by ten99j4

Are there any tricks to making the beard look more realistic and not so uniform and level?

Thanks,
Adam

Hi Adam ; First I like to say welcome to the forum. Those are great wood spirits by any standards. You have done a great job.
As for tricks or secrets ; the only one that I know of is to .........PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE............
Wayne

[bigEd_H]

Hey Adam, those are some good first attempts at wood spirits. You are doing great. Like Wayne said the secret is practice, practice, practice.

Keep the chips flying.

[wildhare]

Hi Adam. For your first attempts they are really good. You have the basic shapes down with very good layout. You might try going a little deeper on the next ones. It may give you more wood to shape the flow of the beard.

Don't get hung up on making them perfect. It will come in time and practice.
Enjoy. You are doing fine.
Wanda

[Clifford_Parker]

As the others said, good first attempts. To make the beards and moustaches look more realistic try carving deeper in areas to make "locks" of hair then use elongated S and C shapes to fill them in.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Adam, I think you did great! Dave's video was excellent, it helped me quite a bit. Just to add to what Cliff said, you might want to try a small gouge for the beard, or use a small gouge and V tool.

Dave

[ten99j4]

So your suggestions are to make the entire carving deeper, or just the beard area? If I am understanding Cliff, the suggestion is to make some of the beard strokes deeper and then fill the other areas with curved cuts that are not as deep.

I would really like to see an example of a couple steps of the beard in "locks" and filled in with elongated curves. If there are examples or tutorials to help me get my mind around the techniques, please point them out.

Thanks to everyone for their continued input. I am finding myself daydreaming and being consumed with carving. It is a great hobby, but it is starting to take me over.

[mpounders]

Woodspirits are what got me hooked on carving also! And keep cutting...it seems like each one you do will be better than the last. I took the liberty of scribbling on your picture to help you, but I am by no means an expert. In carving, you have to cut things away to make things stand out, so to make the beard more dimensional means things have to be carved deeper around it. Try a deep v cut with knife or gauge along the top of the mustache. It will define the mustache and the lines of the face beneath the cheeks. You seem to have the face rounded as it should be rather than being a square blockhead like I have problems with. Try carving another V around the edge of the face, so that the face is beneath the wood that will be used for the beard and hair. The deeper you cut, the more wood you will have that can be used to carve the beard and hair, to cut hills and valleys, and give it some ddimension. Using a gouge or whatever, you can cut out some C shaped hollows underneath the cheekbones and away from the smile lines to give that area of the face more definition. You won't find many straight lines in nature, so try curving the eye sockets up, and make sure they also curve back from the nose to the edge of the face. You can also define the eyebrows and the ridge of bone underneath them by cutting the forehead back, so that they stand out. When you start out carving, everyone is reeeeeal cautious about cutting off too much, or cutting too deep! The more confidence you get, the more you will see how the deeper cuts add shadows and realism to your carvings. I like to print out the carvings I like and refer back to them when I practice eyes are other details. You might check out Lynn Doughty's tutorials also. Search videos for 'lynn doughty' on Vimeo

[Sharon of the Dell]

I think your carvings are coming along fine. Go to the gallery here and check out the woodspirits. You can learn alot just by really studying them. And of course, practice!

[uvawyo]

You are doin good
keep practicing
cut deeper
experiment til you get what you want