Question about improving as a carver

[Robson Valley]

ABitSlo: I have WIPs that go back for years. I'm a rookie after years of trying, then maybe I'll be an overnight success. My sole satisfaction comes from seeing the subject emerge from the block of wood. I am a crappy finisher, I am a crappy & impatient painter (for one who sold many paintings). There are quite a number that wound up in the box under the table saw! Much to people's horror, I confessed that I used my crappy paintings as fire starter in my wood stove.

[fly fisher]

Im still a beginner to world of carving and only ever work on one thing at a time. Whenever i finish a piece there is always loads of things wrong with it that and stuff which i thought it should have been done differently.
My golf teacher gave me a great piece of advice years ago
"Practice doesnt make perfect, it makes permanent"........So its not all about how much you practice its the quality of it that counts.

[Grandpa Roger]

I am kid of new to carving but I find that carving more than one project at a time seems to help all of my carvings. By that I mean doing a Santa, a cowboy bottle stopper and maybe a dog or bear. One thing seems to lead to another and they all improve..

[Whittled Thumb]

If you don't complete the first how will you really know where you went wrong for the second one? Definely complete the first before moving on

[mobjack68]

As you stated, the second usually ends up being a little better.
So, do your best on the first one...start to finish. Then do the second one....start to finish.
THEN...go back to the first one and make it just a little better..

[jopo]

Thanks for all the comments. It seems as though most people believe that finishing the first carving before progressing to the second gives you the opportunity to evaluate the first and then make necessary changes to the second. I like the comment about returning then to the first and improving it too. I know that when I pick up a carving after having been away from it for weeks I have "new eyes" and I begin making changes to the piece before moving on to other areas I had not even started. I am now ready to start my next group of carvings. Thanks again for you input.
Joe

[ABitoSlo]

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

ABitSlo:... I am a crappy finisher,....

Ya, but your a really good crappy finisher...

Jopo - good feedback you received from eveyone on your thread that I will use too. Thanks all from me too.

[STAR]

Originally Posted by jopo

Thanks for all the comments. It seems as though most people believe that finishing the first carving before progressing to the second gives you the opportunity to evaluate the first and then make necessary changes to the second. I like the comment about returning then to the first and improving it too. I know that when I pick up a carving after having been away from it for weeks I have "new eyes" and I begin making changes to the piece before moving on to other areas I had not even started. I am now ready to start my next group of carvings. Thanks again for you input.
Joe

Putting a Carving down and coming back a few weeks later has been the key to the few carvings I have done. Also I have found that if I have to long a session the quality of the carving diminishes.

I try now to concentrate on the rough outline of the form first, then have a break. then reduce the form a bit more, then have a brealk. This break might be a day or days, in some cases weeks.

To do this successfully, I generally have other projects in the pipeline, not all carvings but with wood.

Pete