[gdr2004]

Hey all,
This is Yohan again. I think I have an adequate feel for how to carve and although I have a litle bit of kinks to work out like cutting with the grain and etc. etc. etc. I think I'm ready to move onto a bigger piece of work because all of my pieces have been really small. So, here's my question.

I have a block of basswood that's 6.25 by 2 inches. What do you recommend that I carve out next? Are there any patterns on the internet that I can find? I think going with a bigger piece will be easier because with all of the previous carvings, I had trouble smoothing out the smaller parts and all that. I was thinking about doing a person or something but I'm not too sure and I figured you guys may be able to help me out with a fun project or something.

Also, why is it that most advanced carvers find patterns as opposed to creating their own? Thanks in advance :-D

[AlArchie]

Here's a link to an Ivan Willhock pattern (studios in Fairbault, MN) that is on the web for free. He has a site that has several patterns each month for free and many more at reasonable prices.

http://www.whillock.com/pat4.html

This is a little larger than you need but you can scale it down on your computer to just about any size you need.

As to why a lot of excellent carvers use patterns...probably two reasons. even though they can carve, a lot of carvers can't draw worth a darn. That's my excuse, anyway. And secondly some subjects just don't rate a lot of time duplicating by hand because the shapes and finish are always the same, except for poses.....ie. birds, fish, some animals, etc. If you have one pattern of a brook trout, all the rest will be pretty much the same and can be scaled smaller or larger. a standard pattern for any one of these creatures can be easily adapted for different poses, positions of heads and feet.

Other than that.....I still can't draw!

Al

[wade clark]

There are lots of great patterns out there. www.carvingpatterns.com is a great site, some free some for sale. These are Susan's from this site (Irish).
It's also pretty easy to create your own pattern using a photo and a photocopier. Easy to adjust size there. I enlarge to what I want, then cover it in clear box tape (it's cheap) and cut it out. The tape makes it durable, nice if you plan to re-use the pattern. The herons I'm doing on chairs, I took an actual picture, enlarged it until I couldn't go larger, then cut it in 1/4ths and enlarged again until I got the actual size of the real herons. The snowy egrets, I used a grid method, drawing a grid on a smaller photocopy of a picture of a snowy egret. It was a Sunday, so I couldn't get to a better copy machine to enlarge it. The grid was maybe 1/4". Then I drew a grid on a large piece of heavy paper, maybe 2" squares. I numbered each square on both, then drew in grid #1 large what was in grid #1 small. It's only a line or two, so it's easy. Then do the same on #2 lg and small, #3, etc. Then I taped it and cut it out. You really don't need to be good at drawing to do this; it's almost "connect the dots". It's easy! Takes a little more time than the photocopy enlarging method, but when you get a good idea, it may go away, in my case, before the copy shops open a day later!
Have fun!
Wade

[Ashbys]

I am not really advanced but I can tell you why I use pattens, It started when I was very young. I got a box of crayons and drew pictures on my bedroom wall, I still remember the whipping.....

Then I started school they gave me more crayons and told be to draw, well I thought they tasted better than drawing , beside they made you teeth pretty colors and you could make the girls go ..EEK !

Then they gave me finger paints which I found worked great on my arms and face, without the need of a piece of paper... started saving trees at an early age.

Then they gave me charcoal, which everyone knows works better for fixing hot dogs then drawing.

Then I took an art class, when I learned that my teacher was more impressed with himself than teaching. At a time where modern art was the rage , and I thought the guys were stoned that made them... learned later they were. And I had no appreaction for the so called works of art.

So using a pattern that shows something that to me I like, is just a way of honoring the talent of the people that can draw. I can get lucky from timwe to time and actually do something that I draw , but I was trained to work from blueprints, which are nothing more than pictures with measurements. So I follow patterns or pictures , or really stress my self to do drawings. If I am stressing , kind defeats the purpose.

Ash

[Canopener]

Hmmm? Would I be out of line if I said I get a lot of my ideas from "Wood Carving Illustrated", or that other one "Chatty Chips" or something. Then I think about it,[usually halfway through my current project] Then I start to gather my library,[a few good books and some pictures you like, help a bunch] from where I left it the last time, and start making new piles, so I can make a new caricature. A preacher could become a cowboy, or a cowboy could be a fisherman; These legs stand well with those arms, plus I could finally use that really cool hat from page ????? Dang! it was there a couple years ago? Hmmm, maybe if I hum a few bars it will come back.
My real helpers are a small manniquin, for keeping things in proportion, available in most art/craft stores, and a mirror. The mirror is a major help to me. I also use props. For instance, if I want a man with a cane, I grab a stick and look in the mirror; a man drinking coffee, grab a coffee cup and do whatever in the mirror; a frustrated man I can do by heart.
You get the idea, there are a bizillion original carvings that can come from a few basic situations. Just have fun.
May the farce be with you, Wood Ranger!
Jim

[Callynne]

Since I draw up the patterns for all my carvings I'm often asked where I get my ideas from. I always say, 'from my over active imagination'! Hmmm, since I'm an avid reader and a huge Stephen King and Dean Koontz fan, it's a wonder my Santas don't look more like something from Nightmare Before Christmas than Twas the Night Before Christmas! Callynne

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

I can't say that I never use patterns, but very seldom do. I can't draw worth beans either, but drawing well isn't necessary for carving, just a general outline is all you really need. My preferred method is to take a block of wood and a general idea and "design" as I go ( I seldom bandsaw the blank either). It's actually easier than using a pattern. As to what you should carve next - Whatever you "REALLY" want to carve. I've got boxes full of half finished projects that I really didn't want to carve in the first place. Additionally, save your scrap pieces for carving practice pieces; eyes, noses, mouthes, hair, hats, etc. etc.

[decoycarve]

On the subject of patterns. I can't draw a good stick figure and never had much interest in anything artsy. By trade I am an industrial electrician. I program plc's that control the operation of machinery. I have to picture in my head what the machine is supposed to do and change that to a program that a computer can control. I have been very technical all my life. Well wood carving for me is simular. When you draw you add lead to paper, when you paint you add paint to canvas. You continually build up to the final product. I don't see things that way. When you carve you start with something whole and take a way from it to get to the final product. I can see this and it makes more sence to me than drawing. Being around machine shops working on a lathe or a milling machine is the same principle. You take away material to get to where you have to go to make a part. The patterns that I generate are more like blueprints to guide me to what I see in my mind that I need to make from a piece of wood. I make use of cad drawing systems to generate my blueprints. But the real fun is to just stare at piece of wood until you see something in it and work it freehand until you find what you see, Its in there somewhere! If you ever hang around decoy carvers the question of how do you carve a duck comes up. Well an old timer will get a big grin on his face and tell you "grab a block of wood and carve away everything that doesn't look lik a duck"
Goody

[Irish]

Well ... duh! ... I do use patterns

As I tend to think in two dimensions but wood carve in three. I use the patterns not only as a guideline to start the work but also as a planning stage of where I want to go with the work.

Relief carving does work into the three dimensions as you have varying depth and contour. So a pattern lets me plot out the stages of the work in advance. Perhaps I am a control freak ... been called worse.

For newbies to carving I do suggest using a pattern or guide for the first few carvings. With needing to learn about how each tool works, how grain effects your carving strokes, how the hardness of the wood changes and controls your pressure, how to make the tool go where you want it to go instead of where the wood takes you ... Well, I think having a pattern lets you concentrate on the learning the techniques part first. Then you can begin applying that to freeform or free style carving as your confidence grows. As a beginner sometimes it hard enough to even know which tool to pick up next let alone trying to create a spontaneous masterpiece out of the ether.

Susan

Susan

[Canopener]

Yohan, I got to thinking about this last night. You know there are a wide variety of roughouts available, and not a bad way to go for a beginer, and I think a lot of pros use them as a teaching aide. A pattern you can hold in your hand, and just start carving. They helped me form my likes and dislikes in a carving. They are a bit pricey, but you get a good piece of wood, silent advice, and you get to help feed a starving carver. So whats not to like?
Jim