Which book?

[James A]

I am having trouble deciding on which book to get? One is Carving the head in wood by Ivan Whillock. The other is Carving the head in the Classic European tradition that the Geisler-Moroder Austrian Woodcarving School put out. Which one would be better to learn how to carve realistic heads?

[doris]

i have the geisler-moroder book, and i don´t like it. i have tried, of course, their suggested way of carving a head, its not working for me. they ignore principles well proven in time, and which i depend on too when carving...it works for many though, ...i dont know the other book, so cant say anything about that...but if you want learn from a book, it is anyway better to have many at hand, since you cannot know yet which approach will be suitable for you. there are many ways to approach carving realistic heads...

[Paul_Guraedy]

I do not carve human figures very often; but, am familiar with Ivan's work. I subscribe to the family magazine to which he contributes. He is a figure in woodcarving at the level of Harold Enlow, though probably not personally as well known.The other book I do not know and Doris has covered it.

If a carver really wants to get into a specific area, and chooses to do it through books; then, it would be better to look for books on details rather than try to get everything in one publication.

I do think that there are other authors that you should consider. My specific recommendation would be to start with:

Phares, Jeff; Carving the Human Face, Capturing Character and Expression in Wood; 1999; Fox Chapel Publishing Company

the last time I checked the Phares' books cost in the $20-$25 range. He has what I would call a "series of books" starting with the one listed but also covering other aspects of the human figure. Two others in my collection are:

Phares, Jeff; Carving Ears & Hair, Carving Expressions in Wood; 2002; Fox Chapel Publishing

Phares, Jeff; Carving Eyes, Carving Expressions in Wood; 2002; Fox Chapel Publishing

I have not checked recently but am pretty sure he covers other aspects of the human face also.

[William]

I have the Geisler-Moroder too, and like Doris it's not my favorite, although I do find many very useful things in the book.

Carving Classic Female Faces by Ian Norbury is my primary reference for carving heads, he has lots of close-up shots of the model and 78 pictures with descriptions in the carving step-by-step.

Bill
^v^

[brian-bailey]

James,

Here is my advice, forget the carving books and get a good drawing book on the human figure.

Learn how to draw accurately from all perspectives, then you'll easily see in the wood what you are striving for and the carving will become 2nd nature to you.

Here is a good book to start with, "Drawing the Head & Figure" by Jack Hamm.

Just my opinion.

[vacation212]

Hi Ivan's book is good.

[jharris]

James,
I'm not familiar with either of the books you mentioned. I've seen the books Paul recommended and would agree Jeff's books are excellent. Another carver that hasn't been mentioned is Ian Norbury. He has a book, Carving Classic Female Faces in Wood, which is an excellant book also. Here's the link to Amazon.com, Amazon.com: Carving Classic Female Faces in Wood: A How-To Reference for Carvers and Sculptors: Ian Norbury: Books

Jim

[DiamondWillow]

I looked at the book Classic European and I guess I was not too impressed with it. Ivan's stuff usually is pretty good and Norbury is very good also.
Gene