[mwilleson]

Hi all,

You often hear the phrase "a carvers style". I've been thinking about caricature style and whether it is developed consciously or unconsciously?

Pretty wide open question - I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Mike

[Anthony Filetti]

A little of both I would guess...I would have to believe my carving style is a product of the environment I have lived in, as well as making decisions based upon my preferences.

[Blake Lunsford]

I think a carvers style depends a lot on the instructors that they learn from as well as the carvings of other carvers that they are impressed with. Often times we see other peoples work and we ask questions about "how did you do that?" so that we can incorporate it into our own carvings. I also agree that the environment that we live in and the things that we like plays a lot into the types of carvings that we decide to do. A lot of people who enjoy sports may do sports related carvings. It's all in what you like, they types of carvings you enjoy looking at, and what you like to share with others.

Just my thoughts!

Blake

[Mark N. Akers]

I resently had Mike Shipley at my house for a seminar,and in 2 days he could
recognize my style.A carvers style is like a fingerprint,after seeing several
carvings of a particular carver you can recognize it.

[Greyhair]

I think that your skill level and experience as a carver does as much to dictate your style as anything. The more experienced the carver the more distinct is their style. It takes a lot of time to go from copying others to doing your own work and in the process you develop what you choose to do and that choice is the foundation of your style, after that it is technique that further defines the style. Because it is very often the details that earmark a style the ability to do consistent detail work on given subjects, which also is an earmark of style, finishes the carvers style.

[Bob_in_TN]

I agree with Greyhair on most points. I think your style is a blend of other people that have influenced you. If you like the way "Joe" does hair, "Sam" does the nose, "Sally" does the eyes, etc. and you develop your own way to do the mouth, at some point you blend it all together and have "your style". I guess this comes with experience like Greyhair said, and also who you've carved with. (classes + clubs).

My 2 cents
Bob

[rick-in-seattle]

I have to agree with most everything that has been said here.
One thing that wasn't covered is the effect the carvers personal image has on their carvings.
It can be very limited or quite profound; sometimes you can easily recognize the carver in their carving.

[Greyhair]

That's funny Rick. I never thought of you as a Hobo! I always thought of you as a fence post philosopher.

[rick-in-seattle]

I'll take that as a compliment.

[decoycarve]

When I do shows and I have a bunch of my santas on display the phrase "do you look in a mirror when you carve" comes up more than once. Funny thing is I have! If I dont understand how something like a mustache or a beard will do I just brush mine out where I want it and try to duplicate the flow in the wood. I took some classes in decoy carving early on but have never took a caricature or santa class. I did buy Ron Ransomes book in the beginning and bought some others but always drifted back to Rons style of face. Along the way I tweaked it enough that I want to say its my style. The trade mark of my santas is the deep eye sockets. It has to cast just the right shadow and has to have just the right angle. I try to carve enough detail to get the person looking at my santas to imagine the rest. I am thinking about tacking a class or two this year. More for comorodadery(sp) and general wood carving tecniques than to learn someones style. I took a seminar withh Nora Hall a few years back and was hollared at the whole class because I did my own thing. Project came out the same as the rest of the class in the end. Last class I took soured me bigtime!
Goody