[TIGER7]

i've only been carving since late 2004, so i don't have a certain type yet. i usually just carve what comes to mind at the time, or whatever i find interesting. the average size of block i carve is 1 1/2x 1 1/2 x 6 and sometimes smaller. i've never thought of counting the number of pieces i do each year. i would have added some pics with this but i foregot how to do attachments i'l work on it.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Originally Posted by JIM QUILICI

Doug,
I carve about 33 carvings per year+- sometimes I will do just a head or a bust I need the practice , I was given the opt. to teach a carving class last month I told them that the only way to get good was to practice practice practice. and I think faces are the hardest to be good at , so I practice practice.I still make mistakes but try, to no matter how bad its looks, to change things around to make it look better.
Jim

I would say yours are pretty outstanding Jim!

[Thomp]

I'm not a real prolific, quality carver but i have my spurts of production, i been carving 'at least with pin knife' all my life, few years ago i found the forum and bought a 4 piece palm tool set and a chip knife from Micheal's because i seen the work done on the forum and thought i could handle learning how the different tools preformed, so if for nothing else in 5 or so years i got a great amount of tools collected and about 3 - 5 gallon buckets, and many cigar boxes full of carvings, stashed around, it still supprises me to open them finding carvings i did years ago.
I never kept anything from my pin knife days if someone wanted it i just gave it to them...
and through the years i have laid off carving as free time in my life came to a premium at times,
but i always returned to carving as my form of artistic medium for relaxation,
but not being a practiced carver through the gaps of time i found myself relearning methods of making special cuts and doing a lot of healing as i learned safety.
if your going to get good at something you need experience daily if you can.

how many carvings a year that comes to i don't know, because most of the things i have kept are miniature like the first thumb joint sized pee wee league baseball team, little guys...

iv looked and tried at many different styles in awe, mastered none and am always buying books to educate myself on what i can.
but i'm always up for something new at least once.

being divided between carving and tool making it gets hairy to decide which i love more.
thanks for listening,
don't know what you could you could learn from such ramblings, but i do tend to do so....

[R-OLDS]

I do all different types of carving it depends on my mood, bark house's, bark woodspirits, bark xmas gnomes santas. Lots of different ink pens (Steve Brown) style ETC.. I take all the classes I can. This year so far I have had a class with Floyd Radigan, Steve Brown, Stu Martin and a couple of local people at the RoundUP in Evert MI...
I carve a least 100-200 carvings per year. It helps to be retired...
I'm certainly not a great carver but I am improving, I look at some of the carvings I did two years ago and I can see many ways to improve them..

Randal

[sludgeguy]

I must confess that I was not certain what kinda can I was openin when I started this thread. But I am very pleased with the info and photos I've gotten.

Tomp, you supply more info than you realize. Rocket, Lynn, Hi Ho, Richard (wonder if we're related- I'm a Keller too), Gene, Eddie, Jim and the rest of you fellows, I hope one day to be half as good as you guys. That is why I always keep coming back, to glean a little better way, a little more detail, or a better visual punchline.

Sounds like practicing with a shape knife and a smile on your face is about the way to go about carving or whittlin.
Keep up the wonderful responses.
Doug Keller

[Mitchell]

Originally Posted by sludgeguy

What type of caricatures are you recognized for? (ie. animals, situations, little guys, cowboys, etc)

About how many do you make a year, and where do they go?

Any tips for those of us that can use them?

Doug

I don't know if I'm really recognized for any type of carving. I like minatures and small caricatures, but do sometimes delve into larger pieces. I don't like "scenes" but have carved a few. Right now I'm carving hobos, hillbillies, and such. Dogs, wolves, and fish are sometimes subjects. I like to doodle with wood and have started making an effort to finish more pieces instead of just tossing them into a box 1/2 complete (more on that later).I don't count - mostly because I don't finish many that I start and because the reason I carve is not necessarily to make something to be completed - it's more "the journey" than getting there for me. I'd guess about 50 each year. However.......(remember the "more&quot.....I now have the opportunity to sale some items at a festival held each year. This has given me the incentive to actually finish pieces and produce a final product. I cleaned my shop this past week - or at least tried to. I separated old carvings and 1/2 finished carvings, etc. Some will be thrown away - and some will be finished. I had two paper boxes full and a partial bag of figures that I think can one day be "saved"..... Tips???? I do not want to try to tell someone how to carve - just enjoy and experiment for yourself - that's the best way to learn and develop your own style.
^^Edit: Man that's strange.... I had paragraphs in the my response, but when posted it lumped it all together. Even when I went back and put separations in again.... Oh well.

[jbboston]

Don't know if I'm "known" for any kind of style yet, but I like to carve little guys, 6-7", in poses funny or not. I carve when I can and turn out maybe 10-12 a year. It's not about the quanity, each piece is a joy in it self, and if I had one peice of advise it's this, give credit where it's due; after every carving I thank the good Lord that He gave me this talent, cause I enjoy it so!

[Jim OH]

Don't think I have any recognizable style or subjects, although I do like to carve faces. I am more of an impulse carver. If I see something or an idea pops into my head and still interests me a couple weeks later then I give some serious thought to making a carving of it.
I work full time and still try to keep up with my kids which seems to be a losing battle. My wife and I babysit our grandaughter quite a bit, so I carve when I get a chance. I perhaps finish two major carvings a year for competition and try to make a few sale pieces for shows. I was fortunate enough to get a second place in 2005 CCA competition with a carving called "First Vacation" in the roughout category. In order to give you an idea of how fast I carve, that carving took me three months! I do not carve for speed or money. It is the one hobby I have found that gives me a lot of enjoyment and perhaps puts a smile on someones face.
Jim OH

[Robert Cahill]

I do not consider myself a good carver even though I have been carving for awhile. I learned from books and still need a pattern. I carve santa, hobos, spoons caricatures, and since seeing genes little guys I have been doing a bunch of those. I just got Steve Prescotts book carving blockheads and finished one that is about 7'' tall. I don't have a digital camera and when my daughter take pictures she has to put it on a disk before my old computer will take it so I hardly post. The only advice I could give is to have fun