abandoned pieces

[jartzh]

My pile of abandoned pieces is growing. I get some great idea or image and start on it and then lose interest. I dont know if I really wanted to do it or just hoped it would "catch" with me. If it is not fun then I chauk it up to experience or fate... and throw in in the pile. Then later I use it as raw materials for another project. Now I try to start a piece I want to finish. I just want to avoid abandoning it. That seems to be my primary concern.
My pile has fish, nudes, faces, horses, tigers, camels, guitar players, dragons, crucifitions,...

Anyone else have this problem?

[Thor]

Hi Jartzh,
I don't want to presume to tell you what to do, but have you considered posting images on this message board with questions for help? There are a lot of generous folks here who might be able to suggest how to complete one of your discards from another point of view.

I do have discards myself, but they are generally a problem with the wood.

Sometimes temporary delays in a carving's progress can last for months or years. Lately, I have been finishing lots of those same, waiting carvings with a lot more ease than I thought I would when they went into that pile.

From the sound of your carvings, you have a interesting subjects in the mix. I would like to see pictures.
Christina

[Robson Valley]

I think you're normal.
I'd be concerned if you had nothing left to do and no more wood, besides.
I can happily confess to having such a pile. They're still WIPs for several reasons:
1. I started them before I owned the tools needed to finish them.
2. I lost interest. I really have.. . . but sometimes the fire gets going again.
3. A very few of them seem to have turned out to be so complicated that I can't decided which part to work on or how to do what needs doing next.

In the meantime, I have a bunch of WIPs in which I'm still very interested. I have nearly lost all interest in painting. Painting for painting's sake. So, I've decided to try to take a few pieces to finish and do all the painting as one group.

[Bob K.]

I don't have a pile but I do have about a half dozen in the WIP box. I either:
1. Lose interest.
2. Find that the project has become too difficult and I can't figure out what to do, or
3. Find other projects that I'm much more interested in taking to completion.

[Donsexton]

I loose interest on every carving I start at some point most of the time I will do a half-azz finish on it and give it away. I donate most of my work to charity and that will guilt me into doing a better job than I would normally. You may be like me I enjoy the rough work and basic shape not so much into detail.

[Big Barn]

I don't have a lot of stuff partially finished but I do have plenty of mistakes. Those tend to be turned into door stops. I just try to fix it up a bit & attach it to a wooden wedge, wa-la pending gift. Some make decent additions to the grill or fire pit. Last weekend we played a game of chess with some very poorly made pieces & the losing pieces were delegated to the fire pit, which was more fun than the game. There was a lot of ' oh-no mister Bill, not the pit'...

[davidinsarasota]

Great topic Jartzh.

I am very happy with my tools, reasonably happy with my carving skills and somewhat happy with sharpening technique (I am currently locked in a two midget battle royal with my 5/20). Lets call this stuff 'Hardware'. I've been acquiring tools, studying, learning, applying and practicing skills and technique for about 15 years, so I'm no whiz kid, but I've reached a point of adequate competence with the hardware.

I've found it takes a lot more than Hardware to produce a satisfying wood carving, which is my ongoing goal for now. Once I have a decent size inventory the goal will be to sell some of them. At that point my other ongoing goal will be to supplement my income with these sales.

The Software is stuff like: Previsualizing a do-able project, Planning its execution, Persisting through the difficult or frustrating stages, and knowing when to call it done. This last part is what Yogi meant about the game being "90% mental and the other half is physical."

Previsualing is easy and fun. It might start with what I see a chunk of wood can be. I play with it in my mind until I get a fairly firm image of what I want.

Next is planning. This involves a web search for similar images. A clay model. (This may be a critical phase that you are lacking, Jahrtz.) Then drawing on the wood with a marker.

So far, easy and fun.

Then I start removing wood. This continues until I hit a snag. "Should have left more wood here or there." "Can't get in there with these tools." "This wood is too hard." "Piece breaks off." You name it, it's gonna happen. Hopefully I can regroup and continue. I may need to set it aside for awhile, but I need to resist the urge to start over or start a new piece just so I can get back to the fun and easy part again.

All of the projects you mentioned, except the fish, I would consider to be extremely difficult. So here is my advice, even though you did not ask for advice. Stick with fish for awhile. Stick with one fish until it is done, regardless. Search for images of fish. Find one that appeals to you that has reasonably simple masses; no extreme undercutting. Make a clay model. Decide what can be carved out of a single block, and what will need to be glued on (fins come to mind). Do not start on details until the masses are in place. If a detail cannot be carved to your satisfaction with gouges, use a rotary tool. Call it done at some point, paint it or whatever, then start another fish.

[Buffalo Bif]

Hi Jartzh. I was an amateur woodworker for years and had trouble finishing anything I started- everything took forever and many never got done. Then I landed a job as a cabinetmaker and let me tell you there was some major angst when it came time to make deadline on the first project I was assigned. In fact there was some stress on the first several I had to finish to a deadline.
So I feel your pain.

[jmischel]

I have a few abandoned projects like that. Some that I just lost interest in, and others that I put aside with full intention to come back to them. But there's always something new to try. I find it a bit frustrating for me because I'm often critical of people at work who start projects but don't finish them. Telling myself that "carving is different" helps a little bit ...

So, to keep from feeling guilty about not finishing what I start, I find myself gravitating to small simple projects that I can finish in a single sitting. That's frustrating, too.

[Dan S]

Been there done that too. I tend to stall at painting. However, several pieces were shelved for quite some time. Perhaps you need to take a bit more time in selecting your projects. I agree with Jim. Smaller pieces are easier to complete and work well with my limited attention span. Perhaps you might do better with them as well.

Dan