carving heads --- what to consider

[doris]

today, i picked up an stonecarving i made 3 years ago, from brazilian soapstone. and as i feeled lazy, i sat on terasse, and recarved the one side of the face... and after i had done that, i thought i want share it, since it became a piece demonstrating very clearly where i had 3 years ago the problem with, and which we all see often strugglings with here on wci...

foto1 shows the original head from side (however the nose was less angled even, had to correct that for the leftside)
foto2 shows new and old carving from front, and i tried put the light directly from top so shadows show same amount of shaping on both sides... we see, that we hardly can make out the features of the old carved head, all looks "washy" ...(looks scary both together, does it not ? ... lol)
foto3 shows new carved side (note that the head is too short in depth, this comes from that i made this mistake 3 years ago, and could not correct now anymore..)
foto4 shows backside, now the new side is that on the right, of course
foto5 is the reason why i post these images : it reveals why the newly carved side convinces much more as a head, despite all the mistakes still there : the old head was rather flat, it was just rounded a little at the "corners". the new pushes all quite an amount back. and alone that pushing back, that is "to carve really deep" is what makes the quality difference ... so, the most useful view while carving heads is top and bottom view !!!

i hope, maybe this is useful for those of you want carve head and struggle with it, and please excuse it is stone, and not wood... but the same is true for wood of course...

[Kenny_S]

Even Though you said you had problems with the piece three years ago, it looked good. But, by recarving the face(eyes,nose,cheeks) you have improved greatly for the short time you have been carving. Great demostration Doris. Thank you for shareing with us.

[tnartist05]

Thats a great improvement Doris. Plus being in stone and that has to be hard to carve! That type of tools do you use to carve stone with? I always like your carvings on WIP even if I dont always comment on them for I admire the time and details you put into each of your carvings. Thanks for sharing this stone carving.

[doris]

thanks kenny, ... forrest, soapstone is softest stone on world. you can carve it with everything, even your fingernails if you wish... i used my swiss pocketknive, and for the smaller areas a small halfround file...

[Joy]

Thank you, Doris. That is the very thing I struggle with.....never setting the eyes deep enough and remembering that the head is round.

[mark yundt]

Deja'Vu! Carving half a face,,,

Isn't it amazing what you have done and learned?
Almost sad that you now have lost a milestone (soap stone?) in your carving history? But I understand the need to see something and have to change it to coincide with what you now can see.
Another wonderful example to learn from Doris. Your thoughtfulness and consideration in taking the time to post shows how much you care. Always fascinating to watch you,,read your thoughts and see what you come up with. Your endless curiosity and keen powers of observation ( Leonardo?) serve you well.You have quite a carving library in your head discovered by experiences and seeing.
That is invaluable,,and the reason for your success.

[Irishman]

What a neat idea...now if I could locate my first carving and try the same, I would hope to see improvement. Never tried soapstone before but it would be nice to try it sometime. Thanks for this Doris.
Patrick

[tnartist05]

Originally Posted by doris

thanks kenny, ... forrest, soapstone is softest stone on world. you can carve it with everything, even your fingernails if you wish... i used my swiss pocketknive, and for the smaller areas a small halfround file...

AWwwwwwww Shoot,I didnt know that Doris! Thanks for that information.

[Ron T]

Hi Doris, thank you for posting this stone head re-make.

It serves as a very clear lesson to new carvers and old to as you say, "carve deep." One of the problems I still have is carving deep. Perhaps it is a fear of ruining a carving since you can take off but you can't put back wood. That is why many novice carvings look blocky.

I am improving thanks to your commentary on your wips and answers to my posts.

What I appreciate most is your willingness, as this posts shows, to help other carvers and the time you take to make helpful comments on others' works. Words of encouragement are appreciated, but your tips are what help me with my carving.

Thank you.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

You can buy soapstone from the Dick Blick company......