Carving a simple woman's face

[jmischel]

It seems all the patterns I see for simple carvings involve male faces: Santas, wizards, gnomes, elves, dwarfs, etc. Although they're fun to carve, I'd sure like to carve a simple woman's face. But I can't seem to find a pattern. My attempts so far at creating a pattern myself have been ... not entirely successful.

For example, consider the first picture below, which is a simple carving of a wizard's face. It's not high art, but it's quite obviously a wizard or a dwarf. And it's so incredibly simple that even I can do it. This is just a simplification of what I learned in going through Gene's 5-minute wizard tutorial.


So I thought I'd try carving a simple woman's face on the other side of that wizard block. The result is the second picture, which I know is awful. I think the idea is right, but I haven't quite discovered the essential elements.

Are there any tutorials available that carve a simple woman's face? I'm looking for something like a princess, a mermaid, perhaps an angel ... I'm thinking softer features than what we typically see in the male faces.

[doris]

not a tutorial, but the way you carved your faces, kind of lineart, gave me idea, so i drew a few ladies for you, they go nicely as mermaid , princess, sorcerer ...

[jmischel]

Doris

Thank you. That will give me a place to start. I'd still like to see an "in the round" tutorial, though. But I sure do appreciate these drawings.

[JJireh]

There are several things that man-carvers have trouble with
Hard lines being the main one. think of it like this, ladies don't like lines/wrinkles so the less hard lines the better (nose and cheeks)
soft and curvey.
I modified your picture to show the difference.
Hope that helps
Sean

[jmischel]

Sean

Good job with the picture editing. I can see where you're going with it. Thanks for the help.

[urbansheepdog]

Hi Jim
I'm in the same boat, looking for a book or something on carving women. I've been asked to do two carvings of women in my "wee guy" style but I've only done one before and she looked like a bloke! LOL! I've been looking at this book Carving Caricature Women (A Schiffer book for woodcarvers): Debbie Barr, Jeffrey B. Snyder: Amazon.co.uk: Books but not sure whether it's what I need or not. If I source anything I'll let you know. Cheers Simon

[JJireh]

The other thing is the mouth
more shaped than a man's, sometimes you can shape the top without even making lines and just mark the lower lip.

[JJireh]

Simon post a pic if you want and maybe we can help.

[Burtoni]

This post started me thinking about finding a tutorial that would help start a woman's face carving!!!! Hope there'll be more info posted!!!!

[doris]

hi burtoni, not a tutorial, but i have on my blog several pictorial stories about how i carve women, old, exotic, beautiful, there are many step fotos, and i explain why i do things the way i do,,,and maybe that is helpful