Carving Smiles

[nvillemike]

Hi,
I'm new to the message board; have been carving for 8 or 9 years, mostly caricatures, and I really enjoy Santas. It just occurred to me that of the dozen or more Santas I've carved (copied) from various books and articles, none is smiling. They all look serious or disinterested or just "out of it." So I'm wondering, how do I carve a bearded face with a pleasant smile, like Santa should have?

[Claude]

Welcome to the forum!

Here's one possible solution: Smiling Eyes, Flat Plane Style

Claude

[Blake Lunsford]

I've found through trial and error that carving an open mouth, eye brows that are raised and smile lines around the eyes cause a santa to look happy. Take a look at some of the santas that Mark Akers, Wayne Shinlever, Gary Falin, Flyod Rhadigan and the Bishops carve and pick out some of the characteristics that you think make their santas look happy and try to apply them to your carvings. It's definitely something that I struggle with also, but keep on trying! Practice, practice, practice!

Good luck!
Blake

[nvillemike]

Thanks for the response, guys. I'll be googling those names. And I wouldn't have considered the flat plane style, but now that I've seen Mike B's tutorial, I gotta try it. Thanks again.

[scooter]

I find that by making the cheekbones more prominent, and bringing them up, thereby creating a 'squinty' look (don't forget the wrinkles associtated with such an expression), which yields a jolly-looking Santa.

And the raised eyebrows is also a good idea. But be careful -- when raising the eyebrows there's a fine line between 'happy' and 'startled'...

S~