I enjoy sculpting with polymer clays very much but always find it difficult to complete the project because I don't sew so to costume the figure is difficult and I have had trouble making wigs. I have been thinking of changing my hobby from sculpting to carving figures and was wondering if anyone else out there has done the same thing and has found it difficult or very rewarding. I wonder how easy it is to make the transition because with sculpting you are adding on clay and with carving obviously you are taking it away. Is it easy to change???? Thanks for the advice and in-put. Phyllis

Welcom, Phyllis to the wild world of woodcarving. If you are already sculpting, you're ahead of the game. You know how to visulize the shape of whatever you want to create. You probley know how to draw so you can create your own patterns. There are two ways to carve, knives & chisles and power carving. Knives and chisles take much longer because you use two thirds of your time sharpping them. Power carving only requiers a flex-shaft motor and a handpice. You remove wood with sanding drums and diferent shaped bits covered with diamond dust or ruby dust. Think of it as erasing the wood until you get the shape you want. Powercarving is cheaper. Here is a web site you can go to and compare cost. I have bought a lot of products from this company and they stand behind there stuff. www.woodcarverssupply.com Hope you go for the power carving lots of luck Jack D.

As Jack D. said, there are two major branches of carving. Then branches under that. Sculpting in clay and sculpting in wood shouldn't be to much different. I tried the power carving and didn't care for it. I guess the joy is in the doing, and different people enjoy different things. I don't think you'll have any trouble making the conversion. One of the things that European carving schools have their students to is sculpt in clay before they carve (at least that's what I read). Whatever type of carving you choose I think you'll enjoy it.

Actually sculpting in clay is quite different than carving.
in sculpting you add material where ever you need it, carving; when done right is material removal only.

I can sculpt, but I need to do it in reverse; I pile on the clay then carve off the excess. :-/

I sculpted Santas from clay long before I tried to carve them. Rick is correct - they are TWO totally different techniques - for obvious reasons. However, knowing one does make learning the other a bit easier.

I prefer carving, because like Rick, I tended to sculpt by taking a pile of clay and then continuing to remove bits until I found what I was looking for - essentially, carving in clay :-)

I'm a power-carver for roughing out and shaping my work, but I NEVER use those grinder-type things - way too much dust and debris to even be fun. I use reciprocating tools, which simply give me the added power to carve at a faster speed.

I'm sure you've figured out by now, Phyllis, that there are as many opinions on the subject as there are carvers/sculptors around here...lol I'd suggest that you just get a few basic carving tools and a couple pieces of carving wood and try your hand at it. You'll know soon enough whether you even WANT to make the transition from sculptor to carver.

Teri

Oh...I guess I'll add one more thing. You mentioned not wanting to do all that sewing, wig-making, etc. I hated all that stuff the first time I tried it - sewing is NOT my gig. But I just sculpted the entire figure from clay, clothes, hair and all. :

Teri