Five Minute Wizards

[brent from mb]

I just saw the photos posted by one of the other members.

Does anyone know where I can find the pattern/instructions for these?

Thanks.

Brent from MB

[Iowa Carver]

Yes sir, it's issue 43, Summer 2008 of Wood Carving Illustrated and written by our own Tom Hindes of the forums. Great little article and tutorial.

You can also watch Gene Messer in his videos on You Tube as he did it after the article on one of his beginner videos. Here is the link:
YouTube - whittler0507's Videos

It's several parts and about page 5 of the videos.

Hope this helps.

Corey

[brent from mb]

Thanks Corey. I will go looking for both.

Brent

[Tom-H]

Brent, If you experience any trouble with carving the 5-minute Wizard, and need a wee bit of boost let me know.

Tom H

[brent from mb]

Thanks for the offer Tom. I will definitely take you up on it once I get started.

Brent

[brent from mb]

Hi Tom,
I have almost finished my first wizard and already see some changes I will make on my next one. I have order WCI #43 and am still waiting for it but used Gene Messer YouTube video as a guide.

Great video but went very quickly over carving the eyes. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Brent

[Tom-H]

Brent,

The area for the eyes in the 5 minute wizard is so small that you gotta cheat a little bit. Well, we all know it's not cheating, just getting the job done.

What I do is use my pocket knife and make 2 cuts.

Cut 1: Trim the top of the space for the eye to an arch. Once you do a couple of the wizards you can just cut the top of the eye area as an arch. Make sure this arch is high enough so that the eyes won't be too low on the face.

Cut 2: Use the point of the pocket knife at a slight angle (lay the knifedown a bit towards the bottom of the face) to make a second arch cut, right under and up to,the first one. This will result in the rounded surface of the top eye lid.

At this point there are several ways one may proceed:

A. Use a tooth pick and paint the white of the eye, followed by painting the iris and pupil.

B. Use a small eye punch to form the eyeball under the top lid, and then paint.

C. Use the pocket knife and make another cut to form the bottom of the eye, then paint.

If you need a source of small oval eye punches let me know.

The above description of the eyes in the 5 minute Wizard is just my way of doing it fast. (Within the 5 minutes)

Tom H

[brent from mb]

Wow. Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately I am at work and won't have a chance to try this until tonight (darn job keeps getting in the way of carving).

I really appreciate the suggestions. I have been carving for about 10 years but read more than I carve so really consider myself a beginner. My main interest is cottonwood bark - wizards and gnome homes - and I always have trouble when it comes to the eyes.

The 5 minute wizards really caught my eye (no pun intended) and I hope to get a few ready for Christmas.

They are pretty quick to carve and I suspect after 100 or so, I may get it down to something near 5 minutes!

[brent from mb]

Thanks again Tom. I finished my first one last night and am pleased with it. Certainly will be making some changes on the next which I hope to do today. I am still having trouble with the eyes but I guess that's where the practice thing comes in.

I see someone else posted a question about eyes on the tutorials forum.

Brent

[brent from mb]

OK, I have just finished a bowl of wizards. I have done 12 as Christmas gifts for assorted family and friends. I am going to start painting tomorrow and should have them already to go in a couple of days.

A special thanks to Tom and Gene for all the advice and encouragement. These have been fun to do.

Brent