Learning to see

[BobD]

In the past few years, I've been undergone a transformation in how I see. Let me explain (before you tune out thinking I've gone nuts).

When I started carving, I would usually get hung up on the overall look of a carving; that usually left me feeling overwhelmed. But I kept looking. Once I looked enough, I started to notice things, such as the clever little gouge mark representing a pupil, or the subtle gouged line separating the cheekbone from the cheek.

Around the same time, I started reading Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. The book emphasized breaking complex drawings and images down into simpler form. I was able to see more and more what kind of cuts someone made to carve something.

But it really hit me today when I was working on an article. I had to fill in some missing instructions, and I just started typing them without thinking. As I was reading back over what I wrote, I realized that I had been carving the piece in my head and I typed. I had dissected the carving, and was re-carving it in my head as I wrote.

Once the dam burst, I couldn't stop. I've been looking all around my office at different carving I have on display--some by myself, and some by others. Suddenly (it feels that way anywhat), I can't help seeing the individual cuts that make up each piece. The gouge cut for the nostrils, the way the line cut accents the undercut on a relief carving.

It's like I'm seeing with new eyes.

Before now, I've always kinda used other people's techniques to achieve a carving. Even if I am working on a project that isn't related at all to their project, carve an eye, for example, the way Susan Irish does because I couldn't figure out how to on my own. But now, I finally SEE how to carve an eye.

Bob

[Simplyme]

Thats what I call getting in the "ZONE"..........

Can't wait for that revelation.........

Congrats

[Thor]

I think Bob, that you are becoming fluent in the language of carving.
Thor

[Eddy-Smiles]

You've been "enlightened!"

[Ron T]

Bob,

That's just awesome. Now can you tell me where I can get a pair of eyes like those.

[Keoma]

YAY! I am really happy for you! I have realized that that is my exact problem on doing custom orders for people. I cannot carve something unless I see it in mmy head first. I have no patterns, just sketches on scraps of wood and paper. I am hoping that one day I will wake up and be able to see how to carve like the rest of these awesome folks, but then I might sprout wings at the same time thank you for sharing with us. Every once in awhile, I realize we're all ini the same boat...some are just farther down river than the rest of us

[achaundy]

Simplyme has it, you were completely focused. Your subconcous mind took over, it's where everthing becomes easy. The only problem is you can't be there all the time. Skip

[oldbearx2]

I remember watching a guy at a carving club once carving a santa. It was a really great carving and he was working on the eyes. He had dozens of people standing over him like vultures but it was like we were not even there. I think he was in the ZONE because the eyes turned out xcellent. I also have to "see' the carving in the wood before I can start. If I am working from a cut out or just a block of wood, sometimes it will set for a week or more until I can see it. As for seeing each cut before I make I have not progressed that far yet. Hope it happens soon.

Have fun, carve

Harold

[Ed Redwine]

Bob, I would call you one of the "fortunate" ones! Some carvers catch on quickly while others never get a clue. They struggle on for years doing the same thing without getting any better. Visualizing the carving and seeing it in your mind is paramount to the finished product. Congratulations on your "find".\
Ed

[AlArchie]

Bob, you have made a quantum leap in observation.......now it's time to apply that same discipline to colors and hues.

A lot of new carvers tend to ask "What color do you use for that particular feature?" (generic question) Expecting a reply that will give a specific hue or grade of color, not realizing that almost nothing in nature is a "pure color". Skin tone for example.......look at the back of your own hand........CLOSELY! Is it one color? I doubt it. There are various colors ranging from (in caucasians, cuz that's what I am) white to tan to yellows to browns to reds and all in varying hues and shades. Further there is not a SINGLE SQUARE CM THAT HAS A SINGLE COLOR, but is a dappling of all these variations. Same with the skin and scales of fish, the feathers of birds, the petals of flowers, even individual blades of grass.

And then these affects can be accomlished by several different approaches. Transparent overlays, opaque striated applications over base colors, stippling of numerous colors and shades, washes over many different grounds, etc.

It's all in learning how to see colors! Once you learn to "see" these variations, you will be amazed at how complex the visual world becomes. You may even invent some new colors and hues that no one else can see! Playing with the light is a game of the demented, but what the heck, that's not all that bad!

Al