How long would it take to learn to do this?

[ChosenWood]

I am a beginner myself but how long do you figure it takes to sculpt something like this, it's my goal to reach that level one day, also I am wondering if there is in wood carving schools or workshops in toronto.

thanks so much and sorry if this question is stupid

[minowevie]

Your question is not stupid. I ask myself the same things when I started just one year ago. I would say. do lots of resurrect, and practice practice practice. if your motivation, and commitment is high. you can do anything. the time it takes. is the time you put into it. learn to sharpen your knifes, and learn about the wood to use. and techniques.the rest is all in your head. waiting to get out. you'll do great . Evie

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Three hours? That's without the added horns.

Sorry, I misread the question. I thought you were asking how long would it take to do it not how long it would take to get to the level of doing it. While it would take me around 3 hours to do carve this head it has taken me about 40 years to be able to say that with any degree of certainty. Carving, like anything, takes a lot of practice.....a whole lot of practice. Learning the basics is the easy part as anyone can pick up a knife or chisel and start knocking off chips of wood. Like Evie said, there's a lot more to it than that.

[gtech]

I would suggest that you learn Pete Leclair technique for the faces.

Caricature Carvers of America: Bios: Pete LeClair

The horns would be an easy add-on

Gilles

[A_Swope]

Practice, Learn about your tools and how to use them.

[uvawyo]

Not a stupid question at all
I dunno the answer
It probably depends on you inate artistic abilities
Just start the chips flying and keep it up carve carve carve

[Lynn O. Doughty]

I was wrong....it only took an hour and a half. I didn't do the ears as I wanted to use the face for one of my own figures and I added a hair bump on the back of the head for that same purpose. Old Reliable was the only knife I used. Started at 9 and finished at 10:30. What does it prove? Absolutely nothing other than it offered a challenge and gave me something to do while I waited for a stump grinder to show up. He didn't.....the jerk! but now I have a pretty nice head to put on some figure. The photos below were taken about 15 minutes apart. And yes, I know I'm working in a much smaller scale than the original.

As mentioned earlier, it takes a long, long time to not only build your skills but most importantly to gain the confidence to tackle a certain task. From the very beginning for as long as you carve you should always look for ways to challenge your skills.
That's the fun of it.

[Dileon]

Now see, it would take me a whole week, as I would do it as a mask and I would have to sand it down and another week to paint it. I go at turtle pace.... if I tried to do it that small, and that fast I would be in ER getting stitches.

[toycarver]

Wow, Lynn, it's interesting to see it done in your style.

[minowevie]

Lynn, show off. HEHE. that looks great. Evie