how to make a good design ?

[doris]

i would like bring up this question, i often wonder about, and which i think is basic to carving, right after learning to make desired clean cuts, and sharpen the tools ...

can it be learned to make a good design for carving ? and if so, what are the basic principles ? a design works often on a drawing, there are rules how to make a compostion i know about, how use values etc, but then if carved, it looks boring, or even worse, it looks wrong . it not translates to 3d correctly...

i think the basic shapes need be convincing, the details is just the icing on the cake, but not makes the carving good. but, how approach this ? how find the shapes that "speak" ? are there some principles one can use as a guide to begin with ?

so, what is your way to make designs that work in a carving ?

[Joy]

Great question! I am eager to hear some answers.

[Juhani]

I asked a similar question a while back and was given some things to think about. Things still haven't been solidified by any means in my mind but I have something of an idea to start with.

Here is a link to the post:

Composition design

I read a couple books by Ernest Muehlmatt and mentions a circular flow in a composition. Granted much of this is more geared toward animal or bird carving but it does begin to make a guy think about what he should try and do.

[doris]

yes, thank you ! i missed your post when it was up. really should study the other forums too. thanks a lot, this is very helpful thread...

[AlArchie]

There are many aspects that can go into a good design, but from a mathematical base, begin with what is known as a "Golden Rectangle" or use the base "golden ratio" to determine the most pleasing shape to begin with. This seems to apply to most every type of art.....dont' ask me why, because Idunno.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rectangle

Development and placement of elements within these areas can be singular or multiple in each succesive included area. For instance, a square on the left of the rectangle , leaving another vertically placed rectangle of the same proportions on the right, may be filled with element you wish to draw or carve, and the right setion can be balanced in the same manner only going vertical. You don't want to clutter things up too badly so that right hand section can actually be left "empty" as a vacant balance space to the left hand square.

Working within these areas can bring some balance to your work. There are many other approaches to making a good design and this is only one of them.

Try using other geometrical shapes to define areas that you wish to place your drawing or carving elements in. By elements I mean objects or groups of objects that sort of relate to each other that will be used to develop the overall project.

Then you have to work on a "flow" that connects all these elements. Roads, walkways, vines, animals moving in a prticular direction, chimney smoke, and perspective can all be used to convey that feeling of flow. Look at Mark's trees and vines as he brings the flow of a carving into effect. I haven't looked close enough at his work to notice if he utilizes the golden ratio in his work, but my guess would be that he does, if only subconciously.

Lynn mentioned on one of his carvings that he didn't really like the way he placed his subjects elbows leaning on a fence.........this was a matter of giving the proper flow to a scene. Perhaps it wasn't noticable to others, but it seems he felt this flow was not quite right.

Other factors may involve color and shading......there was some discussion on shading and shadows on the pyrography forum. These are areas of sometimes subtle differences that can make a huge difference in the appearance of a carving, burn or painting.

Particularly in relief carving shading and shadow work can make a piece stand out from the flat surface it is done on. Those undercuts help, but if the work is to be painted, shadows added with slight variations of the base colors will bring those elements to life. Even with naturally finished (stained) carvings, variations of the sahdes of stain can emphasize critical points of interest.

If you are doing a carving from an actual scene or photo, it's important to really LOOK at the subject. Looking and "seeing" are developed skills. Looking is a physical act......"seeing" is done in the mind. Learn to use these independent functions of your existance and you will find it easier to transfer the subjects to your medium.

When I was hiking with the Scouts, I'd often point out what I thought were prominent features in the landscape, small items on the ground, or birds, animals and insects partly hidden in the clutter of the surrounding countryside. They'd quite often ask "How did you see that?" I'd tell them that they first have to learn to look. Small movements, partial outlines, shadows and variations in color and shade, and diffrences in the light as it filters through leaves and grasses are signposts to what's there.

Anyway, all these things can be brought into good design. And probably a lot more, too.

I'd say that BALANCE in size, shape, shades, color and space, plus FLOW are the two critical factors that determine if a design works or just sits there.

Ooops, guess I should have gone back and read that piece on design by mark.....he seems to have covered it much better than I did.

Al

[doris]

al, thanks a lot for taking time to write such indepth explanation... there are really some points you mention giving me idea how to start. like that with the geometrical shapes, and first place objects within that, and then connect visually to make flow... this is very concrete, i can try. this is what i wanted know, how get started :-) now i want go and look again my favourite carvings, and see if i can find these elements... wow, excited...thanks a lot, very appreciated

[mark yundt]

Personally I feel design and composition come first.There are many designs and patterns out there that very simply wouldn't work well if carved.Here you are correct Doris,,,a drawing doesn't always translate well to a 3D carving.I feel that a good composition will always work even if the carving skills aren't well developed.A bad design,,carved well is still a bad design and doesn't really inspire.At that point even gold leafing it won't help it look better. It's just bad.
Whereas a great design that might be lacking in finess,,,can always be gone over to improve it,,if the original design was good to start with.
Put a nice paint job on an Edsel,,,it's still an Edsel,,and basically ugly.
Dull faded paint on a Dusenberg is a shame,,but it will still look great,,and can be made beautiful with a bit of care.
Design,,composition,,balance and flow will rule the roost in my book.Carving skills and details ANYBODY can learn. Learning to see (not look) as Al indicated, is a more highly cherrished skill. If anything is off in a carving,,and you're aware of it,,chances are that's all you're gonna see regardless how good all the other parts are,,and really great other parts won't hide the mistake or keep your eyes from going back to it repeatedly.
Someone once made a comment about one of my pieces."I've looked it over for mistakes as we all do,,and couldn't find any."

Well they simply don't know how to look,,or know what they're looking at.

Finding that elusive thing takes time ,thought and study.This was the guiding force that fueled the Masters.This is what they concentrated on.This was the underlying point of Drawing on the Right side of the Brain,,NOT learning how to draw.SEEING how lines related to each other and what they meant,,not how to draw the line.Seeing is the form,,drawing is the mechanics.Once you learn to properly SEE,,the rest takes care of itself automatically.
Once this is understood and digested,,it won't matter if you're carving a womans face,,a flower,,leaf,,egg and dart,,it's all the same thing,,THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE.
Stop cuts and slices,these two things, can make any of these ,,always have ,,always will. Those are the mechanics.Nothing fancy,,just basic cuts.
Learning to see the form,,now that's where the actual art of carving begins.The rest are merely distractions that lead you away from actually carving well.

[doris]

i am so glad i asked that question, even though i feeled arkward about it... yes, the seeing, i have learnt to look and reproduce a drawing, say, since i learnt to see the relations of lines, and values, ...but, i realise, i not have learnt yet why some carvings speak so vividly to me, and many not...

i feel al said something made me click, i have read some of these, but not came into my heart, so to say. yes, mark, i too believe it is the basic compostion and design which makes a piece, and why i can look my favourite carvings over and over, and never get bored. having now pointers what to learn to see, i feel, i can try this... so far, i made designs only by try and try again until it looked good to me, but this seemed so odd, i mean, thats why i asked, how to get started. thanks a lot too, mark. and yes, once you notice a mistake, in a carving or elsewhere, you never can look again at it without seeing that mistake. its like it has got a tag on it. i know that too.

[Alice in Wonderland]

ah Doris
you said at one point that you "try and try until it looked good to you" to me this is all what matters as Mark said composition, balance and flow is what makes a good design.
If I think to much about ALL this I quit ,to me the simple thing is, a piece of wood and the idea in my head and my Tools ( they have a rest right now or they will over heat :-)) we have Summer, finally)
Sure some people may not like my work and others Oh and Ah, again everything comes down to the individual.
Alice

[Jim OH]

Hi Doris,
A few things I consider when designing a project.
1. The basic idea of just what the carving is trying to depict.
2. The elements, if any, that need to be included in addition to the subject.
3. The display method of just how the subject will be presented. example: a base or some other object that the subject is sitting, standing, lying ....on.
as well as the viewing angle most appropriate for viewing the carving.
4. How to orient the pattern on the wood to allow not only strength to the carving, but ease of carving.
5. Attachment points for hands, arms, etc to provide strength to all parts of the carving or at least as much as possible.
6. The subject drawing doesnt need to be very elaborate for me, mostly just an outline that will have enough wood in all the right places to allow figure completion as well as a little extra wood for "emergency modifications" should the need arise .
7. Look at some anatomy books showing bone and muscular locations to make sure you have the pattern depicting a position that can actually be accomplished by another human being.
8. Look at clothing books to see how the clothing hangs on the subject.
9. A lot of folks will use clay to mock up a figure then transfer the outline to wood.
10. I have an advantage of being a draftsman for many years and working in three dimensions, so I don't have much trouble visualizing what looks right and what looks not so good.
11. Understand how the face moves and what controls expressions.
12. If you have access to or can get a Pete LeClair book, he has the most mechanical method of establishing face layouts which for me is the easiest to understand.
Just some random thoughts. Hope they help.
Jim OH