originality

[kb2rocket]

carving is great but I often wonder why so many people carve the same things
a boot? why not a platform shoe
Santa? why not superman
a guy with a beard carved in a stick? why not a worm
fish ducks and bears? you have any Idea how many different types of animals are out there?
and all these cute little deformed characters? I know its super hard but how about making people look as much like the real thing as possible?
why carve a spoon? try carving a egg beater
.
I will be the first to atmitt Im not a very good carver but I try and explore new things
have fun happy new year

[Ron T]

I agree. It's difficult when you're starting out to carve something different since you don't have anything to compare it to. Now that I've been carving for a while, I try to carve my own designs. Take a look at my Rain Forest Stick.

[kb2rocket]

those are great

[sashadoc]

kb2rocket, People carve what interests them. There are so many different types of carving and subjects that after a while you'll find that what you mentioned has probably been done before. I noticed your stick and it looks real nice. If your interest is canes/sticks you'll find a lot in the "sticks and canes" forum listed near the bottom of the index. Here's a site I go to often for inspiration.
prize 2
There are so many places that feature woodcarvers (WCI being my favorite) that you'll see a lot of diversity. YouTube is a good resource. I hope you find the type of carving you want to stick with and check out the web sites that get your juices flowing.
By the way, can't wait to see your platform shoe carving when it's finished,lol.

Tim

[kb2rocket]

I think I want to try everything I can think of https://www.facebook.com/pages/Keith...16235391728349 right now im working on a marionette

[fly fisher]

I tend to carve things that no one else does and use different materials too. I think the reason for this is because when i started carving i never looked in a book or on the computer i just got differnt bits of wood and carved what i wanted.

[Robson Valley]

kb2rocket
I like the marionette. Have you seen the Cashore Marionettes? Google I sat through a stunning stage performance. I know the guy was standing right in front of us all the time. He was hiding in plain sight while he manipulated 30 or 40 strings.

Some people like to explore a theme. Maybe they just don't want to carve one-of-this and one-of-that. Sometimes, I see things in the wood, that's easy to finish. I did 3 carvings to depict parts of the Haida Belief of Raven Stealing The Light.
I have wood cuts to print.
I want to try to do restrictive carving where all features must fit in a limited space.
I want to do some carvings which actually show the passage of time.

Whatever floats your boat.

[mrgrouch]

i have no explanation or opinion about the op, but it reminded me of an old man who told me of his carving beginnings when he kept trying to carve dogs, but for some reason his carvings always ended looking like pigs, so out of conformity more than originality he decided pigs were his thing and not dogs, but he carved some of the most beautiful pigs you have ever seen (if you have seen carved pigs that is).

cheers

[ABitoSlo]

It's because I have no talent, and no translation between my eyes and hands. :-) Besides, when I threw out my '70's platform shoes I swore I never wanted to see that style again. ;-)

[Whittled Thumb]

Wow
I'm going to buck the system because I usually say what I feel like saying. And your post is very conceited. . That stick looks like any other carved stick with a flashy paint job. Actually I've seen some beautiful sticks here. Untill you yourself can pull off feats such as making carvings of characters look real, it is ill advised of you to put down works of art , that folks have shown or done here, by saying they looked deformed.

I know this reply will probably get tossed out , but it's my opinion and no one has to like it. But you should consider it