[Iowa Carver]

I hope I don't sound like an idiot here but I am a little confused here. See the dog cut outs. Now on the one I have carved off the alternating legs. The other I have laid out to carve off the opposite legs. I have a Tom Wolfe book on carving dogs. When I got to looking further at the book and also his Country Carving book which also has 2 dogs in it that he carved, he left on one side the 2 inside legs and the other side the front and the very back leg. On another carving he did the same thing only just put the 2 center legs on another side etc so they don't look identical. Am I making sense here? So am I doing this wrong, is the way I have the laid out ok and does it not make any sense as long as the one side uses opposite legs than the other side? Would this be the same on any other animals such as the bear cut outs shown?

Thanks for the help.

[DADDIO]

i did the same dog and on him i had both legs on one side going in and the other side they were going out,the bear can be the same i think,it all depends on where they are in their stride,at some points during their stride you'll see one placement and mid stride it'll look different.you can go to youtube and search and watch videos of just about any animal and see how their leg placement is. in his book your right he has them both ways. to each his on,it's your carving so you can do it ever how you like.

[Iowa Carver]

Thanks Mike! You say on yours one side the legs were turned in. Are you meaning the cut out with 4 legs on each side you used the 2 center legs and then one the opposite side you used the front and back legs, carving out the center legs?

Thanks!
Corey

Thanks,
Corey

[mark yundt]

I too think it depends on what the animal is doing. If it's just standing around the legs can be whatever you choose. But I do believe most animals legs on each side will alternate and don't move in the same direction at the same time. If it did it would have a very unstable and wobbly gait as balance would be compromised.

In other words both legs on the left side for example don't move forward at the same time then back. The front will be moving back as the back one is moving forward. So it depends if the animal is just standing around or walking.

[Iowa Carver]

Good point Mark. I watched my dog tonight and I notice when the dog was walking they alternated as in my cut out that has the extra legs removed. When standing he was similar to what Tom Wolfe had carved.

Thanks,
Corey

[doris]

camels (dromedars) always walk with putting both legs on same side to front, and the legs on other side back (this is called pass walk in german). same do a few breads of horses, all other animals do it, as the put oppoisite legs to front. like mark says, putting same side legs to front makes a wobbling in the walking, thats why camels also are called "ships of the dunes" (free translation from german) as you can get really sick when riding them...

[DADDIO]

yea that would be it,like i said if you watch it all depends on where they are in their stride as to leg placement.

[chuckbolton]

moving both legs on the same side is called pacing in horses and only a few horses do it-- (racing pacers for one) in reality only a purist would know the difference-- i did one horse and had the legs wrong-- but the buyer never noticed. a friend carved 2 left hands on a carving and the buyer didnt notice-- neither did the carver until it was leaving. lol. try to get them right-- but it requires some study to get it right-- look at everything you can-- pictures, videos and of course the real thing is always good

[Mottles]

Hi Corey, the gang has covered the leg position discussion well. What I would like to recommend is a book entitled 'Horses And Other Animals In Motion' by Eadweard Muybridge a Dover Publication.

The book does cover mostly horses, but does also cover Cats, Deer, Elk, Buffalo, Lion, Dog, Elephant, Racoon and various others. The images our still frame movement of each of these animals and even some birds. If you plan to carve animals this is an excellent reference book. Welcome to Dover Publications! Since 1941, we've offered great books at amazing prices, including over 600 titles that sell for less than $2.00! With over 8,000 value-priced titles we have books for almost every interest. Dover collections include fu

You'll never have to guess leg placement of an animal or wing placement of a bird again. Well almost, never say never! LOL

Kathy

[Iowa Carver]

Thanks Kathy. It just so happens that Gene is doing this same scene. I carved the black and tan dog and botched up the head so I now have a finished body of a dog with no head. I am going to saw out a new head an glue it on and take the opportunity to turn the head a bit. Thanks for all the replies!

Corey