Advise on finishing for a beginner

[James A]

I have been working on this relief carving for a while, and I am close to finishing. This is my first attempted to carving something in detail, so I need advise on how to carve fur and hair on it. To this point, the only relief carvings I have completed have only been receding the area surrounding a picture. I only have 8 basic tools, so I need advise on how to do this detail work with the tools I have.

[Ashbys]

Hi James,
I am a bit surprised no one has responed to you yet . But lets see if I can help.

Your picture is a bit dark , but it looks like a light relief in maple. A bit of an agressive wood for a starter but it hold great detail.

I am assuming you have a starter set of tools. I am not sure which tools you have but lets go assuming you have a few of the basic tools. It is a polar bear so the first thing to do is study the form lines of the bear and how they go together.

Draw a few lines, to show the seperation of the animal. Head, front shoulder, rear hips knee to develope the form. These lines are for reference and will be removed as you form the shape. Strating at the head locate the eyes , ears mouth, nose and jaw lines then draw the lines to help you locate them. Next the front shoulder stands out away from the body carve the area between the front shoulder and the hind leg tapering from the center body to raise the legs up out of the body.

Taper from the front shoulder to head, a polar bears head is very large define it to the jaw line.
Using the lines for the head highlight them with your v tool. Look at some well focused pictures showing the hair. You will see it is long using your V tool to show the hair lines and flow lines of the hair.

I don't know if this helps but post pictures of it as you advance and pictures of your tools so we have a better knowledge to help you.

Ash

[squbrigg]

James, have you done any more with this bear carving? Ash has offered some great tips, and we now have a good idea of what you are using for tools. Just curious.

Bob

[James A]

I haven't been carving on it lately because I have been working on a woodspirit and the santa picture holder that was in this issue of the magazine. I was going to resume on this project hopefully tonight. I probably should have stuck with doing one thing at a time.