[JesusLovesYou]

I went to Dollywood a couple weeks ago and watched one of their craftsman carve a sign and got interested in carving. He was very helpful and even gave me some old pieces of wood to practice on. Here is my first carving. Thought I might stain the outer edge. I think he sprayed urethane over it before he stained it. I'm not sure though. Any help would be appreciated.

[Ron Davidson]

Well you have made a beginning. The first thing I notice is there is no way to tell where the mountains or hills begin. The church is supposed to be sitting in a meadow but I can't tell there is one. You can create a line of trees or a shadow even to help break it up or it may be the colors are to close to the same. Also there needs to be a shadow to show that there are two hills. The oval area seems to be too small for the things you have in it you could scale down the size of the church. Sorry to be so critical but you did ask. I think all in all you did OK for your first. I hope this helps don't give up.
Ron

[Mottles]

Hello and welcome! It's wonderful that you were able to watch a carver first hand. I have found carvers to be some of the most generous folks. The only thing they need to know is that you want to learn to carve. They also most often have some spare wood they'd like to share with you. Now that you have created your first piece--you'll want to do more and more. Keep going you'll find with each one you do you'll get better and better.
Kathy

[Ashbys]

Hi and welcome

For a first carving , I am impressed with 2 things , first that you finished it and second that you came here to ask for some help on staining.

I like the choices you made with the paint, to do a seperation of the landscape, this really helps is seeing what you wish to acheive.

I will answer your question first, chances are he used a pre-stain. this is a wood conditioner that is use on wood to allow the stain to be consistant in coloration once applied. Many woods will react differently in places to staining , so if your do not use a pre-stain you can eaisly end up with light and dark sections in your stain.
Lets say you chose to use a cherry stain, without the conditioner you will have a color that will be everything from a light pink to a almost black red inches apart. giving a very poor appearence to the wood. This is especially true of some of the basswoods, the pre stain will just even this out.
Now for some basic instruction I strongly suggest you go to Susan Irish's sight and read the landscape section on her site , great information and an excellent place to see step by step help the address is
www.carvingpatterns.com.

Welcome to carving and look forward to seeing more .

Ash

[JesusLovesYou]

I appreciate all the comments and help.
Thanks for the link ashbys.
May God BLess You All,
Thomas

[Colin_Partridge]

great to have you along for the ride. Excellent for your first carving. As you can see you will get nothing but help here. Take this carving and keep it for yourself as you progress you will see the improvements in your carvings.
Colin

[Thor]

Simple and pure. Wonderful carving for the initiation into carving.
Glad to hear you had help on the get go from the person you mentioned in Dollywood.
Keep at it. That's what all of us on this board do. it again when you decide on the stain. It sounds like you're in a good direction with it.
Welcome.
Thor

[Kenny_S]

A good start for your first and a relief carving at that. Relief carvings are hard to follow through for depth. You done good your first time. Suggestion and answers on this board is constructive and meant to help you out.