Finished after stain

[JesusLovesYou]

Here is a few better pics. Here is another I'm working on. The pic. didn't take good. Not sure if I need to take back the ground by the rightside of the church. I woke up with a crick in my neck this morning. My wife blames it on carving too much. Thanks for all the help and May God Bless You,
Thomas

[AlArchie]

Thomas, it looks to me like you've got the low relief carving down pretty good. Perhaps a few different shades added to your painting and perhaps some shadow area around the eves and where the front breaks from the side of the church. Just enough to distinguish the vertical edge.

Nice work.

Al

[Thor]

Thomas,
I like how you separated the two mountains. The stain worked really well to frame it too.
Another thing that every beginner has to be encouraged to do is to sign and number and date "every" carving. Years from now, when you've carved so many you can't count them, it will really mean a lot to look back and see how far you've come. It also serves as a record for others to know what order you progressed.
Great first carving, and I see you are well on your way to getting another finished. I see you are already making use of the horizon line in the second carving. That will help give it depth.
That crick in your neck will probably be there for awhile.
Thor

[Ashbys]

Nicely done .
A good adjustment in the carving. The stain looks well finished and served to highlight the carving. Looks like your using white Pine on the next one. But I could not be sure. Is it a solid board ?

If it is pine , pine grain can give you a couple of small problems, the grain will have ridges which can cause your knife to catch and bounce. Whihc can disrupt your lines, just make positive stop cuts and cut to the stop, will help keep the pine from running if you happen to overcut.
Doing great .

Ash

[JesusLovesYou]

Both of those is pine I think. I got them at the local Wal-mart. I bought a small piece of wood at walmart that is suppose to be basswood. It has the bark around the edges. It is very hard to carve. I guess it might be the way the wood is cut. Thanks for all the replies and May God BLess YOu,
Thomas

[Irish]

Thomas, The Walmart basswood is probably an end grain cut oval. So your entire project is working against the end grain.

You captured the perspective on the corner of your church and copula (bell tower) perfectly. Those front corners establish the depth to the rest of the carving ... very, very nice! I can't imagine what you will be carving in just a few months if this is one of your first works.

As for the crick ... try raising the height of the wood on your work bench so that you are not bending quite as much. Also if you have a half full gallon sized can of paint in the shop place it on the floor. Once in a while rest on foot on that can then later move the can over for the other foot. Placing a foot on the can changes the position of your back and neck just a bit so that you spread the tention evenly ... no one area of your back takes all the strain during one carving session.

For very long sessions I keep an second pair of shoes in the shop. One pair has no heal and the other a small 1" height heal ... again just enough to change the back position.

Great job.

Susan

[Ashbys]

Thomas,
another thing about basswood , especially at walmart, is the wood is often been sitting for so long that there is no moisture at all in it. One piece will cut great and the next be just like a rock.
The dryer wood becomes the harder it becomes, there are a couple of things you can do to return moisture content, but the simplest is a 50/50 mixture. I will quote Callynne,
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Well Linda, you and I certainly have something in common. When I first started carving I didn't know anything about wood at all....or carving....for that matter! I started out on the only wood I could find, the ends of 2x4's. Ended up with tendonitis in both my hands, which took two sessions of therapy to correct!! I have both day and night type braces for both hands....thankfully....I haven't needed to wear either types for a long time!

This tip may be of help to you, it won't hurt to try. I often use a 50/50 mixture of water and rubbing alcohol. I keep this in a spray bottle and mist the wood, layer by layer as I carve. It works great, when I hit a section of wood that doesn't carve as easily as I want it to. This is only to use with hand carving, not when you're using power, of course!

The moisture helps to soften the wood, the rubbing alcohol will keep it from molding and help it to try more quickly.

Another thing, when doing power carving, the very fine sawdust makes it easy to think you have more wood left to carve but it's actually the sawdust. I keep a round paintbrush handy and keep brushing the sawdust off from around the area I'm working on. I also keep my sweeper setting beside me and actually sweep the carving often while working. Be sure to use either a shop vac or, if like me, my regular sweeper, which is a bagless one. Definitely couldn't use a bag type, it would clog up right away.

Don't get discouraged, as I mentioned on another posting today, we are really our own worse critics!! Keep us posted, good luck!! Callynne
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Hope this helps
Ash

[Mottles]

Thumbs Up Hi Thomas, congratulations on completing your first relief and I see you have been bitten by the relief bug as you have started another one. Good for you!
I bought my first woodburning and relief carving basswood plaques at Michaels Craft store. I think the manufacture is Walnut Hollow or something like that--sorry I don't have the correct name for you. I now buy my basswood from a lumberyard in Phoenix by the board foot. It's much, much cheaper that way. Remember it only takes practice and more practice and more practice. Keep up the good work!
Kathy
I'd like to recommend Fox Chapel Publishing Co. book "Landscapes in Relief" by Lora S. Irish (Irish on the boards) It has some carving techniques and patterns and is a terrific how/to book. Susan's leads you though the relief steps and even shows you different painting methods for completing your relief.

[JesusLovesYou]

Thanks for all the replies and encouragements. I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future.
May God Bless You All,
Thomas