[JesusLovesYou]

Here is a pic. of another I just finished and one I just finished carving. I got some basswood finally from Heinkenn??. It made a big difference. They are good people to deal with. Sorry, the pics. are a little blurry.
God BLess,
Thomas

[Kenny_S]

How big is the relief you are carving?

A suggestion, On the sidewalk, make it bigger the close to the bottom narrowing to the to the steps to give it a little perspective.

[JesusLovesYou]

Thanks for the tip. I'm new to carving and drawing basically. Do you mean how deap is the relief? I would say about 3/16 or so.

[Kenny_S]

You are coming along great.

On your next one set the sky back further, the the Mountains, then the building or whatever and leave a litt bit more frontage to the carving, Maybe the building a little smaller and start adding trees or a road to break up the picture sort of speacking. Look at ALArchie's cabin and church. Give your carving a little more depth in appearance.
You are doing grety though, Just something to ponder on.

[Irish]

OHHH! I almost missed this one! Great work once again. I can see your carving skills dramatically improving with each new carving that you are sharing.

I agree with Kenny, you have the basics to carving now and I think you might enjoy trying something with a little more perspcetive to the work. This 'primitive styled' carvings are perfect for the theme that you are doing. I wouldn't change that! But I do think you are ready to expand into a new style of work.

Isn't basswood great!

Susan

[AlArchie]

I'd like to second Susan's statement. That "primitive" style of your carvings does not need to be changed. You can learn other styles and develop those, but you seem to have come upon this one naturally. Primitive is not, in any sense, a derrogatory term, but rather describes a style that is probably best represented by one of our century's greatest artists, "Grandma Moses".

Maybe my perception of the genre is wrong, but it seems to be a simple way of representing more complex themes, while still maintaining the integrity of the scene. Perspective and relative size may be abandoned in individual elements, but the overall effect is one of a very cohesive presentation. Bold colors of the various elements add contrast and draw the eye to those elements.

Maybe someone with some art training can better state what I'm trying to get across, but your style falls into that category very nicely.

What do you think, Susan? Or other "art smart" folks? I might not know art, but I know what I like,and I like these!

Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

You know, the primitive style is extremely popular now...and has been for quite awhile.....I wonder tho about Thomas changing, it might take away from this primitive style?

[Irish]

Oh - Did that come out of my typing wrong? I NEVER meant to imply in any way that there is anything wrong with Primitive. I would die to be able to paint the way Grandma Moses did. In fact I think I have posted several times to this message board about how I just can not conquer the Primitive-Folk Art styles of carving yet I keep trying because I love it so much.

My apologizes if my posting came out as anything but Praise!

Susan

Top of the Food Chain

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

No I don't think your post came out wrong, I was just thinking that sometimes when we try other things we lose contact with the original..and primitive is just that, done from a lack of training, thats what makes it so unique.....but to learn other things, kind of destroys the "lack of training" part I think....hummm, maybe I just haven't had enough coffee this morning!

[AlArchie]

Oooops, the problems of delayed, out of context discussion......

I sure didn't mean to sound like I was challenging Susan's comments......actually I was agreeing with her position and trying to expand a bit on the thought.

Al