A character who wants to carve characters

[D. Cardin]

Hello All,

I've been lurking for a while but decided that I should probably introduce myself. I've been wanted to learn to carve for years now but I've haven't been sure how to get started. I have a decent set of tools and not a lot of artistic talent. I think that I'd like to carve characters. Any ideas on how to get started would really be appreciated.

Does anybody know of any good instructors in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area?

Anybody have any books they would recommend for the begining character carver?

Looking forward to learning and sharing.

All the best,

Dave

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Welcome Dave. You might check out my Blog listed below. There are several beginner projects like Boots, Bottle Stoppers, etc. Also some full sized characters.

[Mottles]

Also, check out Fox Chapel Publishing on this site for their books on caracture (spelling?) carving. Also, the Caracture forum on this site would be a super sourse for you too. By the way Welcome.
Kathy

[Joy]

Welcome to the forum, Dave. You can't go wrong studying Lynn's site.

I think an old boot is a great way to start because everyone has a good understanding of what a boot should look like. That makes it a lot easier.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Just do it!

[againstthegrain]

Welcome to the forum, Dave. Glad you stopped lurking and decided to join us!

Dianna

[Bartster]

dave,

hello and welcome to the forum a great place to learn, you might like to check out any of the 3 books by pete leclair and also the 2 books by jack price, in my opinion these are some great starter books, petes books deal mainly with the head with one book being a full figure from a square block, and jacks books are all little folks carved from 2" blocks the good thing about these are you will not need a bandsaw. hope this helps

bart

[D. Cardin]

Thank you all so much for such a warm welcome. It's very obvious that this has to be the place to be if you want to mingle and learn from top notch carvers and top people.

Lynn your carvings are amazing! I checked out your website the other day before I posted and was just blown away. I have since checked out your blog and will attempt one of you tutorials. Any suggestions on which bottle stopper would one would be best for a rookie? By the way, if you ever get out this way to teach a seminar, I will beg, borrow or steal to get there! I really enjoy your style of carving and attention tgo detail.

Thanks again,
Dave

[big dave]

howdy and welcome to the site. plenty of help here just ask look around you will find plenty of books everybody has there favorites the books by mike shipley are good books and you might want to check out some of the books by skyler johnson they are good beginner books there is also a book by larry green called first projects that is good to start with smokey mtn. woodcarvers sells a kit wih the book and some cut outs of each project

[Claude]

Dave:

A good place to start is right here in the forums. Take a look at Wood Carving Tutorials - Woodcarving Illustrated Message Board

Also, search for the link to Gene Messer's wood carving videos on Youtube. He goes by whittler0507 there.

Claude

[Ron T]

Hello and welcome, Dave. It's nice to have you here.