[Holzwurm]

Hi,

I just signed up on the board. I am from Germany and I hope that I will be able to exchange ideas across the big pond.

I am experienced in wood-working (20 years), did marquetry for about 15 years, and I am turning bowls. Since about 8 months I am addicted to wood carving. In Europe we work mostly with pre-carved statues, made from basswood. Our offer on different domestic woods is very limited. E.g. I never have seen any butternut over here. For the beginner the per-carved satues are of advantage, since there is not that much focus on proportions required. This cuts out some frustration and even the beginner can reach a good results. Over the time, someone will get a better feeling for the human anatomy, and I think whenever someone has gained sufficient experience, he will seek a new challenge and then work with tree stems, etc. About 90 per cent of the woodcarvings sold are pre-carved. Even the tourist places like Oberammergau, Black Forest, Southern Tyrol, use pre-carved blocks. Unfortunately I have not seen one in either an American catalogue or web-site.

My problem is humas faces. I have some great American books, since there is no usable literature available in Germany. So I will throw some questions at you.
The carving classes offered are taylored to tourists. Usually they will finish a very simple piece within a day and pay about $300.00 for it. I know of a carver he offers $20.00 per hour just to watch him. This is too much for my pocket book. There are good professional wood carvers over here, but they keep their knowledge like a treasure.
I am looking forward to exchange thoughts in the future. Here are my first questions. Does anyone ever worked with a pre-carved block? Can anyone give me some advise about eyes,mouth, and nose? In my opinion, eyes are the most critical part of the face.
Any reply is appreciated.

[wade clark]

Hi Holzwurm,
Welcome! It sounds like you have a good deal of experience with wood, far more than me. I collect wood. I love wood. I carve it, but I've never tackled anything as precision as a dovetail...I'd love to have your experience!
To me, woodcarving is somewhat of a free-form experience. It's a good thing, because if it was an exact science I'd be out of luck! But that's the beauty of it! You can do what you want. If you don't like it, it's worth about 200 BTU's depending on size. If you like it, it's priceless! If someone else likes it, it's a gift. Maybe if everyone loves it, it's a career opportunity!
Pre-carved blocks, or "rough-outs", are great if they keep you carving. The most important thing is to keep carving. I personally feel that rough-outs are a bit stressful...My expectation of myself is higher when I clearly know what the finished piece should look like. When I'm "winging it" with something more free-form, I can change direction without feeling like I've made a mistake. I after all am my worst critic.
Again, welcome! some pictures when you can. I think you'll find lots of encouragement here!
Wade

[brian bailey]

Hi Holzwurm, This internet super-hyway or what ever it's called now sure makes that big pond kinda small .


Here's a link to a site that should help you see the eyes and other parts of the human face better so they're easier to carve.

http://www.portrait-artist.org/index.html

Brianb...

[Mark N. Akers]

Holzwurm:
welcome to the message board,what a great group to share ideas with.

[squbrigg]

If a Canadian may add a welcome....Welcome aboard Holzwurm, always nice to have a new face on the site. You will find the members here very friendly and helpful, and I hope you enjoy chatting with us.

You will find that many carvers here also work with roughed out blanks, and just as many work from scratch. There are some great carvers here and speaking of carving eyes, Susan Irish just gave us a wonderful demonstration in the process in a thread a short while ago. If you search the threads, you should be able to find it.

Have fun carving and again, welcome to the group.

Bob

[Callynne]

Welcome, Holzwurm! Nice to have you with us! I don't know what books you have, do they demonstrate step by step carving of an eye? Eyes really aren't hard, you just have to remember a couple things, leave an 'eye mound' when you're carving. Draw the eye shape on with pencil, the distance between the eyes will be the size of one eye. Once you draw the eye shape, use a sharp detail knife and cut on your lines, make an inverted V shape, at each corner of the eye ball, in other wards make the corners deeper, that will give you a rounded eyeball shape.

Next, remove a tiny sliver of wood from around the bottom of the eye ball, this makes it 'tilt' in a tiny bit at the bottom, which our eyes do. Use a small U gouge to make the hollow above the eye, which will give you the eye lid. That's a pretty simple explaination, I know, but it is the basics of carving an eye and maybe, with your books, it will help make it a little easier for you. I hope so! Again, welcome!! Deborah

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Welcome holzwurm! There are lots of suppliers that sell both roughouts and some that sell unfinished copies made on a "duplicator" Myself, I find or draw a pattern and cut it out on a bandsaw....this is a good group, you will enjoy it, and we can also draw from your experience I hope. Dave