As promised my first carving

[Rwenzoski]

Hi koolred, that is some pretty awesome work you have done there! From what I am reading of your explanation of your learning process I assume you mean that you just followed your own intuition? I have done this myself & what I have discovered is it is a different path from point A to point B but as long as a person has the insatable (spelling?) drive to learn to improve I have found this is sometimes the best way & I now teach what I term as "Intuition carving" whereas one trusting in themsleves to recreate what is stored in the old memory banks is just another muscle exersize that has many more rewards than learning in many other ways.
Thanks for posting your awesome work!
Thanks, Robbin
index

[koolred]

Hi Robbin.. You have a pretty interesting production with a very personal approach, which confirms what you just said here. To answer your question, yes I like to learn some technique but I do it in reverse, first I tried to carve without knowing anything, just to expose myself to the difficulty of the task. It forces me to use my brain, be they old neurones or brand new ones lol.

Then when I felt that I couldn't really improve substantially anymore that's when I started a course to learn the tricks of this art. There are many techniques and I picked up the northern European one in which you never use a mallet, just chisels. I learned it very fast because I had been wondering about all the issues while exercising myself against nature. Most students including teacher didn't actually believe I could learn that fast, I was rather supposed to have suffered indefinitely before producing anything pleasurable. So that's the method that boosted my tuition.

Then when I carve I leave a consistent space for "error", I mean by that the unplanned, the unexpected that originate in the limbic brains by opposition to the frontal brains trying to control everything and yet can't because they are slow and inadequate except in terms of planning ideas, but not when you try to produce artistic work that also need mastering a physical craft, that's too much for the cognitive brains.. So giving up and accepting that there is more to what we can control is the point, this is the kind of stuff that helps producing more than simply cutting wood, it brings extra vavavoom to it. That's about it, I hope this can be useful to someone who wonders what's the best way to begin carving.

Cheers

Carlo

Originally Posted by Rwenzoski

Hi koolred, that is some pretty awesome work you have done there! From what I am reading of your explanation of your learning process I assume you mean that you just followed your own intuition? I have done this myself & what I have discovered is it is a different path from point A to point B but as long as a person has the insatable (spelling?) drive to learn to improve I have found this is sometimes the best way & I now teach what I term as "Intuition carving" whereas one trusting in themsleves to recreate what is stored in the old memory banks is just another muscle exersize that has many more rewards than learning in many other ways.
Thanks for posting your awesome work!
Thanks, Robbin
index

[Rwenzoski]

Hi Carlo, Very interesting reading! I was forced or rather forced myself when I arrived at a point of not trusting my own intuition & considering not carving anymore, to "just go for it" rather than standing back analyzing what I was doing with each cut & the magic started to happen at that very second & without realizing what I was doing or accomplishing. I just kept it rolling then started to realize what the difference was, again analyzed what the heck was happening & have never looked back since but kept all that happened in perspective & helps me teach people how to get past this block within, which appears to hold us back more than anything else in life or carving for that matter. Trust your intuition & it will pay you back 10 fold every time!
Thanks, Robbin

[Curtscarving]

Carlo-You have some excellent pieces in your gallery.
Curt

[thebugleboy]

Hey Koolred, got any more pieces to share with us?
What sort of tools are you using?
These works of yours make my first attempts look pretty shabby.
Here's my actual first tries ever. The two walking stick handles were only partially done (apple wood). They're the same man young and old. I make more ornate native flutes, both lateral and transverse, but this one happened to be the one I was finishing when they snapped this pic. I had lost this pic, but found it in one of my many Bibles. It's pretty scratched up, but oh well.
Anyway, these aren't on a par with yours, but I thought I'd show you my start.
Bob

[koolred]

Thanks a lot for sharing your art. Art is very personal and everything is a beginning actually. I think it would be an error to think that we have learned something and rest on it.

Other works I did so far you can see by clicking on my signature's link Visit DiFresa's gallery. I'm pretty much new in carving myself, I just practiced it for 1 year and only been doing relief carving. No flutes, no woodspirits, no canes lol no carvings with a knife.

I only use carving chisels, mainly Austrian, German and Swiss trademarks. They are the tools that were recommended to me and they are pretty good actually when properly sharpened. First like most carving people I was lazy to sharpen my tools but with time I understood the benefit of sharpening and I no longer see it as a fastidious activity.

This also shows that I have been quite eager, very enthusiastic about carving in the first place. This enthusiasm is just growing. Unfortunately I'll have to stop for a few months and I'll be able to start again only after this period. I promise I'll put my future works online then.

I plan on surprising myself if possible but I still don't know in what way. It's not necessarily in terms of trying to impress but rather in terms of learning something along the process. I know that I don't like to repeat myself even if I may do the same thing another time. I don't see carving as a hobby, rather as a tremendous itch that needs relief (carving) lol

Originally Posted by thebugleboy

Hey Koolred, got any more pieces to share with us?
What sort of tools are you using?
These works of yours make my first attempts look pretty shabby.
Here's my actual first tries ever. The two walking stick handles were only partially done (apple wood). They're the same man young and old. I make more ornate native flutes, both lateral and transverse, but this one happened to be the one I was finishing when they snapped this pic. I had lost this pic, but found it in one of my many Bibles. It's pretty scratched up, but oh well.
Anyway, these aren't on a par with yours, but I thought I'd show you my start.
Bob