[Simplyme]

I finshed these two projects this week. The bear was thanks to Gene(My hero). The other one was from a book I purchased by Pete LeClair, "Carving Caricatures Figures From Scatch". Great book but was a little hard to follow based on the step by step pictures, seems like some pics from some of the steps was missing. The pics seem to me not clear on the steps in hand.

I want to thanks Little Shavers for the quick shipment of my new toys. I have so many bandages on my fingers you think I fought a cat(and lost). I am wearing the gloves..but was a little anxious at first and wanted to try the new toys on a scrap of wood and forgot about the glove.....almost split my finger down the middle(live and learn).

It was a little hard because I can't seem to slice and dice like Gene( you think he was working with a bar of soap).

But I am enjoying this new hobbie alot.....I walk around all day trying to figure what to do next. I have to remember baby steps..... Steps............

[Ashbys]

Looks like you have good starts for first pieces. I am going to assume you posted them here to get some feedback . I willl tell you they look very good for starting .

Now you want to do a little more , consider doing on you next pieces a bit more rounding. It is one thing that amost everyone does when they start. We tend not to round the pieces which leaves them a bit blocky. Gene is an excellent carver, and has been carving a while, so that long cut is from pratice over time. If you have a problem making the same cut , do it in 2 - 3 cuts as you get better those cuts will become easier.

There is much more wood than you realise, and the more you do the better you will understand there is more than you thought.

An excellent start, good solid first pieces . well done.

Ash

[TedM]

If these are your baby steps it's easy to see that you'll be running soon!

[Simplyme]

Yeah you are right they do look like blocks. It seems I get this because I tended to work hard on the front I totally forgot the back. I have to remember its 3D.....Thanks.

Originally Posted by Ashbys

Looks like you have good starts for first pieces. I am going to assume you posted them here to get some feedback . I willl tell you they look very good for starting .

Now you want to do a little more , consider doing on you next pieces a bit more rounding. It is one thing that amost everyone does when they start. We tend not to round the pieces which leaves them a bit blocky. Gene is an excellent carver, and has been carving a while, so that long cut is from pratice over time. If you have a problem making the same cut , do it in 2 - 3 cuts as you get better those cuts will become easier.

There is much more wood than you realise, and the more you do the better you will understand there is more than you thought.

An excellent start, good solid first pieces . well done.

Ash

[tnartist05]

Very neat carvings there! And yes Gene is everbodys hero,I know hes mine as well. Keep up the good work. Tn~

[DADDIO]

you have some real good starter pieces there,be proud of what you did,the rounding thing is a typical beginner thing,and even after you've been carving awhile it still seems like sometimes you forget.alot of problems you'll run into eyes,noses and things like that will be the same problems just about everyone who carves ran into, so don't get discouraged your doing good and just keep practicing.

[Eddy Smiles]

Nice work! Love the bear! Good photographs!

[gene messer]

Way to go .. nice try for your first .. But as Ash said .. the rounding off process when we first start is usually the hardest .. because were afraid to take too much off at one time ..

your well on your way to learning so well .. each time you do a carving .. shape gets better and soon your on your way ..

dont be afraid to experiment a little with removing wood .. see with each cut how the form comes to life ..

you are doing a great job of learning ..

Gene

[Iowa Carver]

I think your well on your way! Nice going, you carved teeth! That isn't easy to do. On the rounding thing Gene shows how he rounds a figure or a carving in all his videos. I learned a lot watching him so watch them over and over. He will tell you that the nose is the center of the carving. Draw a line right down the middle of the front of the carving if the head is looking forward and down the back. Another thing that helped me that Rick Ferry taught me was to make a center line on the side profile of the figure. This would not necessarily be the center of the carving. It should be the center of where the neck is. Then round from the center line on the front around to the side and from the side around to the center line down the back. Here is a link to what we did in a carving and shows how it is laid out. Hope this helps.
Carving Project progress from Little Shavers

Corey

[Ron T]

You're doing a great job for a new carver. I've been at it a while and you can still see the block shape in some of my carvings.