ok the extent of my carving so far

Tidewalker · #1 06-18-2006, 07:02 PM

Here are all the carvings I have attempted so far. I did start a few before Christmas but my workshop burnt down so lost them all. Thank God for Hugh and all his help getting me outfitted afterwards. As you can see , I am a very crude carver so far. but everyone I do, I feel I have gained some knowledge. I Love to carve so that is what is important to me. There is no feeling in this world , well almost no other feeling , like a sharp knife or gouge cutting into the wood. thanks for looking. I would appreciate any comments , especially critisism. I have a lot of trouble with eye's and the mouth. I am gradually catching on to the nose and the hair.

Dylan · #2 06-18-2006, 08:39 PM

You've gotten a good start on faces and I like the lettering. The only thing that I can say is that you might want to try doing a larger face. I've found that it's easyer to get it right when it's larger.

Dylan

Marci MN · #3 06-18-2006, 10:23 PM

Looking good!

What type of wood are your walking sticks? They are so white..

Colin_Partridge · #4 06-18-2006, 10:24 PM

Sorry to hear about your shop that must have been devestating I cant imagine. Nothing wrong with those carvings they are just fine. You wont go too far wrong with Hugh as a mentor.
Colin

Ashbys · #5 06-19-2006, 05:26 AM

Tidewalker ,
Some nice work there , some that needs some help but alot of that will come with time as you become more experenced. According to Chris Pye, wood carving is a skill, with desire. If you have the desire you can learn the skill.

I have a question for you. Out of the pieces you have here how many did you know what you were going to do before the knife touched the wood ?

Ash

squbrigg · #6 06-19-2006, 07:18 AM

Tidewater....tough to lose your shop. I don't know what I'd do if fire took mine! Your carvings are coming right along, as for advice or criticism....just keep carving and enjoying yourself. Practice, practice, practice. Once you satisfy yourself, then all will fall into place.

Bob

woodtrapper · #7 06-21-2006, 09:47 PM

I'm with Marci, courious about the white type wood.Keep it up.

Tidewalker · #8 06-27-2006, 08:23 PM

sorry for the late reply. Out of all the things I have carved , I don't think I knew what I was going to carve any of them. I knew that they would probably knew they would be some sort of spirit faces but didnt have any picture of what they would turn out like. and also tried to make a shelf elf and it turned out a little like one but no way near they way I invisioned it. I need to practice alot more. The wood I used for my first two canes is Diamond Willow and the last one I carved I used a piece of rock maple that a friend of mine dropped off. It was the only dry sticks that I had. Since then I have collected around 80 sticks of Diamond Willow , which is drying in the workshop. I can't wait for it to be ready but for now I have been carving found wood mostly.

http://picasaweb.google.com/love4woodcarving

Ashbys · #9 06-28-2006, 10:22 AM

Tidewalker ,
I asked the question, because one thing I noticed is a change that takes place in my carving from just picking up a piece of wood and hitting it with a few quick cuts to looking at the wood and picking it up with intention.
Seems you wish to do wood spirits and to make a few walking sticks to start. Great , now there is a place to start, but why wait, it will be a while for the sticks to dry so why not go down to Lowes , home depot , ect ect ... and purchase a couple of wood dowels. (poplar or pine )Or even a couple of 1x1 squares. Ok so they are not found wood , but they are round,(square) clean , dry and a clear surface to draw on .

Then while holding them in your hand look at what you think you would like it to look like . Pick up the pencil and draw the across lines for the first cuts. Look at these sites ,
http://www.littleshavers.com/Faces.html
WWW.woodcarvingpatterns.com

and there are others , but study the face tutorials, then try one using the face you have in mind. See if you don't see a bit more of what you want. Use the entire stick, then when you get a face you like , carve the same face again. Then put it on your walking stick , I think you will be amazed how quickly it will give you something you will be please and happy with .

Garry

Tidewalker · #10 06-28-2006, 11:29 AM

That sounds like a great idea. I am starting with woodspirits because I love the way they look. I also would like to do some green men and dragons and gargoyles. I am open to trying anything actually. I think that all carvings are beautiful. My friend Hugh from this board does the most amazing birds I have ever seen and I hope to start one soon with him. I would love to get to the point where I could succesfully carve two birds, A Blue Herron and a Red Tail Hawk. I know it will take many many years to get to where I would like to be but I have the patience and the time. I just love the feeling of a sharp tools cutting into a peice of wood. I am glad you responded and gave me the tips. I will definately grab some dowels and start practicing. Thanks for the idea!