where to start?

[John_C]

I have been staring at a block of Bass for about a week 18 inches by 6 by 4
my intentions are to power carve a traditional St Nick sculpture front and back.
this is a really nice block no knots or streaks. I will probably paint it when done. the problem is where to start. I only have front views I can surmise back and side pretty well.
I was wondering if anyone else goes through the first cut syndrome and how they deal with it

John

[Spooker]

Hey John, I'm not much of a carver yet, but I get "first cut" syndrom with just about everything I do. This is all just my humble opinion but I'd start with the simpler parts the "no-brainers" just to get you cutting and getting a feel for the project. e.g. if your St Nick is in a long Russian style robe, start with the waste wood to curve the robe. For me that helps bring the rest into vision and I find the rest comes naturally. I use this for my carpentry, carving, fitting pipe etc.

Spooker

[Claude]

John:
Assuming you've already cut out the pattern with a bandsaw, just start rounding off the corners where you know they need rounding, and allow the final shape to begin to show. Don't worry about details right now - just round off the corners and edges to get the shapes right - the details will happen almost on their own as you get the shape closer and closer to where you want it.

Claude

[carver33]

John,

Claude gave you some good advice. Just be mindful of what parts need to be in front of or behind the main body and leave enough wood for them.

If you're not sure how things will look, pose in front of a mirror, and if you want to see the back, use a hand mirror. I used a mirror a lot when I first started carving.

[Claude]

Mirrors are great. Can't tell you how many times I'd set down the knife and carry the carving into the bathroom so I could see my face in the mirror and compare to the carving.

For starting out, though, I found the easiest way to create the pattern, as well as where to put the folds in the clothing, etc., was to assume a pose and have my wife take a photo of me from all four sides. For some of my Santas, especially the ones with long coats, I had my wife put on one of her long wool coats and assume a pose while I photographed her (didn't take long to learn not to do this in the summer when it was hot!)

Claude

[big dave]

yep what they said