Female vs Male Wood Spirits

[Irish]

On the Relief Carving the Wood Spirits thread Peacewood ask the following question.

"Hi , I have been trying to carve a femal wood spirite on a walking staff, but when I follow the steps for wood spirits in the wood spirit and greenman book I can't keep her from looking old and saggy. What steps should I change to get the result I want, "a femal face coming out of the wood and blending with the staff"?

Peacewood"

I thought it was good enough for it's own thread and to open the question to suggestions and ideas by many of the excellent carvers and artists here on the board.

I'll start with a very early carving of mine that shows exactly what Peacewood is talking about with the old saggy feeling that can happen to the female face.

The male wood spirit has exaggerated features ... extra big nose, large eyes, wild beard and hair and lots and lots of wrinkles.

In female8.jpg I have carved deep crisp wrinkle lines using my v-gouge. Those lines are harsh and have dark shadows. Instantly those harsh lines add 20 years to her face. For the original pattern that is appropriate especially when compared to the lower neck line and what is often called a 'turkey neck' for this portrait.

For the male wood spirit those lines may make him look mid-50's to mid-60's but for a woman's face she becomes 75!

Removing those harsh v-gouge lines and replacing them with shallow round gouge cuts you can imply movement or sculpturing to the cheeks and jaw line without adding decades of age. In female9.jpg using Adobe Photoshop I removed the gouge lines. Our sample now moves from 75 years old to about 45 years old ... without that turkey neck she would be closer to 30.

Ok ... so I have soften the face by removing the v-gouge lines and am ignoring for a moment that neck line ... this carving would still be of a mid to late aged woman ...

Why? Great Question!!!

Susan

I never did finish this carving because as you see in the adjusted images I had the profile line of her face broken. So badly that it was not worth finishing.

[Irish]

Very small changes in the bone structure of the human face determines whether your wood spirit is male or female. The most notable difference is in the jaw bone that creates the contour lines of the face and establishes the size and emphasis of the chin.

female4.jpg is definately female, soft skinned and young. female 5.jpg is all male, strong, bold and again fairly young. I would put both faces in the mid to late 20s.

The primary difference between these two faces is the jaw line.
The jaw bone has two hinges, one on each side, that join the jaw to the skull. The sides then move down the face to the chin area. At the chin the bone makes a u-angle.

The jaw bones thickest or deepest measurement is at the skull joint area and it thins or narrows as it approaches the chin. The width of the u-angle determines how wide or promonent the chin is.

The male jaw bone is thick and deep where it hinges into the upper skull. This makes the male jaw sharply angled just below the ear. The bottom edge of the jaw from the ear to the beginning of the chin is straight and on a horizontal line to the face.

A female jaw bone is thinner or more narrow near the ear. This gives a less sharp angle and moves the bottom edge line of the jaw upward from the chin to the ear joint area.

The male jaw has a wide u-angle at the chin area ... The wider the angle the more square the chin becomes. A square chin is often one of the preferred features for a hansome male.

For the female face that same angle is tight creating a v effect. This gives the 'beautiful' female face the heart shape look.

Susan

[Irish]

So ... on female4-grey2.jpg you can see the softer, rounded jaw line. The narrowness of the jaw at the ear area rounds the bottom edge of the jaw and the face. The chin, because the angle in the jaw bone is small is also less defined.

On female5-grey2.jpg you can see he has a sharper, more firm angle to the jaw under the ear and that a second angle area occurs at the outer edge area of the chin. In essence his jaw bone shows through the skin structure more clearly.

You can also see a few face wrinkles in these two drawings. The female face has the same wrinkles in the same areas as the male but they are half the length of the males. This keeps the female face softer ... more fatty tissue less muscular structure.

Susan

[Irish]

Ok Susan ... so you are saying all I need to do is soften the depth of the v-gouge wrinkles and change the jaw line ... ?!?

Yep ...

Here are two androgynous faces to show how powerful that jaw line is to how male or female the face feels.

female01.jpg is decidedly female but her face carries the power of a male. Notice how defined and sharp her jaw line is with its sharp angle under the ear and well established chin area. Replacing the soft round lines of the female jaw with the stronger more angular lines of the male jaw this female becomes a dominating force.

female2 is male but without question an androgynous male. His soft rounded jaw line is what gives a female hint to his face.

Susan

[Irish]

As a woman ages the skin on her face becomes less tight ... and slowly begins to create puffs or pouches of skin area along the jaw line and neck. As that skin falls down the face into the jaw line area the line or angle of the jaw contour changes. It becomes more angular and more horizonal. She loses the heart shape contour for the more square shape of the male face.

Perhaps your mother warned you about making angry faces as a child and that one day your face would 'freeze' into harsh lines. In many ways she was correct. The facial expressions that you have used the most throughout your life are exactly where you create deep wrinkle lines.

So a harsh angry person often has deep lines across the forehead and near the top of the nose at the eye brow line. People who smile alot end up with deep set cross feet at the outer edge of the eye and deep wrinkles under the cheak bone area near the nose.

Here are three photos ... not saying of who ...

The first, me-1.jpg, clearly shows the sagging skin pockets that accumulate along the jaw line and the deep set of the smile wrinkles ... I'm not saying anything about the crows feet ... sigh! That face is definitely in the late 50's or early 60's. The jaw contour has begun to square.

In me-2.jpg the square effect of the jaw line has been emphasized with the hand against the chin. Pushing the chin upward adds the male feeling creating a square chin effect. That same pose also deepens the smile wrinkles at the nose and corner of the mouth. This face is definitely in the 60s.

me-3.jpg has the chin resting in the hand totally hiding the jaw line. Now the rounded curve of the left side of the face determines the jaw line giving a more female effect. With the chin resting in the hand the hand has pushed against the right side of the face opening and therefore softening the smile wrinkles. This face might be late 40's to mid-50s ...

The only changes through these three photos is the jaw line ...

Hope some of this helps and PLEASE if you have ideas, techniques or suggestions for the female face add your thoughts for us to read.

Thanks, Susan

[Irish]

OOOPS! Forgot to answer my own question and that was why the carving was of a middle aged woman even if I remove the turkey neck and crow's feet.

That same downward direction of skin that happens to an aging woman and that causes the skin pockets and pouches along the jaw line also causes the cheek bones to become more promonent.

That falling skin has to come from somewhere. So as it flows down towards the jaw line the face skin becomes streched slightly across the top of the cheek bones. Go back the the three photos above and note how the first two show a wide, bright highlight to the top of the cheek.

In the third photo that highlight is much softer, less defined. When the chin rests in the hand it pushes the skin upward ... back into place on the top of the cheek for a younger look.

My carving of the woman has strong dramatic cheek bones ... so she must be at least middle aged.

Susan

And that is also why very young girls who are extremely thin have an old look or old age look to their face.

[Midnight Carver]

Thanks so much for posting this! It will definately be a big help on the next female I carve.

Eric

[jimmy joe]

Susan ,
You always do a great job with your tutorials . Always get some good info. from them .

[Donsexton]

This is a great post I thank all of you for this most interesting discussion.

[Ashbys]

Susan
Excellent !
You forgot to mention something you did in the carvings. As a woman ages the brow line changes as well. In your carvings you actually did the effect of adding a deeper impression at the eye line, at the break of the eye lid. The younger view it doesn't exist, but when you aged her you added the change of the muscle structure.

It is a small change but really an important one, because the first thing on the face of a women noticed by a man is the eyes.

Garry