Relief Carving Wood Spirit Grape Man WIP

[Irish]

MAP: As I am writing this I am getting myself confused and that's bad!!!! So I am going to add a map with the names of the areas that I am using through this section. If you have ANY problems following this please let me know!

Step 114: Clean up and smooth the upper eye lids and upper eye pad areas. Mine need some special attention at the joint of the eye lid and the upper eye pad area where I have a deep gouge stroke.

Step 115: I have gotten rid of that deep gouge so that the two areas blend more
smoothly.

Step 116: The bottom angle of the nose bridge is treated as part of the upper eye pad. I want these two areas to flow together without a ridge or break.

Do I really need to keep signing these things?

Me

[Irish]

Step 117: I had some fibers left in the crease of the nose bridge angle and did not
want a definite hard line there. So to clean these up I am not using the v-gouge, that
will score or strengthen the crease. Instead I am holding my chisel straigth up on it's profile and using it is a scraping motion. This is a great way to smooth out very hard to reach areas to a fine even finish ... and it doesn't hurt the chisel at all.

Step 118: My lower eye lid seems a bit rough yet so I am using a small straigth chisel to clean it up a touch.

Step 119: I have the eye lids, eye lid pads and cheek areas all smoothed out. I think
I need a very fine v-gouge line along the eye lids as a clean up cut. This is a very
shallow thin stroke, just enough to clean that joint line. Remember to do this cut in
two strokes each from the center of the eye lid out to the corners.

[Tidewalker]

LOL I think we know who you are by now
Thanks

Darren

[Irish]

Step 120: The joint between the upper eye lid pad and lower one is very definite at
this point. I am going to use that to my advantage by turning it into one of three
crows feet wrinkles with my small v-gouge.

Step 121: I am taking a moment with my riffler to just pick up a few stray fibers and
check for any deep stop cuts that need healing.

Step 122: I have my bull nose chisel out again so that I can roll over the brow ridge
area. I am removing those guide lines that we left earlier.

Now ... that brow ridge area is as high as the tip of the nose, both are at the original
level of the wood. Even if it did not have guidelines I would do some smoothing and
chisel work in both of these areas. I always work all surfaces even if it's just a fine shaving. Otherwise the unworked areas will have a different texture look to them than those that have been chiseled or cut.

[Irish]

Step 123: I am making a wide stop cut at the stem line so that I can taper the forehead area into that stem area. I am using my chip knife or bench knife.

Step 124: Either the wide sweep gouge or chisel can be used to roll the forehead area
into that stem joint. While I have the wide sweep out I am also smoothing the leaf
lobes above the face.

Step 125: Quick check time. I have the one side of the leave done and am ready to clean up the other side.

Back in a bit!!!

[Irish]

Darren ... talk about "hot off the press" ... "hot cookies right out of the oven" ... man your reading this faster than I can post ... !

[Tidewalker]

lol
My printer is working over time and I am hanging On your every word. You Are the Best teacher I have ever had. Thanks so much

click on my photo page Susan and I added a folder with my progress, I just started this the other day and I have to go to town tomorrow to get a chip knife to work on it some more. As you can see the pine I am working with is 2 inches thick so might be interesting to see my progress lol..thanks again for all your work. You are molding our young minds, well young to carving that is

Darren

[Irish]

Darren - Great start Good Sir!

Step 126: Where my upper leaf runs into the stem I have quite a few chips left from
smoothing. I can use my chisel and a straight down gentle push to free those chips.

Step 127: I'm using the bull nose chisel to roll the stem smoothly into the crease at
the bridge of the nose. I am not rounding the rest of the stem yet, that will coms in
just a bit.

Step 128: The higher you hold a tool as you work a relief carving the finer the sliver
of wood you will take. Here I have my chisel right up on it's edge so that I can make very small cuts to roll the stem into the nose bridge.

Step 129: Dress out the joint with the v-gouge.Are you getting the swing of the steps here? Smooth the general area, clean up the joints, v-gouge lightly to dress out the joint and then add any extras as wrinkles or crow feet!

[Irish]

Step 130: Remember earlier I said that using the chisel on it's edge as a scraper is
perfect for tight places ... well, I am doing just that inside the eye to smooth out
those few remaining ridges left from earlier.

Step 131: I have the face smoothed out, the brow ridge ready for the eye brow and I want to check how my face will look when finished. So I am using a very soft brush and just the smallest amount of water then brushing that over the areas that I have worked.

The water gives the carving the exact same look as a coat of finishing oil would.

This is a great way to check for deep stop cuts that you need to heal and areas that you missed either in the smoothing or that are still at the original wood level.

When I do a wet check I wait until that area is totally dry before I start carving
again. When I return to that area the water will have raised the loose fibers so I can slip back into those areas to clean them up.

In the close up you can see where I have a double v-gouge line in the stem and forehead joint, a double v-gouge line along one side of the nose and some areas inside one eye to clean up. A wet check makes those types of areas stand right out !

Now see you thought we teachers always did it right the first time

[Irish]

Step 132: While the face is drying I am going to smooth out the remaining leaf lobe
areas using both my wide sweep round gouge and bull nose chisel.

Step 133: I have the eye brow hairs marked in. I am not going to add many now ... I can always add more later if I need to but can't take them away if I carve too many now.

Step 134: I could use the v-gouge to make the hair but I have choosen to use the chip knife and make a two cut slice that will make a nice v trought. Because that brow rolls from the top of the face down towards the chin AND from the left to the right, my chip knife cuts give me more control over the final cut. This cut is just a wide stop cut that follows the pencil line instead of a joint line.