I am absolutely Amazed......

[MoroCreek]

....... by all of the artistry and skill that you folks are posting! The talent that y'all are displaying is both inspiring and intimidating for me! It is inspiring in that I can see what can be done with a stick of wood, but intimidating in that I don't think I'll ever be able to come close in my endeavors as to what I am seeing!

If I were to have commented on everyone's posts here recently, I'd see my handle appearing way to much when I visited this site. So please accept this post as my appreciation to all of you folks for sharing!

Keep up the great work.... all of you! I am simply in awe!

[Claude]

Originally Posted by MoroCreek

....... by all of the artistry and skill that you folks are posting! The talent that y'all are displaying is both inspiring and intimidating for me! It is inspiring in that I can see what can be done with a stick of wood, but intimidating in that I don't think I'll ever be able to come close in my endeavors as to what I am seeing!

You won't know until you carve something a lot... photos of your carvings as you do them, either work in progress or finished item. Ask for critiques. Many people on here will provide you with suggestions for improvement.

Originally Posted by MoroCreek

If I were to have commented on everyone's posts here recently, I'd see my handle appearing way to much when I visited this site. So please accept this post as my appreciation to all of you folks for sharing!

Please don't worry about posting too much. As you gain knowledge and skills, you might be able to provide some insight to someone about how you solved a problem, or a recommendation for a tool, or...

Claude

[JJireh]

Welcome
#1 Take a deep breath
#2 Start carving on something
#3 inspiring work yourself. All of us started somewhere south of kindling and just do what we enjoy doing.

[Robson Valley]

Moro: you will amaze and delight yourself as you progress from one carving to the next.
Get going in some of the softer woods, that way you can see and feel what your tools can do.

Me? all I want to do is carve the wood. Painting and finishing is agony. The cat is looking longingly at the drift of chips & shavings on the shop floor. Must do some housekeeping this year.

[Ky_Whittler]

I don't know of anybody that wasn't afraid to start . I still get that idea from time to time. I know I am not at the skill level I want to be at myself. But I keep at it and trying new ideas when I hear about them or they come to me. It's an enjoyable hobby and once in a while I make a dollar or two at it. Not many things you can get into as cheaply either. If you have a pocket knife you can get started now.

I know one lady who got started because she wanted a decoy for her den and couldn't afford them.

Make some shavings and see what happens. Whittler

[Tommy Taylor]

My favorite saying is Press on.Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.Written by Calvin Coolidge.(hope I spelled his name right)There's more to the saying I'm sure you could find but hope you'll jump in there because what you do will reflect more and more of your interests and we all can appreciate your efforts.

[Marvin Little]

Moro, remember that in years gone by old men used to just sit and whittle. If you are concerned about ruining a good stick then pick up a piece of wood and try your hand at carving faces, animals, etc. I think you will be surprized at what you can do. Our greatest problem as carvers is that we do not know what people and animals look like. I know that this sounds crazy but think about it. We look at people, horses, goats, etc, but where are the eyes, how far back are the ears, how wide apart are the eyes. As you carve you will pay more attention to what is around you. If you are carving a lion then go online and enter, "lions" and you will get a multitude of photos of lions. My first lion looked like a dog. I honestly did not know what a lions face looked like.

Marvin

[Robson Valley]

Ah, Marvin, therein lies the puzzle. There is a big gap between "looking" and something and really "seeing" it. Paper and pencils are cheap. Doodle. Practice drawing. Practice drawing anything in front of you. It's the Left Side/Right Side thing.
I like drawing. My left side doesn't object to right side control for an hour or two at a time. Very productive.