Beginning Carving

[gwreis]

Nice carvings Jaw911! I find carving very rewarding. It's also great for woodworking at night without bothering family and neighbours.

You can tell I'm a Doug Linker fan as well:

 

[Freddyjersey2016]

Take a look at the free beginner videos on the Mary May website (she is a good American woodcarving teacher )
https://www.marymaycarving.com/carvingschool/

 

[stuckinthemud]

Fabulous carvings, you have talent! Looking forward to seeing more of your work

 

[JAW911]

Incidentally, British hardwoods are great for carving, green oak is amazing (though its horrible once its dry), lime is fab but hawthorn is way better, any fruit wood should be hoarded, all domestic maples are really really good, sycamore is good while green but very hard once dry, as is birch but they hold fabulous detail. Hazel carves surprisingly well, holly is fabulous. Yew is an interesting challenge but the colour is just so nice. Larch is not great for hand carving but chainsaw carvers seem to like it. Best thing is these timbers, and others, are abundant and close to being free, which allows you to practice without worrying you are ruining a horrifically expensive piece of timber. Green wood is way easier to work with than dry, and that's a nice bonus.

That is a great summary of carving woods thank you.
I originally bought two blocks of lime from Ebay (100x100x50) for £16 delivered to get started. I then contacted My usual timber supplier, Robbins Timber in Bristol, and they carry boards of Lime so I bought unfinished 44mm x 180mm x 2.4m for £31!! I just saw off what I need. I didn’t need it PAR or a specific size so cheap as chips in comparison.

 

[JAW911]

Fabulous carvings, you have talent! Looking forward to seeing more of your work

Thank you!

 

[JAW911]

Painted now along the same lines as Doug Linker suggested. Next one I make I will create texture/feathers in the wing, back and head. This will paint better as you can paint the dark colour into the texture first and then ‘dry-brush’ a lighter colour over the top to create depth and shadow. Happy with first attempt though. Thanks Doug - clever guy!

 

[xy mosian]

AW! You've got yours painted. Anyway my Owls, and a little person.

The little guy is from SharonMyArt:- . A series of videos but a good pace, to me at any rate.
Lots of good carvings showing up hereabouts.
xy

 

[JAW911]

Yes I too have watched Sharon carving her little guys. There are a few generous carvers showing their skills and techniques on YouTube. You pick up tips from all of them. I made a little guy last night which I will post later. I had a lime offcut and thought of doing a fisherman but couldn’t get the Sou’wester right so it ended up as a beany hat!! You’ll see....

 

[JAW911]

.....here is the little guy. Beanie hat turned out better having added the ribbing with a V-tool. His coat and trousers will be a dirty yellow (antiqued), black boots, dark blue beanie, etc. This was an offcut 25x25x70mm so quite small but shows you can make something from nothing!

 

[JAW911]

Painted my little guy and made a Linker bear too! The bear took ages because it was that bit larger than previous carvings. There is some sort of spalting running the through the lime which was interesting but in the bear as I only painted the nose, mouth and eyes it shows through the linseed finish.

 

[JAW911]

Another little guy although slightly larger and thus more time consuming. Experimenting with rolled-up sleeves, draped trousers over boots, hair texture, bare arms, dungarees! Currently painting him - very slow to paint as so much detail to cover with 00 brush!

 

[JAW911]

Now painted.....and gave him a friend!

 

[JAW911]

Latest little guy carving......using just a Flexcut detail knife