WoodBeeCarver

Survivor Students of WHITTLE FOLK ART class in Whittle-Carving a Whittle Folk Monk met on Saturday August 23, 2008 at the carving studio of Sam Slagle.  In addition to Sam the other students were Karen Christian, Nancy Stevens, Brian Hasinger, Greg Thurston, Alan L. Wurstner, Mary Rose McCrate, Terry Borger, Ed Johnson, Jerry Kalifoot and Joe Lehman.  The class began with Whittling Exercise ABC’s of carving a ball on the end of a square stick to learn the basic “slicing cuts” and “knoch cuts” by carving a ball which became a means of learning how to  design and carve a human head that can be turned to be looking right or left, be looking up or down  or having the head tilted slightly.  The rest of the one day class was carving a three inch by one inch square block of basswood into a Whittle Folk Monk.  With good humor and intense work each student learned the fine art of “Whittling away time,” while having fun learning together.

        Whittle Folk Monks were subject of the one day class.

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“THE FUNDAMENTALIST” is a carving of a caricature interpretation of a strong minded person who is so sure that what that person believes is the only truth and he has the proof to prove it at the end of where his finger is pointing.  A fundamentalist could be a preacher, a politician, a lawyer or any opinionated person who sees things only one way, his way and wants to convince anyone who will argue with him the error of their way for not seeing things the way the fundamentalist sees things.

The first “Fundamentalist” was carved in 2002 standing about six inches tall.  A twelve inch version was carved in 2007 to be entered in wood carving show competitions.  In addition four others have been carved to date as commission pieces.  The latest commission is being used as a “journey in carving” for this posting using photographs showing the progressive stages in the carving process.

The block of bass wood on the left in the photo is three inches square by six and a half inches tall.  The beginning stage of opening up a block of wood is to carve the head to its basic form without any detail.  Once the head is established then the rest of the block of wood can be divided proportionately for the rest of the figure and the appropriate pose.

Body proportions are determined by using the Rule of Three that divides the body into three sections after the form of the head is established:  Shoulders to the Waist is one third; Waist to Top of Knees is one third and Top of Knees to Bottom of Feet is one third. 

 To the right of the carving in process is the Original Fundamentalist carved in 2002 that is serving as a comparison model.  The carving tools being used for this project were made by Everett Cutsinger.  Everett and his tools were the subject of a posting on this blog on January 22, 2008.

These three photographs show the progression from basic bulky form and gradually refining the form to be able to carve in the details when ready.  The design of the pose includes the figure leaning forward placing his weight on the right foot while the left foot heel is raised slightly to give the appearance of an “in your face” stance.  The left arm and hand are balancing and holding the book while the right hand  is coming over the top of the book with the pointing index finger boring into the page.  The shirt collar is open and the tie is loosened to add to the drama of the Fundamentalist being “hot around the collar.”

These three photographs offer three views from different angels to get an overall view of the progress of the carving at this stage.  The pages of the book and the shoes have received a soaking of super glue to strengthen cross grain areas that are weak and could break.  When painted these super glue soaked areas will be covered with respective coloring.

The study for these three photographs is to notice how the head has been carved with the basic form of the head with its angles and planes ready to receive the detail carving of the eyes, nose, mouth, ears and facial features.  “Form follows function and detail follows form,” reminds the carver to carve the form of the head in such a way that it will present a good foundation in which to carve in the details.

These three photographs presents three view of the facial details along with the upper torso of the carved figure as a way to study the finishing touches of the carving process.

These three photographs are of three different facial features of three different Fundamentalists.  The one on the left is the face of this blog posting while the other two are of earlier carvings.  They are presented here for study purposes of facial features.

These three photogrpahs are of three different views of the finished carving.  The coloring is the “Painting Softly” method described in another posting on this blog using artist oil paint diluted with boiled linseed oil.

Photos on left show two back views and photo on right is of twelve inch tall Fundamentalist carved in 2007.

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“Santa carving a Santa” has been a subject carved several times and is being carved again as indicated by the two in the beginning stages of being carved to the basic form.  Serving as a back drop are photographs of earlier editions of the same subject and the one in the middle was carved in 1999.  The very first one was carved in the mid 90’s as a commission but sad to say there is no photograph of the very first one. 

 The design of this carving requires some pre-planning in that the subject is sitting on a tree stump, head is tilted slightly downward so that the Santa is looking at what is being carved and the arms, hands, knife carving the block of wood and body posture all have to look life like.

  These four views of a completed carving will give an overall idea of the design features of this carving which is carved out on one block of wood.  This one began as a six inch tall by three inch square block of basswood. 

 In order to determine the body proportions of a figure seated the Rule of Three for body proportions was used.  This Rule of Three divides the body in the following formula: Shoulder to Waist is a third; Waist to Top of Knees is a third; and Top of Knees to Bottom of Feet is a third.  With a  sitting figure the Waist to the Top of the Knees measures horizontally while the other two sections are measured vertically. 

Before the Rule of Three can be put to use it is necessary to carve the head to the rough form of a head so that the shoulder area can be established.  Keep in mind that the chin when the head is rotated left and right as far as it will go will always be above the level of the shoulders.  After the head is carved to form, then one can draw proportional guidelines with a pencil to guide in carving the body to the form of the pose of a Santa carving a Santa.

Photo on left shows carving the Santa to the basic form while the second photo shows details have been added to the carving.  It should be noted at this stage that carving chisels, gouges and V tools are being used to carve this project, (even though the WOOD BEE CARVER is primarily a knife carver, yet there are some carving projects where I use the “real” carving tools.)

The first photo on the left shows the smaller carving carved to detail while the one in the middle is carved only to basic form without much detail and the 1999 Santa carving is on the right.  The middle photograph shows both newly carved Santa’s carved to detail.  The photograph on the right show the completed carvings including the Painting Softly finish (which is described in another post on this blog).  The smaller Santa is in the middle and it began as a four and a half  inches tall by an inch and three quarter square block of basswood.

These three veiws are of the smaller Santa still using the basic pose and the Rule of Three to keep the proportions accurate.

These carvings were finished using artist oil paint thinned with boiled linseed oil using the “Painting Softly” method as described in another post in this blog.  Even though this design has been carved several times, yet each one takes on a personality of its own.  That’s as it should be as the carver puts life into a carving to make it have personality and character.

For now, this journey is over and it is on to the next carving project.  Carving is more the journey than the destination because it is the actual carving process that is most fulfilling.  Once a carving is completed the carver is ready to  begin another journey, perhaps down a familiar path or a new and challenging path on the journey called “wood carving.”