WoodBeeCarver

Christmas is a special time to be reminded again that peace and good will happens every time, no matter what time of year it is, when we give our selves away in love and friendship.  In the wood carving world such a friendhip is experienced over and over again where ever and when ever wood carvers gather together.  There is a spirit of generosity and willingness to help one another and share the experiences of wood carving. 

 Memories made over the years on the journey we call wood carving brings an inner peace and joy in knowing and remembering some of the very best people in the world, wood carvers. 

 Most wood carvers at one time or another have carved at least one Santa while a good number of wood carvers specialize in Santa carving.  And so it is, Christmas, at first thought Santa pops into our thoughts, but then on second thought, Christmas retains its original Gift, the celebration of the birth of Jesus as told again in the Christmas Story of Gospel readings, Christmas Carols and Sacred Music retelling the Gift of Love.  It is the very best understanding of this Gift of Love that encourages us all to “give ourselves away” in friendship, creativity, good will  and doing unto others as we would they do unto us.

  Such “Gifts of Friendship” are “Priceless” so may the generosity of love continue to inspire us as we carve a place for ourselves in the hearts of fellow wood carvers.  Merry Christmas to all, every day of the year.

The WOOD BEE CARVER is primarily a knife carver who started out as a young boy whittling with a pocket knife.  Thus, the pocket knife has been the first favorite carving knife even though custom made knives and commercial knives make up the arsenal of Whittle-Carving tools. 

 The key, learned over the years of experience is that a knife properly sharpened, no matter the make or brand will serve as a reliable carving tool.  Whittle-Carving is a term the WOOD BEE CARVER  uses to describe carving a hand held project and using only a knife to carve the wood to its final detail. 

 In order to carve miniatures that fit into a two inch cube it is essential to carve primarily with the tip end of the blade utilizing a slicing cut with every cut.  Pushing the blade into the wood with a wedge cut will compress the fibers, breaking them ahead of the cutting edge.  Slicing, however, separates the fibers ahead of the wedge shape of the blade producing a clean and polished cut.  With slicing cuts and using only a fraction of the tip end of the blade, very fine details can be carved into miniatures. 

Some may think that miniatures are more difficult to carve than larger carvings, but in reality, miniatures are easier because there is less wood to remove with each chip allowing the carving to get to the finished form and then the finished details sooner.  Even though miniatures are easier, yet one needs to first be comfortable with carving larger projects in order to use the same proportions only in smaller detail when applied to miniatures. 

 In the “MINIATURE CARVINGS - Photo Trail” there is a gallery of miniatures carved by the WOOD BEE CARVER with the first one, a fisherman with a large fish, carved around1994 through the last one, a gnome, carved in 2007.  

 The photo trail will also show several pocket knives with very small blades that have been used in carving the miniatures in the gallery.  The blades are extremely sharp lending to creating clean and precise slicing cuts.  One final comment is that each carving is carved out of one piece of wood with no add on or glued up additions.  All photos in this photo trail were taken in the macro setting of Fuji FinePix S7000 digital camera.

The WOOD BEE CARVER applies a soft painted finish on his carvings using a combination of artist oil paint and boiled linseed oil.  This painting method is adapted from a method developed by John Heatwole, a woodcarver from Virginia who wrote an article entitled “Painted Carvings” in the March/April 1987 issue of Fine Woodworking. 

 Boiled Linseed Oil contains a chemical dryer that allows the mixture with artist oil paints when applied to a wood carving to dry within a few days.  The genius of this method is to apply a base coat over the entire carving if it is a small carving or if it is a large carving, apply the base coat over sections that are to be painted in sequence.  The base coat is a combination of  RAW SIENNA and BOILED LINSEED OIL mixed thoroughly together until it looks like honey in color and consistency.  The amount of each is a trial and error experiment, for example, combine two table spoons of Boiled Linseed Oil and a 3/4 inch strip of Raw Sienna squeezed out of the tube of artist oil paint.  Mix with a palette knife by squashing the paint into the boiled linseed oil until all the lumps are squashed away.  Then take a small stiff bristled artist paint brush to mix the mixture together into a finer consistency. If too thin, add a little more Raw Sienna oil paint from the tube or if not thin enough, add a few drops of Boiled Linseed Oil and mix thoroughly.  This suggested amount will cover a carving three inches wide and twelve inches tall or it will cover six smaller carvings which once again is simply  trial and error.

  Once the mixture is ready to apply to the carving, this base coat is brushed on very liberally covering the entire carving.  Let stand a few minutes and then blot off the excess oil mixture with a Kleenex tissue.  Since Boiled Linseed Oil in rags or paper tissue can spontaniously combust, dispose of the blotting paper into a can of water with a lid.  Using a small artist brush, dry brush in the crevices to remove the excess base coat mixture. 

Clean brushes in mineral spirits between applications wiping them with a Kleenex tissue.  While the base coat is still wet, mix up the first primary color for the hair and beard in our example.  Squeeze a very small dab of Zinc White onto a plastic lid followed by a few drops of Boiled Linseed Oil and mix thoroughly with a palette knife.  This mixture needs to be very thin offering a translucent color that when applied on top of the Raw Sienna base coat it allows the grain of the wood to show through.  In other words, this style of painting is more a staining of color than an opague finish of color.

  Apply the Zinc White and Boiled Linseed Oil mixture with a fine artist brush  like a 2/0 or 18/0 liner sable brush flowing the paint from the brush onto the wood rather than scrubbing back and forth with the brush.  With a liner brush one can drag the bristles along the edge where the hair meets the head and face and the beard’s edge along side the shirt without painting the neighboring areas. 

 Working from head to toe, next comes the pipe which is painted/stained with a Burnt Sienna and Boiled Linseed Oil thinned  and the pipe ashes are a Gray or White and Black paint mixed with Boiled Linseed Oil.  Always keep in mind a thin or translucent stain is what we are after. 

 Paint the knife blade with the Gray paint and the knife handle with the Burnt Sienna paint.  The small Santa carving is stained with Burnt Umber mixed with Boiled Linseed Oil to give the appearance of it being wood.  The shirt is painted with Cadmium Red Deep Hue and Burnt Sienna mixed with Boiled Linseed Oil. The bib overalls are painted with Sap Green and Burnt Umber mixed with Boiled Linseed Oil.   

 On those areas with more painted surface, the shirt and overalls, after the paint is applied, take a small flat bristle brush and dry brush off the excess paint that pools in low areas which at the same time will spread the color evenly in a softening manner.  The tree trunk and the shoes are painted with Ivory Black oil paint mixed with Boiled Linseed Oil. 

 The face and hands receive only the Raw Sienna base coat for the effect of showing that this carving is of wood.  Since this is more staining rather than painting, there is no attempt to paint in shadows or highlights. 

 There are two advantages of the base coat of Raw Sienna and Boiled Linseed Oil, one being that it creates a patina or antiquing from the inside out and second, the base coat has already begun to soak into the wood so that when the next color is added on top of the base coat there is very little bleeding of colors into each other. 

 Painting one’s carvings, like every other aspect of the carving experience, is a trial and error method of learning by doing, trying this and then trying that to see what works best.  The one rule we go by is, “The only right way is if it works for you.”  Follow the visual trail of the “Painting Softly - photo trail.”