Progressive Steps in the progress of Whittle-Carving of the “Nite Lite” character. The Half Pint format uses the scale of a half inch equals a foot. “Nite Lite” is the title of a three inch Half Pint carving depicting an old man wearing his night shirt, night cap and carrying a candle on his way to bed.
Half Pints are three inch by inch square carvings of various figures and subjects that utilize the half inch scale equals a foot of the proportions of a figure. They are slightly above the miniature two-inch size. A monochrome oil finish of Raw Sienna artist oil paint thinned with boiled linseed oil give a soft glow to the surface that allows the faceted texture of the slicing knife cuts to create a texture of color.
Half Pints are three inch by inch square carvings of various figures and subjects that utilize the half inch scale equals a foot of the proportions of a figure. They are slightly above the miniature two-inch size. A monochrome oil finish of Raw Sienna artist oil paint thinned with boiled linseed oil give a soft glow to the surface that allows the faceted texture of the slicing knife cuts to create a texture of color. Each is carved using only knives in the Whittle-Carving style of making slicing and rolling cuts to shape up the basic form of each figure and then refine with precise detailed slicing cuts.
Here is a Carving Tip from an old carver with over fifty years of “learning by doing” as the Wood Bee Carver. Carving is a journey that is filled with “practice to make progress” experiences from which a carver can “learn a thing or two.”
Carving a hat brim can be a little tricky when it comes to its thickness in that it needs to look thin and still maintain its strength while being carved thin. A common approach is to carve the brim as thin as possible while leaving the outer edge having a flat surface that magnifies it appearance as being too thick. The trick is the chamfer the edge by slicing the top and bottom corners of the flat surface edge into a knife edge appearance. The hat brim will maintain it strength in thickness while the edge will be narrow giving the appearance of a thin brim.
Study the illustration photo that shows a hat brim in the process of being carved to shape. The area illustrated in the “B” section shows a flat surface reflective of the thickness of the brim. Illustration “A” shows the brim chamfered into a knife edge giving the appearance of a thin brim. Illustration “C” shows the brim thinned at its edge almost with a knife edge chamfer, only a little thicker to give a rustic and ragged edge to the brim. “A” is the YES, “C” is a MAYBE while the “B” is a NO because the flat edge is not artistically appealing making the hat brim way too thick in appearance.
The photo below will show examples of knife edged hats brims in their finished stage.
A six-inch-tall by inch and half square base caricature of a hillbilly with jug at his side is the subject of this description of “Design by Carving.”
Tennis Any One” is a caricature carving introduced by with a vanity license plate slogan. The carving stands six inches tall on an inch and half base (the size of the basswood block from which it was Whittle-Carved using only knives to carve.)
The A-B-C’s of face study for carving and other art endeavors is to be observant of the A-B-C’s on the human face. Study the random photo of four faces to see the A in the face on the side and bottom area under the nose. Look for the sideways B area of the eye brows and the eyes (glasses frame that area.) Look for the C curves of the ears, tip of nose, nostrils, chin, corners of the mouth and the cheek bone. Now you know the A-B-C”s of face study. Yogi Berra said, “You can observe a lots just by watching.” BEE OBSERVANT. For more, visit A-B-C,s Face Study