My good friend Don Stephenson is a remarkable artist whose creative mind keeps coming up with unique carving ideas. He is so prolific with his artistic creations that I have nick named him the “IDEA MONSTER.” Recently he drew a pirate in the shape of an egg as an idea for carving a wooden egg. There was nothing for me to do other than carve a pirate first in a goose egg and then in a hen egg. The photographs that follow in this pictorial essay are the results of this journey on the high seas of carving adventure.
The next four photographs use the original drawing by Don Stephenson as a backdrop for the front and back view of the goose egg pirate and then both the goose egg pirate and hen egg pirate.
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Cy Clone was carved a few weeks ago along with two partially carved examples for comparison purposes. Since that initial carving journey it became a challenge to “clone” Cy into additional figures of different sizes than the original six inch tall. In the photograph Cy is on the left while in the middle is Cy carved to basic form and the Cy on the right has been stained with one color of raw sienna artist oil paint and boiled linseed oil. The monochrome of one color is another way to present a carving with the understanding that “texture is color” as well. The colored Cy on the left and the monochromed Cy on the right each stand on their own while offering a different aesthetic approach to the same carving theme. The additional “clones” of Cy will all be monochromed in one color with their difference being their size. Read the rest of this entry »
What a fictional and mythical character like Gandalf of “Lord of the Rings” looks like can only be determined by the imagination of interpretation. There can be a verbal description that dresses up the readers imagination of an image. An artist can draw and paint an artistic interpretation as well as a cartoonist can give another visual description. An actor playing the part of a character certainly puts a flesh and blood interpretation with an audible and visual signature on the look and sound of the character. A wood carver can offer another creative interpretation as the action of the cutting tool sculpts another interpretation. Read the rest of this entry »
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The RULE OF THUMB has since ancient time been a common form of measurement as well as an expression of speech. It is defined as a general or approximate principle, procedure or rule based on experience or practice. Carpenters often use thumb width or length from first knuckle to thumb tip as a quick and easy “one inch” measurement. The length of the thumb is approximately “three inches” or equal to the width of four fingers.
Often an artist will sight past an upright thumb at arms length to gain approximate perspective of a distant object. No one knows for sure who originated the “Rule of Thumb” but it has been suggested that Leonardo DaVinci used its principle in his study of human anatamony and artistic proportions.
Carvers can use the “Rule of Thumb” for a quick and approximate measurement while carving to visualize proportions, sight comparison measurements or one inch incremental measurement. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: woodbeecarver in Noggins
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More Tee Noggins carved in golf tees as a humorous way to fulfill the OLD CARVER’S LAW : “Leave no wood uncarved.”
Sonny is an avid fisherman whose fish stories are bigger than his actual fish brought home in the fish bucket. He is always telling about the BIG fish that got away ending up by saying, “I never seen a fish so big!” Of course those who have heard the same story over and over again agree that he NEVER did see a fish so big. As his story is told over and over again, Sonny begins to believe his fish stories, so much so that he begins to dream about catching the really BIG fish. So often has he had that dream the fish actually lives in his mind and memory. If only there was a camera that could take pictures of dreams then there would be proof of the BIG fish. Read the rest of this entry »
Bill Fournier, a woodcarver from Charleston, South Carolina was kind enough to give his face to a ” Real Life Face Study” to illustrate the value of studying faces to be able to carve faces. Perhaps the best model any carver has is one’s own reflection in a mirror whereby one can “make faces” to see how the muscles in the face change due to the mood. The more a carver becomes familiar with the human face that much easier it is to carve faces in wood. Such a study also will create a good mental image to guide the imganation of the carver in the carving process.
Bill has a very expressive face be it a full grin or a sober face. In the gallery of the various facial views of Bill notice how his eyebrows, eyes, smile line, mouth, cheek and character lines change as the expression is changed. A Real Like Face Study will help a carver to begin to notice facial features in other people as well as carve “real life facial features” into carving faces in wood. So, let’s face it through the photographic gallery of Bill’s face. Read the rest of this entry »
Cy Clone was carved a few weeks ago along with two partially carved examples for comparison purposes. Since that initial carving journey it became a challenge to “clone” Cy into additional figures of different sizes than the original six inch tall. In the photograph Cy is on the left while in the middle is Cy carved to basic form and the Cy on the right has been stained with one color of raw sienna artist oil paint and boiled linseed oil. The monochrome of one color is another way to present a carving with the understanding that “texture is color” as well. The colored Cy on the left and the monochromed Cy on the right each stand on their own while offering a different aesthetic approach to the same carving theme. The additional “clones” of Cy will all be monochromed in one color with their difference being their size. Read the rest of this entry »
