LES R. MOORE is a three and a quarter  inch tall caricature carved out of basswood in the Whittle-Carving style of carving only with a knife.  He is stained with artist oil paint color Raw Sienna mixed with boiled linseed oil and finished off with a coat of Deft brushing lacquer.  Being a small figure who chomps on his cigar with a carefree attitude, Les is more than he seems.  He is kind of like a first impression in that what you first see is not always what you get.  Les never jumps to conclusions nor does he make quick decisions for there is more to Les than meets the eye.  He is a caricature carving who invites a studied look to see more  of Les.

Les R. Moore was introduced to a wider audience when he appeared on page eight of Woodcarving Illustrated Holiday 2009 Issue #49.  Since then Les has allowed his name-sake to be carved several more times so that there is more of Les.  This posting will provide through a photographic journey the stages or progressive steps for carving a caricature like Les.  He is carved the way I carve all my figures by carving to basic form the head covering first, then the head fitting into the head covering and then carving the body to its bacic form following the Rule of Three for facial and body proportions.  Once a good foundation of a good form is established then the detail carving finishes the carving to life.

These three photographs show three different views of the same progressive steps in carving Les R. Moore.  Begin with a one inch square by three and half inch tall block of basswood.  Remove the corners on the top about three quarters on an inch down to form a dowel shape.

The second step is to mark a wavy line representing a floppy hat brim all around the dowel shape about a half inch down.  Third step is to start forming the top of the hat brim with a stop cut around the top of the wavy line and then peel a second cut down to the stop cut to begin shaping the crown of the hat.

The fourth step is to make a stop cut around the bottom of the hat brim and carvefully and carefully carve up to the stop cut.  Do this very slowly and gingerly as the hat brim is being formed out of  thin cross grain  and the knife could slice right on through the stop cut.  If this happens, find the part of the hat brim separated and glue it back using “molding glue” and let it dry thoroughly.  Titebond is a brand name for molding glue which is a thick and tacky white glue excellent for making repairs on carvings with minimal clamping.

While we are on the subject of carving the hat let us look at another series of photographs that illustrate what has just been described.

In the first photo the first illustration is the dowel shape for the beginning of the hat.  The second illustration shows the top of the hat brim and crown carved to basic form.  The third illustration shows the stop cut being made on the top of the brim.

The second photograph shows the third illustration with the slicing cut down along the side of the crown towards the stop cut on the top of the crown.

The third photographs shows the third illustration with a stop cut around the bottom of the hat brim while the fourth photographs shows the third illustration of a slicing cut coming up to the stop cut under the hat brim.  These two last illustrations repeated over and over again is shaping the area underneath the hat to the basic form of a head going up into the hat.  The head always fits into the hat rather than the hat sitting on the head.  Carving the hat first and then the head to fit into the hat makes the carving look natural and alive.

The next series of photographs will carry on the progressive steps to see the head and then body carved to basic form and working towards the finished carving.

The first photograph containing six illustrations beginning with the dowel carved on the first block.  The top of the hat carved on the second while the third illustration shows the basic form of the head carved fitting into the hat.

The fourth illustration has guidelines drawn showing the imagined image of the body.  The fifth illustration has the body and head carved to basic form while the last illustration shows a completed carving.

The next two photographs shows three stages from hat and head carved to basic form with the second stage having the head and body carved to form and the third stage shows the completed carving.  This is for comparative study.  Notice the center line has the face looking to its left at an angle.  It is just as easy to carve a face at an angle as looking straight ahead.  It is simply a matter of drawing a center line in the direction the head is to be facing, carve it to its basic form and then carve the body square on with appropriate twists in the stance and position of the arms by the way the figure is standing.  Note also in the study of the last two photographs a imaginary  line on the crown of the hat runs down through the brim to line up with the head that fits into the hat all the way around.

This photograph shows the progressive steps of the hats looking down on the top of each hat.  Reading right to left, notice the center line indicating that the hat is pointing left at an angle.  Continuing to the left the next has its crown shaped with a pinched point while the third one has had its brim soaked with super glue to strengthen the thin cross grained area.  The last hat on the left in a completed hat.  Notice how the width of the brim is equal all the way around the crown.  This further illustrates while carving the carver should look at the carving from all angles, straight on, sideways, upside down and bottom side up.

Accidents happen during the carving process.  In this case the coat right above the arm and below the lapel was carved through and the area was at such an angle that a little plug would not fit properly. The next step was to carve away a section of the lapel and body of the coat creating a flat area whereby a plug with a flat side could be glued to the main body of the carving.  Once the molding glue was dry the lapel was re-carved to blend into the previously carved area.

Repairs are sometimes necessary to make to save a carving from always being a distraction.  Once on a larger relief carving of a human face the pupil and iris of one eye was carved at an unnatural angle.  It just looked wrong so the only thing to do was to carefully and carvefully carve away a section of the eye ball and glue in a plug.  Taking more care with the position of the pupil and iris the re-carving resulted in a more pleasing look.

The original Les R. Moore is the one on the left of each of these photographs to make a comparative study.  Even though this carving is of the same design, yet each one is carved just enough to make each one have a personality of his own.  Each shares the basic pose the attempts to communicate movement.  Notice that there are no straight lines.  Rather look for the curving lines, the lazy S shaped lines and even a crooked line.  Clothing has a lot of wrinkles and flaring of coat tails and twists of the tie.

LES R. MOORE CLONES are pictured here with four views of each one to compare with the others noting their simularity as well as individual personality.

Finally here are two MOORE CLOSE UP pictures to study his facial characteristics.  His mouth is carved around the cigar to give a more life like treatment rather than inserting a cigar into a hole carved into the mouth.  The only drawback with carving the mouth around the cigar is that the cigar is at a weak area due to the thinness of the cross grained area.  Like the hat brim the cigar is soaked with super glue to give it added strength.  Super glue makes the wood fiber strong enough for normal use but if the carving is dropped on the floor any area of it could break.

LES R. MOORE promises that there is more to him than meets the eye, so look closely more or less.