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. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahogany Indian bust was carved out of one and three quarter inch square by two and half inch tall block of very old mahogany given to me by a carving friend from Michigan. It was carved using traditional carving tools with knife carving used only for detail work. It was finished using Howard Feed-N-Wax which brought out the natural beauty of old mahogany. Read the rest of this entry »
Don Stephenson, a member of the Dayton Carvers Guild, is a prolific artist who keeps coming up with carving project ideas. In fact, he keeps coming up with so many good ideas that I have nick named him the “Idea Monster” to which he emailed me back a drawing of the proverbial “light-bulb idea icon”with a monster-ish face on it. Read the rest of this entry »
A “Monochrome” finish is a one color or natural finish that is illustrated in this photograph of four Whittle Folk Spuds. What the natural finish does is force the viewer to take a closer look at the carved features of a sculpture. A natural finish shows off the detail of the carving cuts and the overall design of the sculpture. A “Polychrome” finish is many colors that creates another kind of aesthetic beauty. Read the rest of this entry »
Whittle Folk Clown Lite is a three and a half inch tall caricature of a clown whittle-carved only with a knife. He is holding a balloon and a feather to figure out which one is lighter. His coat of checker board plaid are lines carved to give texture as well as a trough to separate the colors. The coat tail as well as the extra long tie flair outward to give a sense of movement. His head is turned slightly to his left to add to the sense of movement. Read the rest of this entry »
HOLLY SNOWMAN was carved out of a six inch tall by one and half inch square block of basswood. There is a sprig of holly in the hat band of the top hat and holly leaves decorate the red tie thus giving the snowman his name of “Holly Snowman.” The checker board plaid lines of the green vest were carved and woodburned both to give texture as well as contrasting dark lines to the green vest. Read the rest of this entry »
The WOOD BEE CARVER is always trying to learn various styles of carving in addition to his normal Whittle-Carving only with a knife. Relief carving utilizes traditional carving tools as well as learning to see and carve in perspective in a shallow surface. The basswood ostrich egg with its own turned base presents another challenge with its curving surface in which to carve a relief scene. Read the rest of this entry »
The WOOD BEE CARVER has worn a black derby hat, bib overalls and a Colonel Sanders bow tie since 1976 whenever he participates in a woodcarving show. The derby hat was purchased at a church rummage sale and has become frayed around the edges over the years. That is what age will do to any of us but at any age we can still look the part. Since I wear glasses the glasses were carved without the detail of the eyes showing through the lens. This adds a bit of mystery appearance in the same way that sun glasses add to the mystery of a person’s face. In this self portrait figure the center of attention are the hands whittling while the eyes hidden behind the lens of the glasses are looking at the hands. Read the rest of this entry »
