In the spirit of the Old Carvers Law that says, “Leave no wood uncarved,” wooden clothes pins are carved into Pin Heads as a form of relaxation.  These little whimsical heads spring forth from the imagination of the carver who while carving one has another idea for the next pin head pop into the carver’s own pin head.  Here are the latest editions and additions of the fine art of Whittle-Carving just for the amusement of carving exercise.

Free Hand Carving is carvings done with a knife in the style of “Whittle Doodle” carvings that simply carve various subjects and designs into a piece of wood.  The first example is a Denny V Gouge made especially with a basswood handle for the purpose of carving the handle.  This Free Hand Carving was done for Wayne Shinlever.  Once carved the handle was stained with artist oil raw sienna paint and boiled linseed oil followed with a coating of Deft. Read the rest of this entry »

BITS AND PIECES describes recent carvings.  The first is a relief carving in a small format that was done as a demonstration of relief carving for a beginners carving class that was considering various kinds of carving projects.  The demonstration lesson was both for laying out a design, setting it in, carving in detail and applying a finish.  Basswood measuring a half inch thick by five inches and three and a half inches was used for this relief carving project.  The finish was raw sienna artist oil paint and boiled linseed oil.  Like every carving project it was a learning piece. Read the rest of this entry »

The Old Carvers Law states:“Let no wood go un-carved.” In the spirit of that law wooden clothes pins and golf tees become a wood source to allow “old carvers” to carve for the fun of creating novelties.  Whittle Folk Pin Heads are carved out of wooden clothes pins purchased at Hobby Lobby and the golf tees were purchased at Walmart for the Whittle Folk Tee Noggins.  Each one carved leads to carving another with a slight change of design as is illustrated in the photographic journey that follows. Click on each photo to enlarge.

Faces carved on the handle of an antique potato masher Totem Pole fashion is an example of the Old Carver’s Law: “Don’t let any wood go un-carved.” This style of carving is an exercise of letting the carver’s imagination guide the carving knife to transform a non-distinct wooden handle into a carved novelty.  The faces are examples of caricature face carving that fit the shape of the wooden handle.  This carving project was a gift to someone who collects antique potato mashers  as well as wood carvings of many artists.  I was honored to do this carving for these special friends. Read the rest of this entry »

Wood carvers are a strange lot in that any piece of wood is seen as having potential for a carving project.  The lowly golf tee has that potential so here are some caricature examples of using a golf tee as a carving novelty.  The shape of the golf tee dictates the basic shape while imagination works to create something in that basic shape.  These twelve examples were carved using a knife in slicing cuts in the Whittle-Carving style.  Howard Feed-N-Wax was applied to the carved areas to give depth of perception to enliven the carved cuts. Read the rest of this entry »

A commission by a friend to carve a realistic likeness of his daughter and son from a photograph presented a challenge.  But then, if any carver is to grow and stretch in ability, then that carver musters up courage to tap into the reserve of carving experience to try to carve a reasonable likeness.  Such a challenge goes back to what Dave Sabol once said in a class when he stated that every carving project is a practice piece and is a learning experience, so relax and and do the best you can. Read the rest of this entry »