Archive for the ‘Tutorials’ Category
SHAPE UP Uncle Sam Five
The Uncle Sam Five carving project is a commission of five different poses of the character Uncle Sam. Each one begins with a six and half inch tall by inch and half square block of basswood. The SHAPE UP process begins with the guiding concept of the Rule of Three for facial proportions and body proportions. The Wood Bee Carver has used the Rule of Three proportional guide since 1995 for carving and for instructions purposes for figures of various sizes since it is a “proportional” measurement of visual divisions of using eyes rather than a measuring rule.
DREAM FISH Redux
The first Dream Fish was carved in 2011 as gift presentation to a fisherman friend. At the time it was challenging carving project in which it was learned that “Challenge is a teacher of unlearned lessons.” Anytime a carver begins a new carving project it becomes a “learning exercise” of transposing an imagined subject into a tangible carving. Another lesson learned along the carving journey is what is learned in carving the subject for the first time will guide carving it the second time to expand the learning potential. So, it was when a commission came to carve the Dream Fish another time a renewed challenge of relearning while carving from a distant memory that new lessons opened during the carving process. Such a positive experience led to carving another Dream Fish to expand the “challenge learning lessons.” These two Dream Fish carvings will lend themselves to offering brief informative observations by way of photos of the carving process along with brief descriptions of explanation.
A Half Pint is a three inch tall figure carved to the scale of a half inch equals a foot. It begins with a three inch by an inch square basswood block. Study the photographic chart below to follow the progressive steps to get an overall mental view.
PIRATE First Mate
The Pirate First Mate is carved in the Half Pint size of three inches tall with a one inch square base. The First Mate is wearing a bandana head wrap rather than the officer’s hat even though he is wearing an officer’s coat captured as a spoil of a sea battle.
PIRATE REDUX
Red Beard Pirate is the latest version of a carving project that I have carved several times. A pirate is a carver’s dream of a carving project because of the variety of anomalies of design compared with a regular figure.
PROGRESSIVE STEPS of a carving subject are a visual aid to visualize the development from the opening cuts through steps towards a completed carving. The examples used in this tutorial also contain the proportional divisions as a guide for laying out the major landmarks of the subject. With each Progressive Step illustration, the viewer is to study the progression of development to imagine what cuts were necessary to accomplish each step. While being a helpful reference tool, the greater function of the Progressive Steps illustration is to help the carver to develop the ability to see a carving develop in one’s imagination. Studying a Progressive Steps illustrations, the viewer realizes that one has to read between the lines, so to speak, when following each step and allow imagination to fill in the blanks in between each step. While these illustrations are of three inch tall figures, the same concept would apply to any size coupled with imagination.
