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.
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.
The Face Study photos above represents one of the instructional exercises that the Wood Bee Carver used in classes before retiring from teaching. The first two photos are of detailed faces completed after retiring and the third photo is of study faces in the various stages of development. The photo below shows the Progressive Steps for carving a Face Study.
One of the exercises used in teaching the Rule of Three of Facial Proportions and how to open up a block of wood with the primary landmarks of a face uses the progressive steps face study depicted in the photo above. Each step is demonstrated by the instructor while the students carve each demonstrated step. The demonstrations cover the basic steps of 1 through 5 in the photo above with additional demonstrations by instructor of a variety of the mouth with or without teeth. The finished detailing as depicted in step 6 is done by each student at a later time. The instructor’s demo face studies accumulate following each class which are finished with detailed carving at a later time to complete each face.
Previous blog entries on these Study Faces may be viewed by clicking on each of the three links below.
The Red Beard Pirate has been an often repeated carving subject and on this version this pirate will be the subject of a tutorial on the SLOW and EASY method of carving. The first photo gallery will be of the finished and painted rendition of the Red Beard Pirate. Which will be followed by a verbal descriptive tutorial with additional photos of the Slow and Easy carving process.
“Wood carving is the journey more than the destination,” is an observation made during the process of carving through the years. The “destination” represents the finished carving and the “journey” represents the process of the carving activity. It is this “journey” that brings the most joy of creating to the carver because once the project is completed the carver is anxious to begin another carving project to experience the journey.
The RULE OF THREE for proportional divisions of the face and body for a carved figure can also be applied for a sitting posture of a carved figure. The Rule of Three for body proportions once the head has been established divides the rest of the body into equal proportions: Shoulder to Waist; Waist to Mid Knees: Mid Knees to Bottom of Feet. This guide works well for a standing figure and it can also be applied to a sitting figure using the three divisions bending at the waist and bending at the knees. Keep in mind that the Rule of Three is “Proportional Measurement” of the eye and mind in which the three proportions appear to be somewhat equal. So, with a sitting posture the eye and mind have to compensate for the hip portion of the middle third between the waist and the mid knees to calculate an approximate equalizing of the proportions. After all, proportions help to create an averaged normalized look of what appears about correct. It just looks right in a proportional perspective. The WOOD BEE CARVER has always utilized “Baseball Measurement,” that is “In the ballpark” of appearing just about right.
Here is another illustration of how to determine the proportions of a sitting figure.
