MAGNETIC FACES  are carved out of a half inch thick  by one and half inch by two inch block of basswood as an exercise in face carving.  Every carving project should be seen as a learning experience or a practice piece in which the carver learns to stretch one’s imagination and carving ability.  These particular faces  have a magnet epoxied into the back  and will serve as examples of face carving for  instructional purposes.  Such faces could also receive jewelry pin backs so they could be worn on clothing.  For this particular exercise they are simply examples of faces carved with a knife in sculpture relief or half round carving.  Each one is an attempt to carve a different feature, a certain look and a trial run of carving a different face each time. Read the rest of this entry »

Rick Jensen is a good carving friend who is known among carving circles for his expertise in carving and teaching how to carve whimsical houses out of cottonwood bark.  He teaches all around the nation and has authored a book entitled “Carving Tree Bark.”   He is a popular teacher who has influenced untold number of students who go on to create their own unique designs of tree bark houses.  His fun loving personality, good sense of humor and generosity of spirit endears him to all who call him friend and beloved carver.  When I asked him if I could use his image for an instructional posting he more than graciously agreed which is just like his passion for encouraging carvers to experience the joy and satisfaction of carving.  He is sometimes known by his nick name of “Bark Boy” but even more he is known as a respected carver, teacher, judge and all around nice guy.  In studying his face in the photograph one will notice a strong face with character and a smile of friendly welcome. Read the rest of this entry »

Artist author and instructor Andrew Loomis influenced several generations of budding artists and his work still is influential.  The plate to the left is one of his illustrations of facial planes to help in viewing the basic shape of the human face.  If one is to become comfortable with carving faces in wood, one needs to be able to see the human face in various ways to fix an image in the mind.  It is part of what I mean when I say, “Think inside the Block,” (the Block Head as well as the Block of wood)  as being able to see in the mind first the basic shape of the human face.  It is the mental image that guides the carving hands and tool to shape the wood into a human face.  By using a study of facial planes both visually and carving facial planes the carver will be able to carve to shape a face that looks natural and pleasing. Read the rest of this entry »

THREE VERSION FACE STUDY STICK tutorial is located under “BEE HIVE” as a pdf document which can be viewed and printed.  This instructional aid presents three versions of carving a practice face on one stick.  At the top of a square stick a ball is carved out of a square area to teach the roundness of  a head and its ability to rotate as a ball joint up and down, side to side and tilted at an angle.  The second version uses the corner of the stick to teach that the face fits into a ninety degree angle .  The third version at the bottom of the stick teaches the narrowing of the width of the face as being two thirds wide while being three thirds long.  In each version of the practice faces the Rule of Three of Facial Proportions is utilized to carve in the basic form of the angles and planes of the face.

This Face Study Stick teaching carving to basic form.   A   Facial Detail Carving tutorial is located in another pdf document in “BEE HIVE” under the title “FACE EYE STUDY”  which can also be viewed and printed.  As with any practice carving project,  the more one carves the more one learns while carving.  “The more one carves the better one carves,”  is experienced as one carves, so carve as often as possible remembering that every carving pr0ject is simply a practice piece until finished.

  Stay Sharp and BEE CARVEFUL.

Seeing the A – B – C shapes  in a human face is a good way to look at all faces to study.  Once the image of reference points of the A – B – C of a human face is embedded in the carver’s creative sub conscious, then the carver can see the face with both an inner eye and natural eye.   If the carver can see the face in the mind then the carver can carve the face in wood.   Study the face of the carving by John Burke and look for the A – B – C shapes  in the face.  Look for the shape of a letter A.  Then look for a separate shape of the letter B turned clockwise one turn so that the straight part of the B is at the top and the rounded part of the B  is at the bottom.  Then look for the  shape of  the letter C , either frontwards or backwards.  Read the rest of this entry »

“Whittle Folk Spuds” –  an article written by Don Mertz,  is  in  the  current Sring 2011 issue of Carving Magazine  http://www.carvingmagazine.com/issues/current.shtml  This “how-to” instructional article offers a step by step verbal description accompanied by appropriate photographs.   The article  in Carving Magazine is  in  more detail that a previous posting entitled “SPUDS ” https://woodbeecarver.com/?p=4554   Also in the same issue, my good woodcarving friend Mark Akers has a tutorial on carving a Civil War Soldier as in the photograph below.

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A FACE-EYE STUDY has been put in a pdf format and can be viewed and printed by going to “BEE HIVE” under the left hand column and click on “FACE-EYE STUDY”.

This is one of the  educational projects used in the classes I teach about Whittle-Carving or carving only with a knife.   Read the rest of this entry »