Whittle Doodles are an exercise of imaginative free hand carving in a block of wood using only knives to carve a variety of whimsical subjects in the round, shallow and deep relief, chip carving and incised carving in a Whittle-Carving style. The blocks of wood used can be a variety of sizes from an inch square up to a four-inch square by fifteen inches tall. In this latest version called “Whittle Doodle Extreme” the basswood block measures eleven inches tall by just shy of four inches square. The term “extreme” describes both the size and the variety of carved subjects and styles of carving using only knives to do the carving.
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Block Heads are carved inside a Friendship Cane segment measuring two inches square by three inches tall with a five eighth inch hole drilled down the center of the length of block. Carving is done with knives with curved cutting edges to facilitate the necessary slicing cuts in tight areas. The finish is artist oil paint Raw Sienna thinned with boiled linseed oil and then when the oil finish is dry Deft, a brushing lacquer is applied. Block Heads are another adaptation of Whittle Doodles carved by the WOOD BEE CARVER.
Block Heads are carved inside a Friendship Cane segment measuring two inches square by three inches tall with a five eighth inch hole drilled down the center of the length of block. Carving is done with knives with curved cutting edges to facilitate the necessary slicing cuts in tight areas.
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Whittle Doodles are the carving a variety of faces and objects into a block of basswood using only knives. This version began as a six-inch-tall by three-inch square block. It was also personalized for a carving friend who is a pastor in North Carolina as will be seen on one side of the block. As a doodle, what is carved comes about in random imagination making each Whittle Doodle unique and one of a kind.
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Whittle Doodles are doodling with a knife in a block of wood to carve a variety of subjects and themes as a demonstration of carvings done using only a knife. Whimsical in nature and yet a way to illustrate the art and practice of carving in a small and restricted area.
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Whittle Doodle Block Heads 2 was carved in a basswood block measuring two inches square and seven eights inch tall. Eight heads were carver around the four sides with a skull carved in the center. Newly made OTHER KNIVES for Miniature Carving were used to carve each head at random times over a period of a few days. The time in between the actual carving was used to imagine what faces to carve next. This “imagination” time is an essential time for any carving project while following the “Imagination Rule: if it can be imagined it can be.”
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The WOOD BEE CARVER has always been fascinated with the carving of faces by attempting to make each face have a personality of its own. This Whittle Doodle Block Heads carving was carved in a two-inch square by inch tall block of basswood.
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The photo journey below around the two-inch square friendship cane carved segment is a Whittle Doodle carved for the Buckeye Round Up on July 24, 25, 26, and 27,2019.
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