Once again my good friend “Idea Monster”  Don Stephenson has drawn a very unique carving idea of a Civil War Soldier who is sitting on a keg of gun powder, smoking a pipe and is striking a match.  This gives a whole new meaning to “Discharged.”

Caricature carving is to exaggerate realism both in the carving and in the scene that is being depicted of a match being struck on the top of a keg of gun powder.

The two photographs at the left show the original drawing of “Discharged” and the block of wood ready to be shaped into the basic form.  The scene was carved out of a block of basswood measuring four inches by six inches by six and half inches tall.  Basic guidelines were drawn on the block of wood to guide the removal of un-necessary wood using a number nine gouge.  The basic form was carved during this rough out stage to provide a good foundation for carving in the details of each element of the overall carving.  A variety of palm carving tools were used where feasible and a knife was used for much of the fine detail carving.

The next series of photographs will show the progress stages in the carving process as the excess wood is removed to reveal the basic form of a soldier sitting on a keg of gun powder ready to strike a match on another keg.

 The match being ignited is the subtle link to the punch line of this caricature carving to be the split second before the soldier is literally “discharged”  from active service.  The lettering on the kegs of gun powder was done with a wood burner while the rest of the carving was finished with a combination of artist oil paints and boiled linseed oil followed by a coat of Deft, a brushing lacquer.

“DISCHARGED” was carved for the Caricature Carvers of America trade piece that is part of the CCA Annual Meeting where each member carves a carving that is then traded with another member according to a rotating formula.  Joe You was the recipient of DISCHARGED.  Once again I thank my good friend Don Stephenson who continues to come up with very unique carving ideas through his drawings and his creative mind.