My good friend, Jim Hecker, continues to advance his style of carving through his journey of carving. This photographic journey of some of his recent carvings illustrates the winsome appeal in the facial features and body pose of his signature carvings of his creations he calls simply “Shorty” carvings. That same style is repeated in the carving of a figure called “Boss” and a cowboy bust. Take a look to admire the intricacy of the clean cuts with simply detailed lines of the design of each little figure that spells the “HECKER STYLE.” Read the rest of this entry »
The Rule of Three for facial proportions is applied to a carved Santa ornament to illustrate how to visually keep proportions in perspective in a face with a mustache, beard and long hair while half the forehead is covered by the hat.
The three divisions of the length of the face are: Hairline to Eyebrow; Eyebrow to Bottom of Nose; and Bottom of Nose to Bottom of Chin. When carving a face with a beard, the carver visually imagines where the chin is located under the beard. When carving a mustache, the carver follows the Rule of Three for the area between the nose and chin with the mustache fitting into the first third proportion between Nose and Top of Upper Lip. The middle third includes both lips down to the groove between lips and chin. If the mustache is carved as big and bushy so that it extends and covers the lips, then the lips are not carved. Rather there is an indention carved under the mustache to indicate that underneath the bushy mustache there is a mouth hidden from view.
If the Rule of Three of proportions is not followed and a bushy mustache is carved on the face of Santa and the carver carves in the bottom lip then the end result may give the appearance that the mouth is located where the chin is supposed to be located.
While the length of the face is divided into thirds proportionally, the width of the face is equal to two thirds of the length. A carving that is carved following the understanding of “proportions” will result in a carving looking right. On the other hand, when the “proportions” are out of proportion, then there is something about the carving that will not look right.
Caricature carving is “exaggeration of realism” which does exaggerate proportions for a caricature effect that is done on purpose. In order to “exaggerate realism” the carver must first have a clear understanding of correct proportions of realism before any on the proportions can be exaggerated.
To learn more about the Rule of Three facial proportions, look under the section of this blog entitled BEE HIVE and click on “Face Eye Study 2” which can also be printed.
Three old Friends, a Hobbit, a Gnome Wizard and a Red Beard Pirate are presented within this photographic essay as the latest edition of carving a previously carved subject. Read the rest of this entry »
Glenn Stewart of Hawesville, Kentucky originated the design of a Turkey and Santa carved back to back. He gave me the pattern fifteen years ago and recently wrote an article for Woodcarving Illustrated on this Turkey and Santa carving. Read the rest of this entry »
This carving represents the carving of a Chris Hammack rough out. Chris is a very accomplished caricature artist who passes on his creative instructions through his various rough out projects. Carving a Hammack rough out allows a little of Chris’s creativity to rub off on the carver if the carver is willing to learn while doing.
Recently the WOOD BEE CARVER sat in on a Chris Hammack class to carve along with the students by carving a Hammack rough out entitled Bull’s Eye Bob. The photographs reveal the end result of Whittle-Carving a rough out using only a knife. The polychrome finish is artist oil paint mixed with boiled linseed oil in the Painting Softly method. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: woodbeecarver in General
The ARTISTRY IN WOOD Show is now history with a memory of another memorable show. A photographic diary of the show can be viewed on face book by clicking of this link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Artistry-In-Wood-Dayton-OH/146135895418349 or by visiting the Dayton Carvers Guild website at ~ http://www.daytoncarvers.com/
OBSERVATION TECHNOLOGY is an adaption of the science of technology to the art of carving and related to the skill of carving. Yogi Berra coined the phrase, “You can observe a lot just by watching,” which when applied to the art of woodcarving, there is great value in making studied observations. Such is the case here with the studied observation of a carving by Myron Compton of Pekin, Indiana. I have observed some of his carvings over the years with an appreciative eye for his creative skill and interpretations through his carvings. His most recent carving of a cowpoke gave off an immediate invitation to “take a closer look” at this carving. Read the rest of this entry »
