Santa sitting on a gift card was first carved in 2001 from an original design drawn by Glenn Stewart of Hawesville, Kentucky.  It is carved out of half inch thick basswood approximately four inches high and wide.   The size can be varied either a little larger or a little smaller. It is basically carved as a relief carving using traditional caving tools of small gouges, V tool and a knife.

The pattern is a free hand drawing on a piece of basswood approximated a half of an inch thick four inches tall and four and a half inches wide. The grain of the wood runs horizontally.

The second photo shows an end view to give an idea of the thickness in relation to the relief carving.  The third photo is of the completed relief carving ready to be painted.

The waste wood is removed around the outer edge of the drawing using a half inch number eleven gouge.  The reason the gouge is used rather than cutting it out with a band saw is to “prime the pump” of dexterity of hand and eye coordination of using a carving tool.  It just feels right to use the carving tool to begin shaping to carving project and beside, it is just as fast.

Cutting out a blank with a band saw may be quicker for some carving projects but then it deprives the carver from learning the path of carving from a block of wood in towards the subject imprisoned in the wood.

Most carvers are carving for the fun of carving so using the carving tool exclusively to shape the wood to the basic form is part of the fun.  What is the rush if the carver in not punching a time clock or doing production work where time is of the essence?  Use the carving tool as often as possible so that the tool becomes the extension of the hand which is the extension of the mind which is the extension of the heart so that creativity can occur.

For this carving project a knife becomes a secondary but essential tool for doing certain procedures.  The two photos above with the knives are rounding the square corners and piercing an opening between the arm and torso.

A Drake knife was used to carve to shape the ball and cap, mittens, shoes, and round the outer edge of the arms and legs to create round contours to Santa.  Then a Dastra six millimeter number four gouge is used to slice the outer contours of the right leg where it meets the tag portion in the middle photo.  The third photo shows the same gouge coming in to remove the waste wood of the tag slicing in toward the first cut along side the leg.  This same gouge is used to shape other portions of the carving project.

The Dastra six millimeter number four gouge has the right radius to make the outer shape of the holly leaves.  A knife point is used to carve the three berries carving first to a pyramid shape so that the base of the ball stays attached to the tag portion since there are very fragile.  The holly leaves and berries receive a soaking of super glue once they are carved to strengthen them from breakage.  The flat portion of the tag is flattened using a slicing cut of a Drake one inch number two gouge.

A Dastra two millimeter number eleven was used to carve the eye mounds and later to texture the fur fringe’s around the cap and coast sleeves and waist.  The middle photo show the three Dastra gouges, a two millimeter number eleven, a four millimeter number four and a six millimeter number four used to carve the facial details.  The hole in the tag was drilled using the Dastra two millimeter number eleven in a twisting action.  The tip of a knife was uses to enhance some of the details in this carving.

Five Santas were carved in this carving session.  While they are all of the same pose, yet each one has their own facial personality.  The painting of the white portion of the tag used acrylic white paint for a more whiteness than can be accomplished with the “Painting Softly” method using boiled linseed oil and artist oil paints (as described in December 10, 2007 posting).

A close up photo shows the facial detail just as the carving process is coming close to being finished while awaiting some clean up cuts and then painting.  The final photo has all five Santas waving their “Merry Christmas” all year long.  I wave “So Long” till the next posting on this Woodcarving Web Log.