WHITTLE FOLK MONKS are Whittle-Carved out of a one inch square by three inch tall block of basswood.  They are often used as a class project for the teaching of face carving only with a knife.  The face is the first thing seen on a carving and since the body of the monk is covered with a robe the face received the most attention of detail carving.  An earlier posting of Whittle Folk Monk Faces presented a photographic study of faces.

This Face Study II is of recent Whittle Folk Monks carved as models or “go-bys” for class projects.  The finish is a natural finish of artist oil paint raw sienna mixed with boiled linseed oil.  A natural finish tends to highlight the carving texture of a carving while a painted carving tends to camouflage the carving texture.  “Texture is color,” highlighted by a natural finish of the following Face Study of Whittle Folk Monks.

The very best “face study” is to study your own face in the mirror becoming familiar with facial features.  Study the faces of other people be it in person or through photographs.  Study faces that have character by studying wrinkles, dimples, smile lines, shape of nose, jaw line and lips as they smile, frown or are relaxed.  The more familiar one becomes with facial features the more that visual image is stored away in the creative sub conscious to come forth while carving a face in wood.  Like every aspect of carving, practice is the doorway into greater carving experience.  “The More One Carves The Better One Carves,” is a truism experienced with every carving project which is always a practice piece.

Face up to it, the study of faces and the carving of faces make up a continuous circle that goes round and round in the experience of always learning in the creative mirror of carving what the sub conscious sees.