Done but not finished

For my first project I think my gnome turned out really well. He's certainly not "finished" but I think its time to put him aside for a while so I don't go crazy trying to make my first carving ever perfect.

Overall I'm happy with him. I don't love the eyes and I didn't really do anything to his hands.

Honestly I think I might just be excited about the bag each of butternut and basswood I got at the niagara woodcarving show on the weekend :)

Let me know what you think, I really appreciate all the feedback I get here and on the forum and especially from my wife who puts up with the wood chips all over the front porch...

2D to 3D

I have drawn, sketched, and doodled my whole life. I an finding the most challenging part of carving is going deep enough with my cuts and not just "drawing" a 2D picture on a 3D surface with my knife. As I grow more confident in my cuts I can already see that I have no need to worry about taking away too much, i think I'm still not going deep enough but I'm certainly getting there.

Here's a pic of my progress on that same gnome. He now has arms, some hair, and cheeks. This was a good choice for a first project since a gnome is supposed to look a bit silly I can't mess it up too much on matter what I do.

First carving... Work in progress

Got my first tools on thursday last week, many thanks to the generosity of a fellow Carver, and got my first chance at carving on saturday night. Told my wife at about 7 was going to go do some carving for half an hour (thinking my hand would be sore in 20 min like it had been with the xacto I was using) was almost 10 when my wife let me know how late it had gotten. I love that woman, she just knew that I had gotten lost in something I was enjoying and let me keep at it. So here is the start me my first carving. I'm looking forward to many more.

Practice, practice, practice

Still waiting to get my first knife so until then I keep practicing on the same block of wood with my xacto knife yet another face. Never seen a more vain piece of wood and no matter where you are it's always looking at you :)

Practice...

Ok here's what I've been practicing with using the xacto knife there's much more to be done and learned but the xacto just isn't cutting it, haha.

Chess Set

I've always wanted to make a custom chess set and once I get into carving I think I'll have the perfect medium for it.

Once I've got my feet wet and learn what I'm doing my first "big" project I think will be a gnome theme set. Here's a peek at my idea for the first pieces. Nice and simple to help with the learning I hope.

Not a Carver Yet...

Looks like i've got at least another week to wait before i get my first knife. I've been carving (making a mess) with an xacto knife. Not the best of tools and i think i'm gonna stop now until i get a real carving knife.

So for now i read the forum posts at WoodcarvingIllustrated.com do my research and try to draw as many of the ideas filling up my head as i can until my frist knife arrives.

In a few short weeks i'll be heading for the Niagara Wood Carving Show and since i should hav a knife by next week i hope to have my first carving done by then so i have a better feel for the art and can get myself a few more supplies.

Until then I'll be posting some of my drawings and ideas. maybe even a pic of the rough face i started with the xacto.

Not a Carver Yet

Greeting & Salutations