Thread: carvers gallery

UNDERFOOT
nice work !!!!
is it somethink in air up there that makes you carve that good??

Beautiful work, Undy - sweet , gracioud curves, perfect lines...greatBTW, didn't know you fancy working with such a soft wood (allways thought you were a hardwood man)- looks like you are really fed up with that steel
P.S.- I finally got that die grinder+ the Kutzalls you recomended.Good stuff, thank you.






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Originally Posted by Earthling#44-9a

Interesting pieces Artesano.

With your last one, 55cm Ash, is the ball and claw all one piece of wood or has it been cut, then shaped, then joined?
If all one...how do you get those angles between the claw and ball so smooth? So accurate?

I use the same technique in all my work , Earthling - I glue 2 or 3 boards to the desired thickness and size ( the reason being it's not easy to find a solid block thick enough , and if you do, it will most probably split or crack anyway) , and then bandsaw to the rough shape and carve it - all is made from the same piece. The angles are a result from good old-fashoned carving, and then sanding 'till my fingers start bleeding....literally . Look at my signature- Ian Norbury got it right

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I bet it felt good to have cedar chips flying off the workpieces, Underfoot.

Much better than sparks and iron filings.

That poor girl in the second pic looks uncomfortable. The other girl looks very relaxed. I nearly dozed off myself.

What will you do with the hair? Will you leave it with the big gouges or add finer texture?


Atesano, I like the flow of your sculpture and the rich golden colour of the timber.

Nympharamic landscapes. Beautiful sleeping pose reminds me of the Olga's but I'm not sure if you've resolved the smooth with the cut if you know what I mean.
Prolly pretty hard not to be seduced by curves of the grain though

thanks for the feedback folks
both pieces are still WIPs so I'm not sure how I'll finish them yet, (never really done hair before, spose it's about time I learn)
if they hang around the shed too long they usually morph into something else,
(chopped up ,bits added or incorporated into another sculpt)
anyways, they've served their purpose of giving me a wood fix for the moment,
now back to the hard stuff (st/ steel) it has to be in the ground in 2 weeks

Originally Posted by underfoot

it has to be in the ground in 2 weeks

You have to bury it? Is it a ritual sort of thing?

Originally Posted by springwater

You have to bury it? Is it a ritual sort of thing?

nah, that's just sculptorspeak for installation
but I think the town has a ritual of tarring and feathering people who take up valuable public space for no good reason

Originally Posted by Artesano

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I use the same technique in all my work , Earthling - I glue 2 or 3 boards to the desired thickness and size ( the reason being it's not easy to find a solid block thick enough , and if you do, it will most probably split or crack anyway) , and then bandsaw to the rough shape and carve it - all is made from the same piece. The angles are a result from good old-fashoned carving, and then sanding 'till my fingers start bleeding....literally . Look at my signature- Ian Norbury got it right

So good ol hardwork is again the winner! Ive always found getting those angles perfect sooo hard, especially when the surfaces are not straight. Perseverance....


Regarding the die grinder+ the Kutzalls you bought, I too have these and find it does a ripper job on the die grinder, but no good for fine work. For fine work, Ive found the kutzalls on my new dremel that gets up to 33000rpms is sweet.













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Originally Posted by Earthling#44-9a

Regarding the die grinder+ the Kutzalls you bought, I too have these and find it does a ripper job on the die grinder, but no good for fine work. For fine work, Ive found the kutzalls on my new dremel that gets up to 33000rpms is sweet.

Sorry I didn't answer before , Earthling, had some problems with logging; it was never my intention to do fine work with the die grinder, or , for that matter, with any power tool- I bought it for that tight places I can't reach with the mini grinder.Funny you should mention the Dremel- I' ve just got one for Christmas - but still, I think nothing beats the finish with chisels, and then rasps , rifflers and sandpaper - just like the doctor said !

getting quite a collection of power tools there Ivan
just wonderin, ..... have you noticed any change of style in your work due to the new equipment?

Originally Posted by Artesano

but still, I think nothing beats the finish with chisels, !

yep, one swipe of a sharp chisel can remove all those burr and machine marks,

hmm,.....maybe an interesting exercise for the carvers out there,
make a piece using only a chainsaw and one chisel,

Originally Posted by underfoot

getting quite a collection of power tools there Ivan
just wonderin, ..... have you noticed any change of style in your work due to the new equipment?

Guess you know whom I'm going to blame? ...re the style change...to the moment all I' ve really used has been the Arbotech stuff , hadn't have the time to test the die grinder, let alone the Dremel.Hope there's no change at all, change would probably mean I adjust my way of working to the machines( getting lazy , in few words).All I want them to do for me is save time - working only on week -ends and after the full-time job is hard when the ideas just pile-only look at the plastilina clay models ready for carving makes me climb the walls Anyway, the power-tools list is over ( for now)- now to the hand tools!( the list looks like "The Lord of the Rings" special edition)

Wonderful work UF!! Bloody marvellous.

Hello to all...I have seen some absolutely beautiful and marvelous works in this thread. I would like to consider myself a "carver" or "sculptor" (much discussion about differences) I think the term that applies best for me would be "chipper" or "butcher", I have ruined some fine lumber in my days.

Question: How many folks out there with carving chisels/tools spend time drawing or sketching their ideas before putting tool to wood????
I feel that my lack of drawing ability is limiting in ways that is hard to put into words. Sometimes I pick up a piece of wood and "see" something and am able to carve what I imagined it to be. Other times the "vision" is there, just unable to see it to fruition and I get discouraged because it isn't working out the way I had envisioned. I think in all the pics in the thread, I saw some sketches in the background of one of the shots....

Hey carvers...thoughts??

Hi, mobjack68 - the ability to draw is something you can learn; nothing mystic about it- nothing you should be born with , and no rocket science at all -just a matter of training.The good news is, if you don't like it , no need to draw( still , MO is-drawing helps a LOT), some really good sculptors can't draw at all.The really important thing that saves you time and wood is modeling - you do all your errors there, and you see your carving in 3D before you start carving! - get some clay (I use Plasticine), you just won't believe the difference