Capital City Carvers

Tips and Techniques

Carving Hair

A nice woodcarving can become special with attention to the final detail of hair. There is only one rule about making hair on a carving — no straight lines! How does one make hair that looks natural?

While carving the head, leave a mass of roughed out wood for what will be hair, beard and moustache. Don't carve it down smooth; leave it with big knife or gouge marks so it doesn't look like a smooth football helmet. The moustache must be a higher layer than the beard or they won't be distinguishable as separate elements in the finished carving. If hair is showing under a hat, cap, or hood, it must look like it is under the hat. Hair will "pooch" out from under a hat, so leave enough wood so it will "pooch" and not hang out straight down.

To carve hair use at least three tools of different shapes and sizes. Unless the hair is on a figure such as a ballerina with long straight hair pulled tightly against the head and rolled up in a bun, hair is not smooth but in several layers going in several directions. This texture is created with the different cuts made by the different tools. This technique works with full-sized, palm, and micro-tools. Simply use proportionately smaller tools to get the same effect.

The first cuts are made with a wide tool to set the general direction and flow of the hair. The knife or gouge used to rough out the hair mass is it; larger figure — larger tool & cuts.

The second cut is with a medium tool to create additional detail, mostly at the bottom of channels created by the first cuts. The depth and width of these gouge cuts will depend on the size of the figure, but whatever size, the purpose is to emphasize natural flow and direction and to start showing the different layers of hair. On a beard I start with a lazy S cut, but not for the entire length of the beard. Then I add maybe three more smaller lazy S cuts in different areas. The next cuts follow the pattern established by the lazy S's.

The final cuts are done with a veiner to show fine detail. Hair lines do not cross each other, but show hanks of hair going under other hanks at a lower place. Not all the ends of hair even go in the same direction. Ivan Whillock says to take care to create highlights (nearly smooth surfaces) and lowlights (more heavily carved surfaces.) A V-tool can be used as a final step, but a better sculptural effect is created with gouges and veiners. V-tools tend to make really hairy dudes!

As a final step, hanks of hair can be separated by very small V's at the bottom. It creates a more uneven but natural hairline. Since I'm out of space, you will have to ask me to demonstrate this step. I hope to obtain a "hairball" study cast by Harold Enlow to illustrate these techniques.

Southeastern Woodcarving School

The 23rd Annual Southeastern Woodcarving School takes place July 25 through 27 in Prattville, AL, a suburb north of Montgomery. Classes are three days in length, beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday and ending at 3 p.m. on Sunday. All classes meet in the Doster Community Center.

The $170 fee includes class instruction and five refreshment breaks. No meals or sleeping facilities are available at the site. Motels, restaurants, and a camping site are located nearby. Classes do break for lunch.

The classes and instructors are:

Caricatures - Steve Brown
Realistic Human Face - Ken Carter
Realistic Golden Retriever - Nancy Crippen
Laid-Back Woodcarving - John Davis
Spirit Face in a Pine Knot - Mac Proffitt
Sculptured Portraits in Wood - Larry Nowell
Human Bust - Larry Rogers
Relief Carving - Steve Schoolar
Whimsical Houses in Cottonwood Bark - Allen Carmichael
Pictorial Deep Relief - Randy Walters

Several members will be attending this school. A copy of the information and an application are available at the club meetings or at www.pmchippers.org/sws.html. This school is another way to develop your woodcarving skills and to learn from other carvers.

Carving Class at Light N Up

Barbara Mann's new carving class at Light N Up Art Co-op and Studios in Havana begins Thursday, May 8, for eight weeks. It meets from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and will be a carver's choice class. Cost for 8 weeks is $100; cost for one night is $17. Call the Co-op at 539-0006 to register. This is another opportunity to develop your woodcarving skills.

Equipment for Sale

Tom Norman has a Dust Devil (portable dust collector on tripod) marketed by Ernie Muhlmatt Studios in excellent working condition for $75. Contact Tom on his cell phone at 850-566-4483.

Barbara Mann has a double bench grinder, 1/3 HP, nearly new for $49. Make your own buffing machine with it. Call Barbara at 562-8460.

Tom also reports a website for carvers buying from and selling tools to other carvers: woodshoppers.com. It's another woodcarving site to check out. Tools can often be found on e-Bay.

Patterns

Killdeer, Lobster, Hound - See Barbara for patterns and cutouts.
Koala (woodburning pattern)