Capital City Carvers

Carving Opportunities

Ned Megargee has mentioned that Woodcarving Illustrated has projects at their website and in newsletters. You can try them out, even when you are not house bound.

SOME OBSERVATIONS

From Wildfowl Carving Jerry Simchuk says: When it comes to creating a sculpture, you may think of composition or designing. Either way, it requires planning. Whether it is a bird, animal or caricature, think about the carving in its habitat before you put knife to wood. Making the carving tell a story makes an even bigger impression on your public. The habitat you choose should fit your subject and help transport a viewer to your setting. When you set out to tell a story with your sculpture, you want to take your audience to a specific place, time, or emotional state. If you want to get a story across, you have to put some thought into your design first.

Getting your subject to look right is only part of the process of composition. You also have to make sure your subject becomes the main focus of the whole piece. There is one important compositional rule you should follow, and that is the rule of thirds. It is true with flat work and it is true with three dimensional sculptures as well. You want to place your main subject or focal point into a 1/3 quadrant rather than in the dead center of the piece. As you plan your composition, divide the sculpture into three sections vertically and horizontally. Now, make sure the main portion of your subject falls along one of those lines.

Finally, when looking at your carving during the process of carving, remember you have at least 5 views to consider: front, left side, right side, back, and top. Look at the carving from all angles. Use a mirror or have another person look at the carving. Look at the whole context of the carving not just the parts.

Several members have asked questions about painting their carvings, so I went looking in my collection of magazines. I found an article about painting a Santa in Woodcarver's Essential Painting and Finishing Guide. It was published in the Fall of 2004 and is still relevant today. Here is what Michele Carville has to say, in part: Heavy applications of color are not the answer. Layering paint is, and that requires practice and patience. Practice is needed not only for the actual painting process but also for knowing how much water to combine with the paints. Mixing formulas abound, usually followed up with and old T-shirt used to blend the paint on the carving. You may do a double take when I write that acrylic paints are not made to be mixed with water. Instead, they are designed to be cleaned up with water. When you add a drop of acrylic paint to a pre-determined amount of water, and mix the two, the paint pigment usually ends up in the bottom of the cup. The process makes it impossible to lay on consistent, even color. If you have ever had your paint look