Funny how practice sessions or doodles can have a very interesting result. Reminds me to just start things and not think too much about it. Ironically I've been thinking about doing more caricatures, not sure what path to follow. Busts are cool but I rather have a full body piece to sell after
Giving a go to the new knife I bought. Flexcut pro series. Pretty interesting design, works perfectly on basswood, still to be tested on other species. Liked how the face turned out on this carving.
Dozens of little men whittled with a knife.
Entalhe e pintura de figuras em madeira para participação em feira
Really proud of how this one turned out, particularly with the painting. I think painting lowers the overall quality of my pieces, but I have fun with it and it's nice to add some colour.
Really like this one. Trying to chill with the details on the face, less cuts, less wrinkles.
Back to carving basswood, trying this classic design with my own style in the faces. Loving it so far, it's perfect for practice and enjoyment, since I have a lot of fun making different faces, and don't have to worry about the rest of the body. Still a lot of adjustments to make to the body, a lot of ideas of different little series to make with this design. Might get lost with this style for a while. Soon to be painted.
A few months ago I decided to stop painting my pieces. I also had decided to stick with only one type of wood, making everything simpler and about just the knife work. My shelf begun to be filled with more and more monotone pieces. I did not expect I would miss the colours. I also did not expect I would be making very simple carvings, focusing more on form than on details. That might have been the trigger.
Those gnomes are actually what got me into carving. I dabbled with the idea for a couple of times during my life but it was after I saw a little wooden gnome on the internet that I decided to give whittling a go. In my mind the endgame was always to practice until I was able to make them, and then carve a billion of those. However during my carving journey I got sidetracked with improving my technique and with fleeting obsessions on other styles and designs, until a few weeks ago I carved a simple gnome, and then I carved ten more. They are fun, and I saw a way to make them even more fun by adding colour.
My favourite series is usually my next one, but there is something special about those gnomes. I'll try a classic straight pointy hat, clothes variations and maybe a slightly more detailed face/beard. Having them is as much fun as the making.
Little gnomes from a Ddalo design. Very happy to make them, as it was mostly gnomes that got me carving in the first place. Turns out it's a very simple and fun design, and even with the lack of details, I can't help but carve a whole bunch of them.
Inspired by a ddalo design. A different wood for a change. This one could be painted.
Got busy with a few pieces this week. A couple of them turned out good. Hitting kind of a block lately but trying to keep the knife in the wood.
The start of a new series. You can expect more on the way. It's a great way to practice a face and also have a good piece as a result in my opinion. They are surprisingly quick to make, can hold a lot of detail if you want, and stands true to my preference for rustic looks. I hope to make a lot more and explore different aspects, but more or less in the same style. Photos 1 and 2 are of different pieces. They seem to work well with any block size, and it's exactly what I think of when I picture a wood spirit. One of those carved directly in a full sized tree trunk must be a sight.
Bought a support for exposition, really liked it. Now I'm getting two more and will work on filling those spaces
Took 6 minutes and a half, made a tutorial video for it. I am always impressed on how simple and easy it is to simulate a human face, and how the wood texture and cuts suggest a story for a figure.
One more to the collection. I really like this one, and the overall design, so I'll be making more. I might work on a step by step tutorial. A lot of thoughts about expression, size and other elements. They started as hobbits, but I don't think there's enough to hobbitness to them.