carving doodles

Well I have a few more carved and have painted some color on a few, I originally didn't plan on adding color but after adding paint to one of my larger elf carvings I just started playing with color on the doodles. I will dip them and they will be ready for the church bizarre in November. Just felt like sharing an image of them, gotta go pick
up the boys from school.

Carpe diem carving

and then there were 10

Well since my last post in regard to carving I have gotten a few more carved for the church bizarre in November. These two I really like for different reasons, the first I like because it was a concept that my younger son thought up and the second because I tried a new technique for carving the beard.

Tonight I will stop carving and focus on painting a few that are ready so that I can get them to be dipped in a sealant. I like to dip multiple carvings in one session whenever possible. Since I only have two painted at this point, I need to get the brushes out and get busy. I have to say even when using simple color and leaving a greater portion of the carving ah la naturale' the color has great impact on the carvings. I will mostly paint the beards and add color to the cap for the majority of my carvings. One or two I may add a hint of color to the cheeks.

I know a lot of the old school carvers use the linseed oil and then a wax treatment but with linseed being combustible and me working out of our one car garage attached to our house I don't utilize this technique at this time. I will look through my carving magazines to find the treatment that I currently use, for a carver on a budget this for now works just fine and gives the protection to the carvings which is the main purpose.

I get what I need

I listened to this album yesterday, beautiful songs from a powerful voice. It made me want to share this today. 

Sometimes, many times we forget these simply truths. If we can remember this we may remember to look at others and stop staring in the mirror at ourselves. I guarantee today someone is going through much more than I and they are much more in need of prayer. Will I be the one to go to God on their behalf? 

Sung by Collin Raye on his album "His Love Remains"

I knew all the answers 
The way my life should go 
And when I used to say my prayers 
I would tell God so 
It seemed He wasn't listening 
I thought He didn't care 
But lookin' back 
It's plain to see 
He was always there 

'Cause I prayed for strength 
And I got pain that made me strong 
I prayed for courage 
And got fear to overcome 
When I prayed for faith 
My empty heart brought me to my knees 
I don't always get what I want 
I get what I need 

I'm not sayin' that it's easy 
Or that it doesn't hurt 
When nothing seems to go my way 
Nothing seems to work 
These days I'm getting better 
At goin' with the flow 
Accepting that sometimes the answer 
To a prayer is no 

'Cause I prayed for strength 
And I got pain that made me strong 
I prayed for courage 
And got fear to overcome 
When I prayed for faith 
My empty heart brought me to my knees 
I don't always get what I want 
I get what I need 

Every time I've had a door slammed in my face 
In time a better one was opened in it's place 

I prayed for strength 
And I got pain that made me strong 
I prayed for courage 
And got fear to overcome 
When I prayed for faith 
My empty heart brought me to my knees 
I don't always get what I want 
I get what I need 

Oh I don't always get what I want 
I get what I need

more carving doodles

I doodled a little more last night, carving doodle that is. I decided to use one of them to work on an idea for a larger elf ornament and am happy with the concept. While I was shaping the tassel on the cap I thought about how it could be a flame and of course what would the flame be attached to, a candle. In the picture it should be easy to see how the cap becomes a lit candle, this one even has some wax melting down. I will have the elf either looking at the flame on the candle or might have him glancing at the wax as it slowly melts and heads towards him. Of course the one to the far right was done a few nights before and the one in the middle was done last night after the candle cap was completed, say that three times really fast.

Now carving doodles are not only a way to clear my mind but can also be a way to work out a design idea if I am not in the mood to get out paper and pencil.

Carpe diem carving

carving doodles

Last night I decided just to doodle and just relax in the moment. So I opened the lower drawer where I keep a few pieces of scrap wood, got out the tools and started to doodle. The first one was obvious and made since with the shape of the wood. The second not as much, I started by shaping the wood some what and then started with a basic nose, nothing fancy, and built the rest from there. The nice thing about this is there is no pressure because this is scrap, this is left over from a rough-out and many people just throw these pieces away. I think I like the hair the most on this one and will remember how it was carved out for future projects, that's the nice thing about carving doodles. You try new technique and if it doesn't work no loss, no fowl. Visit the woodbeecarver's
site to learn from the true master of carving doodles and until then take a look at these.

Carpe diem carving 

three more carvings

I have been busy these last few days trying to get caught up on my carving. I will be setting up at a local church bizarre so am trying to get some carvings ready. Since my last post I have carved three more elves and soon will focus on carving a few Santa's to go with these. The thing I like most is the range I am getting with the caricature of all the ornaments. Even though they are similar (carved from the same rough-out) I like the wide range of expressions and features on each, hopefully so will the people at the bizarre. The carving in the lower row at the far left was an idea that my youngest thought would be funny. He has helped in the past with ideas, my favorite of which was, jack-o-Dan, the Halloween snowman. I have to say was a funny idea that came out really nice, thanks son.

Carpe diem carving

A view from the window sill

One spring day a plant began to grow in the flower bed.  It began small, almost unnoticeable to the farmer who worked the land. He normally grew plants to feed his family and his livestock but this plant had a look that made him smile so the young plant would grow in the soil, just because. The seasons came and went, spring then summer. By now the plant had grown and become quite beautiful among the other plants. It seemed to highlight the green on the leaves of the other plant due to its own unique but pleasing color. But one day a storm came along from the west and the winds were beating against the garden causing the plants stem to break and fall to the ground. The farmer knew God had a design in all things that grow up from the soil and so he took the broken branch and placed it in a small glass. He filled the glass up halfway, having the water surrounding the stem.

Weekly the farmer, busy with tending his crops would empty the small glass and then refill it with fresh water. Within weeks of this process the farmer saw the plan unfolding before his very eyes. Not just in the fields but in the small little glass on the window sill. What was before just a broken stem sitting in water had become a glass filled with roots shooting out from the once lonely stem. As these little roots began to grow and twist under the water, above there was new life on the stem itself. New leaves were forming and reaching out towards the sun. Fresh new color was emerging from this once sad stem that lay in the mud after the storm had passed so many weeks back.

The farmer kept the plant on the window sill all throughout the fall and the winter months as well waiting for spring to return. As spring slowly arrived and as the last frost of the season had been removed by the sun the farmer placed the stem, now full of roots and new leaves, into a pot on the porch with fresh soil holding it in place. He continued to work the land as he had done all his life but this spring would be different. As he did all fall and winter he continued to care for this once lonely stem that had fallen so many seasons back. By summer there was no longer a lonely stem but a full, beautiful plant that was now overflowing with life and color. The farmer sat on his porch as he had done every summer before, reading and enjoying the sunset as it highlighted the growing crops in the field. He thanked God for the gift and lesson of the little stem found in the mud. This plant was God’s reminder to the farmer that in this life even though we all stumble and fall, through His hand we can be made whole again. He opened His book once again and read; 

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 

another carving done

Well I have completed another carving and this one is fun. I am slowly seeing my cartoonist side coming out in my carvings but still keeping refined and more detailed features. I don't remember if I posted anything on this but last year I bought some Drake carving tools and I have to say they were worth it. Great tool, arrive sharpened and ready to go and a decent price to boot. One of my favorite tools out of the bunch and there are a few, is the one I am going to a lot, my #3 3/8 gouge. I have experimented with where and how to use this one and I have to say it works out well in many areas. I never would have used it in the manor that I do if I hadn't have come across Ian Norbury's website. He is an amazing master wood-sculptor opposed to a caricature carver but carving is carving and a lot of his technique translates over. After all I am trying to mold myself into the carver I one day hope to be so to do this I must be open to any technique or style that will help me hone my own technique and style. I have learned from some of the best and made some great friends along the way, and the journey is far from over.

So this guy I have finished I think has a fun look about him and have to say I am happy with the results, there are always things I would do different but I think for me this will always be the case.

Carpe diem carving  

All four

Thought I would share another picture of all the carvings including the newest one to give everyone an idea of size comparison. This is a example of how you can work from a rough-out pattern and make minor modifications to the pattern to get a different look for each carving. All four carvings are from the same pattern with minor adjustments, which translates to the length of the cap. Then it becomes the carvers responsibility to carve the character hiding in the wood. On a side note one of the carvings I had made a mistake and removed everything I had carved thus far and started over. Any guess on which one it was?

Carpe diem carving