Woodcarving Illustrated

Barking Up the Right Tree After making my fourth cottonwood bark house, I decided to enter it into the spring 2019 Capital Woodcarvers Association Show in Sacramento, Calif. It won first place in its category and was chosen as Best of Show! Ron Kremerr Sacramento, Calif. Why So Serious? I was happy to see David Young’s “Tiny Carved Gnomes” in the summer issue (#99), as he is one of the first carvers I found on Instagram when I started a few months ago. I thought the color scheme I chose looked like The Joker from the DC Comics, so I heavily drybrushed the beard with white and added a smile. Brian Doty Merced, Calif. This Calls For Balloons I have always admired Miroslaw Czeladka’s work and decided to carve his “Gnome with Balloons” from issue #98. Thanks…

Carol MacNeil Uxbridge, Ontario While many carvers manipulate a block of raw material to create their desired subject, Carol MacNeil lets the wood do the talking. “I become incredibly focused on the natural elements of the wood—the shape, grain, colors, and texture—and the world slips away,” she said. Since she lives near a lake, she often hunts for driftwood to turn into animal carvings and jewelry. To see more of Carol’s work, visit shamhailartistry.com. Vicky Cyr Edmundston, New Brunswick Vicky Cyr’s carved screen doors began with a moose door she made for a family friend who enjoyed hunting. After completing that first door, Vicky decided to start carving screen doors based on what people enjoy most, ranging from nature scenes to beloved pets. “I always follow my gut when designing a door, and…

Carvin’ the Rockies CCA holds new caricature carving event in Colorado On the weekend of September 24, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colo., the Caricature Carvers of America (CCA) kicked off their new carving event, Carvin’ the Rockies, with a special announcement from the CCA president Jim Hiser. While dressed in a top hat and sash, Jim officially declared the first day of the event “National Caricature Carving Day.” The new all-caricature carving event offered carvers the chance to connect, share information, and join in some ol’ fashioned competition. After years of hosting in Converse, Ind., CCA relocated their annual National Caricature Carving Competition to Colorado and opened it up to the public. The competition concluded with over 150 entries in 14 categories, ranging from relief carving to Christmas ornaments, with Dave Dion winning…

While living in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2019, I started carving my first little character—a pink elephant sitting on a cloud. In a matter of weeks, I’d transformed a piece of pine wood into an adorable animal. Even though I ended up with a minor injury or two, I was hooked on my new hobby. Since I enjoyed carving my first piece so much, I decided to make woodcarving my part-time job. After my first few carvings, I overworked myself and developed pain in my hand. So, I made a daily work schedule, carving just a few hours throughout the day to make sure my hand could rest. By the time I moved to Texas in 2020, carving was my full-time job, and I was sharing and selling my work on…

Woodcarving can be a fun way to spend an afternoon, but it is important to keep some general tips in mind before, during, and after a session. Follow these tips to keep your carving experience enjoyable, successful, and above all, safe. General Carving Tips 1. Never use a knife or tool to pry out a chip. Many a good tool has been damaged beyond repair this way. 2. In general, start a feature (like the nose) larger than you would like the finished version to be. It will give you more leeway to make changes. 3. When drawing pencil lines, use a harder pencil, such as a 2H, because it is much less likely to smear on your carving or carving glove like a softer #2 pencil would. 4. If you have a piece of…

Hook Strop & Hook Hone MSRP $24.95 (Hook Strop), $28.95 (Hook Hone) Flexcut.com Sharpening a curved cutting edge against a flat stone can be a laborious, frustrating process. Not so for Flexcut’s new sharpening duo: a hook strop and hook hone with rounded surfaces and ergonomic, non-slip handles. The Hook Strop comes with a block of compound, which you can apply to the raw leather surface prior to a quick hook knife tune-up. If a more heavy-duty sharpening session is needed (i.e. in the case of nicks or obvious scratches), preface your stropping with the Hook Hone; it comes with two grades of emery cloth, which a beginner can easily secure to the surface with the included dowel and O-rings. Lora S. Irish, author of The Art of Spoon Carving and Sharpening Carving Tools for…