Wood Ghost?

[admin]

I came upon a small pile of wood (I think it's pine, very soft, easy to work with). The pieces I've got in mind for this are 1" wide, roughly 3" long, and 1/2" thick. Several of 'em.

So I'm thinking of doing some wood ghosts (don't know if the better term is ghost or spirit). I've got my carving tools inside and have already started working in a rough shape going.

I'm really not working from any pattern, just leaving the wood to give me an idea of what it's wantin' to give me.

Any tips for me?

[Beamer]

Don't shoot yer eye out!





(i'm helpful, sometimes. Just not this time)

[Stretch]

That pine will tell you real quick if you carve it in the wrong direction. If you do it in a critical area and need a fix, CA glue is your friend. ;D For stuff like this, I always try to work from only a very general pattern. This allows minor differences to develop and make each piece more unique and more "organic". People tend to like that in my experience.

[admin]

Well gents, I've discovered a few things in the past 6 or so hours. 1 is that I need a drastically better method of taking photos aside from this stupid phone. 2 is that I'm pretty doggone proficient at bleeding. 3 is that I like carving, but I'll be needing much bigger pieces to work with. 1x3x1/2 just aint much room to work in fine details.



That's him. He looks better in person. I took maybe 20 different pics and I still can't get any details to show. The relief is pretty shallow, at the top of the forehead and at the mouth the depth off the surface is maybe 3/16" deep. I'll be doing a few more of these. I'd say the best thing I like about it, a small mistake can be fixed, a large mistake can be worked around. It's not nearly as exacting, it flows a little better.

TJ.

[imahic]

Looks pretty good for your first try, TJ. If you are going to do much carving I would strongly urge you to get hold of a carving glove. It doesn't stop punctures but will help with slicing cuts. Also helps to always cut away from body parts. I can speak from experience and have a few pieces I have carved that have a mysterious red stain on them....lol

[lexrex]

I like it! I assume ghost refers to just a smaller form of a spirit?

[admin]

Might well be, I'm not sure of the terminology.