September 23, 2018 by carverdale

Carving from a pattern

In March of 2015, ten students collaborated with Chris Hammack (CCA) to develop their own pattern for a figure to be carved from a 4X4X8 inch piece of basswood. Everyone had a very unique project. I was not one of those students but I was really attracted to the project developed by Chris and Willie Thornton. I asked Willie if I could make a copy of his pattern and brought it home to work on it. I refined it a little but kept the same concept. It was a challenge but I enjoyed working on it. Here are pictures of the progress.

This project has been recognized by the CCA with a Merit Award during the March 2017 Roundup Class. This award also encourages the recipient to enter the project in the annual CCA competition in August. Here’s the Merit Award and ribbon.

Here is the third place ribbon from the CCA Competition. The category was “Group Mixed” because of the ladybug and baby.

September 22, 2018 by carverdale

CCA Class 2018

On August 24th, 25th and 26th of 2018 I attended my 10th Caricature Carvers of America class in Converse, Indiana. This annual event is hosted by the local club, the Eastern Woodlands Carving Club and is held in the building owned by the club. The students are divided into three groups of 13. Each group spends one day with each of the three instructors. The venue is ideal for the event and lunch is provided by the EWCC members. This year’s instructors were Dennis Thornton, Ron Dowdy and Jim Hiser, all CCA members of course. All of the projects were from basswood roughouts designed by the instructor. I was able to complete my projects and paint them after returning home.

This is Jim Hiser’s Santa.

This is Ron Dowdy’s Firefighter.

Here is Dennis Thornton’s Traveling Turtle.

December 7, 2016 by carverdale

Painting Tip

Several people have offered painting tips on Facebook so I thought I would expand the tip about a holding device. A handle can be used to hold a small carving while carving and/or painting. Some have suggested carving a handle-shaped stick or some other form for ease in holding a carving. I found some cheap tool handles that were probably meant for files or replacement screwdriver handles. Flea markets and yard sales are good for these items. I cut the heads from drywall screws and other assorted self drilling screws. I made sure each one would fit in the pre-drilled handle hole and used epoxy glue to set a screw in each handle. If the hole is larger than needed, you will have to support the screw so it remains in line with the handle until the glue sets up. That’s not a big deal but it will be a better experience using the handle if you can easily screw it into the carving.

Using different sized screws is not necessary but can be helpful if you have a small base on your carving and a large screw will cause the wood to split.

I happened to have a big chunk of pine, 3.5″ X 3.5″ X 21″ (90mm X 90mm X 533mm), that had seven holes conveniently drilled so I could use my handles. Each hole also had a pilot-hole in the bottom. This allows me to invert the handles for storage when they’re not in use.

I took a class with CCA member Tom Wolfe where painting was part of the instruction. Tom used the same concept but instead of a heavy chunk of pine, he had a short log with angled chainsaw cuts to form a rough dome shaped top so it looked like a stump. That allowed holes to be drilled at angles around the top. I don’t remember how many holes were in his base. If I have carvings that cause my base to tip, I add a clamp at the bottom to increase the size of it’s footprint.

By the way, the carvings pictured were inspired by an article by Dave Stetson (CCA) in the Winter issue 2016 of Woodcarving Illustrated Magazine.

August 17, 2016 by carverdale

Knives designed by Mertz

Don Mertz, a member of the Caricature Carvers of America, has a history of collaboration with the Helvie Knife company. Over the years they have produced a successful line of custom knives that suit Don’s whittlecarving style. Don’s work can be viewed at WoodBeeCarver.com. I own several of those knives but since the blade style was different from the one I use, I’ve delayed giving his a try. The other day I decided to see what I could or could not do. The pictures show the project I chose and the knives I used. They are in Don’s Signature series as numbers 2, 4 and 6. There are many more knife choices on the Helvie site. I did not succumb to the urge to grab my usual knife and a gouge or two because this was a whittlecarving challenge.

I thought a reasonable challenge would be a project offered by Dave Stetson, also a CCA member. It was in the Summer issue 2015 of Woodcarving Illustrated magazine. Dave’s advice is to make no cuts that would leave flat surfaces or sharp shadows. In other words, a soft smooth appearance. I, like Dave, would normally use gouges to achieve that look. My results were not exactly like Dave’s, but then I have trouble matching his results using the tools he recommends. I’m still reasonably happy with my result. I’m not ready to toss my straight edge knives but I know I have more options if the circumstances need the Mertz touch.

I used a block of Basswood one and a half inches square (38mm) by 3 inches long (76mm). I used Howard’s Feed n’ Wax as a finish on the raw wood.

April 16, 2016 by carverdale

2016 Class, Lebanon, TN

These are pictures of my class projects from the Woodcarvers Roundup held in Lebanon, Tennessee, March 2016. Each of the five week-days was a different project with a new instructor. The projects were all done from basswood (linden) rough-outs. The instructors provided an assortment of their own designs so we could choose a project that suited our carving experience level. There were 60 students with 12 in each class. The instructor’s names are shown in the caption.

Sitting Santa by Gary Falin

Sitting Santa by Gary Falin (CCA).

Mitch Cartledge’s Witch

Witch by Mitch Cartledge (CCA).

Old Ernel by Chris Hammack

Old Ernel by Chris Hammack (CCA).

Smiley by Rich Wetherbee (CCA).

Sleeping Santa by PJ Driscoll (CCA).

April 17, 2015 by carverdale

2015 Class, Lebanon, TN

In March of 2015 I attended a five day class in Lebanon, Tennessee. The event is called the Renegade Woodcarvers Roundup. For the first time in the Roundup’s history, the week of carving classes was followed by two classes on the weekend. One class was a design and woodcarving class. I took the other class on polymer clay sculpting. The expectation for my class was to learn to develop ideas in clay that could become a model for a woodcarving. We used a product called Super Sculpey. Our instructor, Rich Wetherbee (CCA), provided everything we needed. We began Friday evening with a introduction to the basics. We learned about making wire armatures to support areas of the sculpture that would succumb to gravity. Also, we worked the clay with our hands and metal sculpting tools. We got down to business Saturday morning. All ten students completed at least one project. The completed projects were baked in a kitchen oven which permanently hardened the clay. Here are some pictures of my completed project. I wasn’t thinking about a project to carve but just having fun with the clay. I don’t know if I’ll do it in wood.