Some time ago I had purchased a chip carving book and two Flex-Cut knives which sat on the shelf for a long time. Easter weekend I decided to give it a go and after a few test runs I carved a small piece that I gave to my Niece for Easter (pictured at the right). Fast-forward a couple weeks and I had discovered a whole world of Character Carving. Since then I’ve carved a few more than 20 characters and really enjoying the learning, creation process and focused attention that it takes.

Sketching in ProCreate

I’ve used ProCreate for a couple years now for drawing, painting and doodling on the iPad, it provides a pretty natural feel and has been useful for rough planning of characters as I’m getting more detailed with the carvings. These sketches help me work out the ratios and overall concept. Once I have them roughed out I redraw the idea on the wood in pencil and start carving. As I carve I’ll often redraw or change the design as it works itself out in my mind and on the wood.

Carvings nearing completion.

Workspace Organization

After carving the first 10 or so characters it became obvious that my workspace was unmanageable. I had been looking at other carver’s spaces in their YouTube videos and Facebook posts and gleaned the best ideas for my desk. My workspace has to be easily transmorgified for whatever I’m doing, so I set about building a small rack for the knives and some storage boxes to keep things tidy.

Meet the Characters!

Each character is named and I’m keeping a list of numbers just for the fun of it. Here’s a front 3/4 shot of most of them so far. More pics can be found here.

So far, that’s a pretty good start! Looking forward to working a bit larger and then possibly some Christmas goodies!

YouTube U

Among every other topic in existence there is a great wealth of info on YouTube about woodcarving. Here’s a few that I’ve followed who have provided great inspiration, teaching and ideas.

Doug Linker - I’ve learned a lot from watching his videos, he has a straightforward teaching style and is enjoyable to watch.

Roger Stegall - A veteran woodcarver with numerous videos.

David Young - Fun gnomes and more.

Carvers Workshop - Fun variety of subjects.

Carving is Fun - Good all-around primers.

And for all-around information and a very interesting presenter the “Swedish Knife Grip Sessions” presented by Morakniv.

There are also some good groups on Facebook dedicated to various styles of character carving. If you’re interested drop me a note and I’ll share my list.