What should I carve as a beginner?

As a beginner, what carving project should I start with?-Initial Carve Tasks for Beginners

Join School of Wood Carving


 

What carving is best for a beginner?

Getting started in wood carving is not that difficult. 

Every summer, I lived with my grandparents in a small village by the Volga river in Russia. I remember when I was six. I sneaked into my grandfather's workshop and found a woodworking chisel. I didn't know what the tool was, but I knew it had a sharp edge and I could probably cut something with it. To make a long story short, it was the start of my journey in carving. I didn't carve wood that day, though. I found a white brick and started to “chisel away”. I didn't know what I was carving. I just enjoyed it. By the end of the day, I saw a human face in that brick. I don't really remember what I felt, joy or frustration, but I know now it was the starting point of my lifelong journey as a carver.

Afterward, I worked with wood and enjoyed it more than brick. I decided. I'll carve wood, not brick anymore!

I didn't know anything about different kinds of wood or wood carving. How do chip carving and relief carving differ? I found all those fancy terms very confusing. I had no knowledge of the basic principles of wood carving.

I was really lucky with both sides of my family. My grandpa had a little shop and a few workbenches, and I could hang out with him and see how he did things. To him, his shop was a “hiding spot” from his wife, my grandma. But of course, she knew where to find him.On my dad's side, there's a long history of talented woodworkers and furniture makers. One of my great-grandfathers made furniture for a royal house in Saint Petersburg, Russia.My Grandmother told me stories of her childhood in her father's woodworking shop.

She remembered the tunes her dad sang. He sang songs while working with wood.I got my first chisel from my grandfather, and my first whittling knife from my grandmother. It wasn't really a whittling knife; it was a pocket knife from the USSR. Pocket knives work well for basic carving. Those two tools were my carving tools. I didn't have a gouge or any power tools. Not even a proper chip carving knife. A simple pocket knife is enough to make something beautiful.

At that time, I didn't know woodcarving would play such a crucial role in my life. Now, I create pieces for collectors globally and private residences. I didn't think woodcarving could be so gratifying.

As a beginner, what carving project should I start with?

What should I carve if I'm just starting out?

Consider what you prefer: a spoon or relief carvings. A lot of beginners don't grasp the big difference between carving a wooden spoon and carving a 3-dimensional sculpture with a gouge and a mallet. This is also called carving in the round.

Nature itself acts through the constant balance of opposites—earth and fire, sun and moon, male and female, dark and light. 

(Based on Robert Greene, Mastery)

 

Join School of Wood Carving

What should I do for my first carving project?

Ponder another vital question. What carving style do I enjoy? But this is not the only question you have to ask yourself. Another question to think about is: what tools do you own? Do you possess basic wood carving tools or just a knife? Some folks only have a chainsaw :). You can carve with a chainsaw, but not a spoon.

My recommendation is to try various styles. Remember, what hand tools do you have? If you have only a chip carving knife you can't do “spoon carving”, but it does not mean you can't do something else.

 

Dopamine works like transmission fluid: if there’s not enough, as is the case in people with ADHD, attention can’t easily be shifted or can only be shifted all the way into high gear.

(John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman, Spark)

Dopamine in woodcarving is like oil for your carving tools: without enough, just like those with ADHD, your focus can either get stuck or suddenly become intensely sharp.

WOODCARVING – As a beginner, what carving project should I start with?-Initial Carve Tasks for Beginners

Here is a List of some ideas:

• Crafting wooden spoons
• Old European Knife Carving
• Relief Carving
• Carving in the round
• Bird and Fish Carving

Join School of Wood Carving