What are some easy things to carve for a beginner?

What should I try carving as a beginner to get started?-Basic Carvings for First-Time Carvers

Join School of Wood Carving


 

For a beginner, what carving should I try first?

Getting started in wood carving is not that difficult. 

Every summer, I spent time with my grandparents in a small village by the Volga river in Russia. I recall being six years old. I snuck into my grandfather's workshop and saw a woodworking chisel. I didn't know what the tool was, but I saw it had a sharp edge and guessed I could cut something with it. 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 had no clue what I was carving. I just enjoyed the process. By the end of the day, I could see a human face in that brick. I don't remember if I felt joy or frustration, but I know now it was the start of my lifelong journey as a carver.

Later, I tried wood and liked it much more than brick. I made up my mind. I will carve wood instead of brick!

I had no idea about the types of wood or the different styles of wood carving. How chip carving differs from relief carving? I found all those fancy terms very confusing. I wasn't familiar with the basics of wood carving.

I was very blessed with both sides of my family. My grandfather had a small shop and a couple of workbenches, and I could spend time with him and watch how he worked. For him, his shop was a “hiding place” from his wife, my grandmother. But obviously, she knew where to find him.My family on my father's side has a tradition of excellent woodworkers and furniture makers. One of my great-grandfathers worked as a furniture maker for a royal house in Saint Petersburg, Russia.My Grandmother told me stories of her childhood in her father's woodworking shop.

She recalled the songs her father used to sing. He would sing as he worked with wood.So, I got my first chisel from my grandfather, but my first whittling knife from my grandmother. Well, it was not really a whittling knife it was a pocket knife made in the USSR. Pocket knives are good for basic carving. Those two tools were my carving tools. I did not have any gouge or any power tools. Not even a real chip carving knife. A simple pocket knife to create something beautiful is enough.

Back in the day, I didn't know woodcarving would be such a big part of my life. Now, I carve for collectors all over the world and private homes. I never thought woodcarving could be so satisfying.

What should I try carving as a beginner to get started?

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

Decide what you find more interesting: a spoon or relief carvings. Many times, beginners don't understand the big difference between carving a wooden spoon and carving a 3D sculpture with a gouge and a mallet. This is also known as carving in the round.

Nature itself functions by the ongoing interaction of opposites—earth and fire, sun and moon, male and female, dark and light. 

(Based on Robert Greene, Mastery)

 

Join School of Wood Carving

My first carving project: what should I do?

Ask another important question. What style of carving do I like? Though, this isn't the only question to think about. Another question to ask is: what tools are at your disposal? Do you possess basic wood carving tools or just a knife? Some of you might only have a chainsaw :). Chainsaw carving is possible but not spoon carving.

I advise experimenting with various carving styles. So, what hand tools do you possess? With just a chip carving knife, spoon carving isn't possible, but other carvings are.

 

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: if there’s not enough, like those with ADHD, your focus can either get stuck or suddenly become very sharp.

WOODCARVING – What should I try carving as a beginner to get started?-Basic Carvings for First-Time Carvers

Here is a List of some ideas:

• Spoon carving
• Old European Knife Carving
• Relief Carving
• Carving in the round
• Bird and Fish Carving

Join School of Wood Carving