What’s a good first carving project for me as an amateur?-Starter Woodcarving Tips

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What’s a good carving project for a beginner?

Wood carving isn’t difficult to get into. 

Every summer, I lived with my grandparents in a small village by the Volga river in Russia. I remember being six years old. I sneaked into my grandfather’s workshop and saw 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. Long story short, it was the start of my journey in carving. I didn’t carve wood that day. I found a white brick and started to chisel away. I didn’t know what I was carving. I just enjoyed it. At 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 beginning 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 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 wasn’t familiar with the basics of wood carving.

I felt 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 she knew where to find him.The other side of my family, my father’s side, is known for their skill in woodworking and furniture making. A great-grandfather of mine was a furniture maker for a royal house in Saint Petersburg, Russia.My Granny shared memories of her childhood in her dad’s woodworking shop.

She remembered the songs of her father. He sang while working with wood.My grandfather gave me my first chisel, and my grandmother gave me my first whittling knife. It was really a pocket knife from the USSR, not a whittling knife. 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.

Back then, I didn’t know woodcarving would be so significant in my life. Today, I carve for collectors around the globe and private homes. I didn’t realize woodcarving could be so rewarding.

What’s a good first carving project for me as an amateur?

What carving project is best for a beginner?

Ask yourself first what is more appealing to you: a spoon or relief carvings. Often, beginners don’t see 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 operates through the steady interplay of opposites—earth and fire, sun and moon, male and female, dark and light. 

(Based on Robert Greene, Mastery)

 

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I’m starting my first carving project. What should I do?

Ask another important question. What style of carving do I like? But this is not the only question you have to ask yourself. Another question is: what tools do you have? Do you have basic carving tools or only a knife? Some might only have a chainsaw :). You can carve with a chainsaw, but not a spoon.

I suggest trying out different carving styles. Once more, what hand tools do you own? 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 operates like transmission fluid: if there’s a shortage, as with ADHD, attention shifting is difficult or jumps right to 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’s a good first carving project for me as an amateur?-Starter Woodcarving Tips

Here is a List of some ideas:

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

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