What’s up Mirai fam!
I need help with carving please. I get that we start with the mechanical, bulk removal of wood. And that we are trying to create shadow play with foreground and background. But,
I have a hard time putting this knowledge into action. I also have a hard time on smaller material, transitioning from power tools (dremel) to hand tools to get rid of tool marks. I feel like when I use both power and hand tools, you still can see tool marks and/or it still feels man made. Any suggestions, tips/tricks, or conceptual explanations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!
I think you are actually on the right track, first working of dead wood isnt going to leave anyone satisfied, like the tree it needs time to age and evolve. I regularly have the same thoughts and feelings you expressed, I am by no means an expert at carving but from watching those who are it is a “process”. Over all I think you did a decent job, turning knowledge into skill is where the magic happens and you seem to be tracking well. stay the course. The one thing I did notice is the taller piece of deadwood could be pulled down further an incorporated into the living trunk to ease the abrupt stop
1 Like
Thank you so much for the reply, my friend! I really appreciate it. After I posted this I watched the video of Will Baddely carving Ryan’s Taxus and that led me to ordering some different tips for my Dremel, and that helped a LOT. Thank you again for the help and support!! I still have some work to do on other areas, including making the transitions from deadwood to live bark look more natural, as you had mentioned. Here are some updated photos. Now, just as you suggested, I leave it in time’s hands!
1 Like
dude I think you did a bang up job. Mind sharing what bits you liked and for what or why?
1 Like
Of course! Also bought some wood blocks just to maybe get into some wood carving, but also came in handy to test the different bits out and see what kind of patterns, etc that they make
1 Like
That one the arrow is pointing to is the “flying saucer” one which I loved, but there were these other 2 in the set that are kind of cup shaped (like a martini glass) and one had a flat top and one had a concave top - those were good too! But I think ended using the flying saucer the most. They’re good because you can use very little pressure and at sharp and shallow grooves and then apply pressure and get deeper fissures. And then apply different amounts of pressure randomly at different points along the grain and get a nice textured look. But getting those wood blocks to practice on and see what the different tips would do was also helpful
1 Like
