Carving Tips

1. CARVING TIP 9-03;

TITLE:                    RESEARCH, RESEARCH

SUBMITTED BY: PAT DE ANGELIS

CLUB:                     SOUTH JERSEY WOODCARVERS

 

“HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY CARVING? I DID THIS ONE FROM A PENCIL SKETCH.”

 

YOU NEED A LOT MORE DETAIL THAN SHOWN ON A PATTERN OR A PENCIL SKETCH TO CARVE A QUALITY CARVING. YOUR FINISHED CARVING CAN ONLY BE AS GOOD AS YOU ARE ABLE TO MENTALLY SEE THE SUBJECT YOU ARE CARVING IN THE WOOD. THE MORE THREE DIMENSIONAL DETAILS YOU ARE AWARE OF AND ARE ABLE TO CARVE, THE BETTER YOUR FINAL CARVING WILL BE.

 

WHILE WOODCARVING BOOKS ON YOUR SUBJECT CAN BE HELPFUL, DON’T STOP THERE, THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.  LOOK FOR AS MUCH REFERENCE MATERIAL AS YOU CAN FIND, STUDY MODELS AND CASTS, TAXIDERMY MOUNTS, AND ABOVE ALL STUDY NATURE AND OBSERVE YOUR SURROUNDINGS.

 

LIBRARIES, BOOK STORES AND FLEA MARKETS ARE ALSO A GREAT SOURCE OF NON-CARVING REFERENCE BOOKS, PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART ON ALMOST ANY SUBJECT THAT YOU PLAN TO CARVE.

THE MORE TIME YOU SPEND RESEARCHING YOUR CARVING SUBJECT, THE MORE YOU WILL IMPROVE AS A CARVER.

 

THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS TO QUALITY.

 

2.CARVING TIP 5-04;

TITLE: DURABLE CARVING MATERIAL FOR OUTDOOR USE

SUBMITTED BY: PAT DE ANGELIS

CLUB: SOUTH JERSEY WOODCARVERS

CARVING A WOOD SIGN OR OTHER OUT DOOR CARVING THAT WILL BE EXPOSED TO LONG TERM WEATHER ELEMENTS OF RAIN, SNOW ICE, ETC.?

MANY SOUTH JERSEY WOODCARVERS CLUB MEMBERS HAVE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO CARVE SAMPLE BOARDS OF A STATE OF THE ART HIGH DENSITY URETHANE MATERIAL, PRECISION BOARD WITH GREAT RESULTS.

THIS MATERIAL OFFERS WOODCARVERS SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES OVER WOOD FOR OUTDOOR USE, IT CAN BE ROUTED, SANDBLASTED AND CARVED USING NORMAL WOODCARVING TOOLS.

OUTDOOR SIGNS AND OTHER CARVINGS USING THIS MATERIAL ARE EXTREMELY DURABLE, WILL NOT CRACK, TWIST OR DRY ROT DURING LONG TERM WEATHER EXPOSURE.

IT CAN BE LAMINATED AND ACCEPTS ALL SIGN PAINTS INCLUDING LACQUERS.

GO TO OUR SJWC LINKS PAGE AND CLICK ON THE PRECISION BOARD WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION.