How to start wood carving

Determine for yourself how important it is for you exercise this kind of creativity. If carving is for you – the urge of the moment, when the first unsuccessful attempts to create a work of art you can lose interest in the case. To achieve outstanding success, you need to make this craft a priority among other life values.

Stock up on books covering the technology and the secrets of woodcarving. Currently, there are a number of manuals, useful both for beginning carvers and experienced craftsmen. From the literature you can learn about proper tool selection, wood production technique.

Prepare tools for working with wood. To start, you need a well-sharpened pocket knife and a knife-jamb. In the future will need a set of cutters and chisels of various profiles and sizes. Owning minimal plumbing skills to produce a tool you can own in the home workshop.

Select the location where you will be able to engage with the artwork, without disturbing their home and not spreading the garbage around the apartment. Perfect if you have a separate working space, but is fine loggia or balcony.

Stock material for carving. A beginning Carver should begin with alder, aspen or lime. These wood fine cut along and across the fibers, forming in the processing of flat and smooth cut. It is desirable to have available a few dozen small-sized workpieces, for which you will be able to try their hand, mastering individual techniques of carving.

Proceed to sequential mastery thread. From a variety of styles for the beginner should choose a triangular-notched technique, also known as geometric carving. It includes two main stages – stabbing and cutting.

To cut a simple triangle, put a dot on the middle of it. Insert in this place the tip of a knife-jamb, positioning the handle vertically. The heel of the knife point to one of the vertices of the triangle and press firmly on the handle. The tip of the tool must enter into the material 2-3 mm.

From the midpoint of the figure, make a prick in the direction of the other two vertices of the triangle, turning with the Board, not the knife. After the stabbing, proceed to the trimming. The knife is hold at an angle of 30-40 degrees to the surface of the workpiece. Slowly move the tip of a knife along the sides of the triangle, gradually deepening it into the wood. For accurate trimming of the Board to separate the piece in the form of a trihedral pyramid. Consistently treat all the elements of a pattern.

As the formation of skills move to more complex forms that use a combination of individual techniques. With enough diligence, you will certainly be able to develop his own unique style of carving that reflects your creative personality.