First Steps Into Wood Carving
Last time, I was writing about the freedom to create something I am discovering lately. Well, I’m happy to say that things went even further this month.
I don’t remember if I had seen a video or something else, but in January I had a sprint and bought two Flexcut carving knives and a set to sharpen them. I almost never touched them since then because I didn’t have the time. More important work had priority, and I almost forgot about them.
Luckily, around the middle of May, I was able to sit down and start to carve. I still have lots of trouble finding a soft wood, since on YouTube everybody suggests basswood… I have two linden trees, but they are huge and this year I didn’t prune any of their branches.
One strong-wind day a quite large hazel tree bough broke, and I had to cut it with the chainsaw. That was a good chance to have fresh wood. Not particularly soft, as I discovered, but better than dry wood.
As a first project, I wanted to make something with no sharp corners. Since my girlfriend’s work is an obvious inspiration to me, I thought about a mushroom. That was honestly easy, and I left the “head” quite unpolished — a week later, I already would have done it differently.
I got excited and wanted to try something more complicated. I thought about a rabbit and started chopping another piece of that hazel wood without thinking too much. The ears were not a big deal, as I first thought, but boy… I underestimated the proportions.
Overall, I’m not happy with the legs and the head, which is too big.
I also discovered a crack in the wood just on the rabbit’s forehead, that makes it look like a pirate with a scar.
I decided to keep it because I’m lazy it’s natural.
It looks more like a Pokémon than a rabbit, but I like its cartoonish style.
As a wood finish, I used a renovation leftover for the mushroom, a honey-colored impregnating primer, and a neutral oil for the rabbit. The oil preserved the color much better, but maybe I should have bought walnut-colored oil for a bit more color.
Anyway, I’m very happy with the results! I had never carved wood before, and I enjoyed playing with these while listening to a couple of audiobooks or just the distant sounds of the countryside. The more time I spend here, the happier I am that I made this choice: we all should run away from the cities as soon as we can.
🎧 A big shoutout for these amazing Italian metal bands
📖 I terminated the audiobook of The Cloven Viscount just while finishing the rabbit. Lovely!
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Last time, I was writing about the freedom to create something I am discovering lately. Well, I’m happy to say that things went even further this month.
I don’t remember if I had seen a video or something else, but in January I had a sprint and bought two Flexcut carving knives and a set to sharpen them. I almost never touched them since then because I didn’t have the time. More important work had priority, and I almost forgot about them.
Luckily, around the middle of May, I was able to sit down and start to carve. I still have lots of trouble finding a soft wood, since on YouTube everybody suggests basswood… I have two linden trees, but they are huge and this year I didn’t prune any of their branches.
One strong-wind day a quite large hazel tree bough broke, and I had to cut it with the chainsaw. That was a good chance to have fresh wood. Not particularly soft, as I discovered, but better than dry wood.
As a first project, I wanted to make something with no sharp corners. Since my girlfriend’s work is an obvious inspiration to me, I thought about a mushroom. That was honestly easy, and I left the “head” quite unpolished — a week later, I already would have done it differently.
I got excited and wanted to try something more complicated. I thought about a rabbit and started chopping another piece of that hazel wood without thinking too much. The ears were not a big deal, as I first thought, but boy… I underestimated the proportions.
Overall, I’m not happy with the legs and the head, which is too big.
I also discovered a crack in the wood just on the rabbit’s forehead, that makes it look like a pirate with a scar.
I decided to keep it because I’m lazy it’s natural.
It looks more like a Pokémon than a rabbit, but I like its cartoonish style.
As a wood finish, I used a renovation leftover for the mushroom, a honey-colored impregnating primer, and a neutral oil for the rabbit. The oil preserved the color much better, but maybe I should have bought walnut-colored oil for a bit more color.
Anyway, I’m very happy with the results! I had never carved wood before, and I enjoyed playing with these while listening to a couple of audiobooks or just the distant sounds of the countryside. The more time I spend here, the happier I am that I made this choice: we all should run away from the cities as soon as we can.
🎧 A big shoutout for these amazing Italian metal bands
📖 I terminated the audiobook of The Cloven Viscount just while finishing the rabbit. Lovely!