Wood Carving: Figures for Beginners

Wooden figurines are a great decoration for home, desktop, garden. Both adults and children like them. Such works of art attract with their connection with nature. The interior will look great figures of cats, owls, bears, turtles or other animals. And for the garden, carved figures of gnomes or birds are best suited.

For the manufacture of wood carvings, a specific type of wood should be chosen.

• Easiest to cut from limes, the structure of which lacks a pronounced pattern. This allows you to easily apply the image to the workpiece. In addition, cracks practically do not appear on the material.
• Similar characteristics are observed in alders. It is also easy to work with.
• Aspen wood is the best material for making large sculptures, as it is easy to chip. It is worth noting that if the aspen is not varnished, then after a while it becomes silver. The soft structure does not cause difficulties in work.
• With solid birch It’s not so easy to work, but excellent small details are obtained from it. Also, its wood is valued for its special relief.
• Of walnut material, you can create interesting compositions in which there are a lot of fine carvings. In addition, the nut is easy to process, since it does not form chips. Such wood is perfect for various decorative details.
• Of oak Large sculptures are often made. It is difficult to work with this tree because of its susceptibility to chips and its hardness.

It should be noted that any wood for carving must be thoroughly dried. Otherwise, cracks may appear on the finished product. It is necessary to dry the tree in a warm place, having previously wrapped it in polyethylene.

Masters with experience work equally well with any wood. but for beginners it is better to choose soft wood species. As a rule, these include linden, poplar, chestnut, cedar, aspen and alder.

You can find the right material for carving while walking in the park, forest or garden. For example, you can create great figures from stumps, roots, snags. Many consider this rubbish, but in fact, applying imagination from everything you can do something beautiful and original. Also suitable material for wooden sculptures can be ordered in professional workshops.

Before you start working with wood, you should select for this a separate room or at least an angle. After all, quite a lot of garbage will appear during the thread.

You will also need to add individual parts somewhere.

Carving wooden sculptures is impossible without special tools. Among them, there are basic ones that are simply necessary to work with wood. It is worth noting that they are suitable for simple work, as well as quite complex and subtle.

1. Cutter knife It is a knife with a shortened and beveled blade. With its help, both small and large parts are processed.
2. Cant called a knife with a shortened blade. It is used to carve an ornament.
3. Chisels used to form recesses on the product. This distinguishes between flat, curved and semicircular types of chisels.
4. Lance Chisels called rivets. As a rule, they are used in order to create various small elements.

When the initial woodworking skills are already acquired, you can acquire other tools.

1. Drill allows you to quickly and accurately create through holes.
2. Polishing machine makes the surface of the product perfectly smooth and beautiful.
3. To create blanks can not do without saws. Moreover, it is best to have at hand several different types.
4. Processing the finished product is not possible without rasps and sandpaper.

Besides good tools, it’s also important the right stuff. For example, for small figures it is worth choosing compact logs or knots in general. Large sculptures are best cut from massive logs. It is advisable that the workpieces do not have any damage and chips.

Experienced experts recommend that beginners use rectangular bars. This is due to the fact that they are easy to transfer images.

Great if the desktop will be equipped a mechanism by which fastened wood can be fastened quickly. They can be clamps, joiner's vice or persistent blocks which can be rearranged.

Also, when working with wood, you may need Planer, grinder, jigsaw. However, before using more complex tools, you should work on wood as much as possible with a knife. This is done in order to feel his hands as best as possible.

Before proceeding with carving from a tree, one should clearly understand what stages the process consists of. If everything is done sequentially and correctly, then the result will definitely please.

The first thing you need to start making wood sculptures is to the smallest detail to imagine what will happen in the end. Of course, a master with a long experience of work, looking at a piece of wood, immediately imagines in his head what will come of it, and even without any preparatory steps can begin to work.

When the sketch is ready, it should be transferred to the workpiece. After that, all the details must be carefully drawn on the tree. It is desirable that the drawing was slightly smaller than the blank itself. You should not rush to trim the excess parts, since the product will still need to be conveniently fixed on a workbench.

Before carving the sculpture, the material must still be prepared.

• it is necessary to saw off the workpiece in size;
• cleaning of bark and cleaning of all irregularities is carried out.

When the drawing is transferred to the tree, it is best immediately mark the main lineswhich will be used for initial cutting.

Then you need to cut out all the excess, that is, carry out rough processing.

As a result, the master receives the finished form, which needs a figured, that is, detailed, study. This stage does not require haste. You should not immediately remove all possible excesses, it is better to use embossed processing. It is important to understand that the draft stage is only the beginning of work on the figure.

After receiving the finished form, you should again take up the sketch and pencil. Now on the prepared workpiece, it is necessary to apply a drawing with all the details. For this stage, it is important that all tools are well sharpened.

If after that the desired figure has already turned out, this does not mean that it is completely ready. After all, irregularities remained on it, and the surface has roughnesses that must be treated with sandpaper.

Also cracks may appear which should be treated with putty. You can cook it yourself by mixing small sawdust and PVA glue. Before applying putty, the cracks must be treated with linseed oil and left to dry for 7 hours. After that, they can be glossed over and left for 24-48 hours. If there is a blowtorch, then the product can be burned with it to obtain a warm shade that is as close to natural as possible.

Special varnish application will give the wooden figurine a beautiful shine and preserve its beauty for many years.

Learning to cut from wood is best done on the simplest figures. It is worth stocking up with patience and understanding that mastery is achieved over time. Moving gradually from simple to complex, it will be possible to develop the necessary skills and learn how to create real masterpieces.

Animal figures most often beginners do. Often the inspiration for starting work with the tree are cute owls or a majestic lion. Quite often, the first to be cut with their own hands can be a clumsy bear. This character is one of the most popular among wood craftsmen. A fairy bear can be a great decoration for your home.

It’s worth noting that bear figurines are a little easier to make, because they can be large. This is very convenient when at first it’s still difficult to work out small parts. Experienced craftsmen also recommend practicing carving. hares. Since the product will need the simplest carving algorithm and you can learn the technique of texturing wool. The last trick is very often needed when cutting animals.

Wooden figures are easy to create yourself, especially if you do it step by step. Moreover, you can first make a sculpture of the animal according to the simplest scheme. And then choose the same character, only in a more complex version.

Among wood masters, a cat, a tiger, a turtle, a fox, a raccoon, a squirrel and many others are also very popular. Before starting work, it is advisable to follow the behavior of the selected animal in order to better understand its plasticity and highlight some features. To do this, you can watch documentaries, which are many on specialized channels.

Among birds, the most popular as wooden figures were owls, eagles, ducks. They are perfect as a decoration for your home. They can also be safely made part of the furniture.

Images of people are also often used for wooden figures. It is best for novice masters to opt for fairy-tale characters, for example, Pinocchio, Ivan Tsarevich and others. Funny gnomes are perfect as a decoration for a personal plot, and for the New Year holidays - the figure of Santa Claus or the Snow Maiden.

There are a huge number of beautiful carved wood sculptures. A special place among them is occupied by Japanese wooden figurines, which are called netsuke. They are interesting small sculptures, which are often used as talismans. Among the figures you can find the image of various deities, animals, people in a caricature style. The original appearance of such products made them very popular far beyond the east.

The art of working with wood is also famous for Chinese masters. Their sculptures amaze with the finest detail and elaborate plots. Moreover, most products are created in dynamics and very realistic. It seems that the lacquered figure of the dragon is now flapping its tail or wings, and the girl will spin in an incredible dance.

How to cut a mushroom figurine with your own hands from a tree, see the next video.