How to carve a bear from a tree?

Creating volumetric wooden sculptures is not easy. Before such work, you need to learn various techniques of woodcarving. Particularly popular are figures depicting a bear. Consider how to cut bear or teddy bear from woodwhat tools are needed for this, in what order is necessary to act.

Bear - a character that is often found in Russian folk tales.

That is why it is so often depicted by woodcarvers.

Any work should always begin with the preparation of the necessary tools. All masters have individual sets, but there are options that can be called universal.

We list it.

• Rasps, emery materials, grinding machine. Will be needed at the end of the creation of wooden products.
• Chisels. We need to work out various details. They serve to select the background, rough notch. Chisels are oblique, flat, curved and so on. They differ from each other by the width of the edge, which can be cut.
• Adze. Used to process small elements of a figure.
• Bogorodsky knife. Its blade is short, straight. You can’t do without this tool when creating wood products.
• Blade Knives. Using such tools, you can successfully solve a variety of small tasks.
• Cutters. The blades of such knives are short and beveled.
• Hatchet, hacksaw. If the size of the sculpture is planned to be large, chainsaws are often used. These devices are necessary to carry out the primary (rough) processing of the figure.
• Drill. This tool is needed in cases where you need to make through holes.

Bear figures should be created from softwood trees.

Among the types of wood that are most suitable for carving are the following.

• Aspen. It will be convenient to cut even a beginner out of it. Such a tree is resistant to light, moisture, cold and even acid. Aspen is very much appreciated by carvers, because it can be cut in any direction. Such wood does not crumple or chip.
• Willow. Pretty elastic and light wood. Such material is very convenient to polish, grind and cut. Willow is good for creating a large volumetric figure of a bear.
• Linden. This material is considered the most suitable for creating wooden figures. It is very convenient to handle. Linden is well cut, does not crack and does not dry out. Such wood is soft and light.

Before work, you need to make sure that all tools are serviceable and well-sharpened. Their pens should be as comfortable as possible. Then you should create a sketch of the future figure on paper. It is advisable to make several projections: side, back, front.

Next, step by step to create a bear figure, you need the following algorithm.

1. Transfer to the sketch sketch. This is easier to do if the bar is rectangular. On such a workpiece, you can apply several projections at once.
2. Creating a stucco figure. This stage is very important, it should not be skipped in any case. Create a bear model from clay or plasticine. It will be necessary to repeat the contour of a volumetric figure on wood.
3. Rough cutting. Any excess left behind the circuit will need to be removed using a saw or a small ax. Teslo will be needed in order to cut down various small elements of the figure.
4. Smooth sharp edges. To do this, use chisels and cutters. After such work, you will already begin to see the silhouette, but it's too early to round the figure.
5. Study of the details. At this stage, the carver is working with wool. To do this, you can use the Bogorodsky knife, a jamb, a chisel.
6. Grinding figures. Use a grinder or sandpaper.

At the end of the bear figure you will need to apply a tool that protects it from negative external influences. You will learn more about such formulations below.

Many masters agree that the hardest thing to create is a bear's paws and head. It is especially difficult to make a head. Recommended first make a stencil for different projections: in profile, front and back. Then you will need choose a bar, which is best for the head, and on it transfer the detail contours without detail.

Chop off the excess pieces of woodbut leave alone the bottom. The base below should not be chopped off because the cutter should be comfortable in holding the workpiece. Work with the bottom will need to be the last.

Apply eyebrows, forehead, nose and ears to the angular head of the bear. Then grind her with the help of jambs, semicircular chisels. In the end work out small details and make your head more rounded using the Mother of God knife.

It will be necessary to process the wooden bear if you intend to place it in an aggressive environment (for example, in the garden). The figure is usually treated with several compounds.

• To protect the tree from fungus and wood parasites, a solution of sodium chloride is used.
• For toning, you should use tea and tobacco infusions.
• Finishing is performed as follows: they take a woolen rag and use it to rub the wax composition dissolved in linseed oil into the surface of the figure.

Some masters mix linseed oil with beeswax. This tool makes the wooden surface more resistant to various atmospheric influences. It will be possible to make the tree more weather-resistant using synthetic means.

The video presented shows how to make a sculpture of a little teddy bear out of wood.