Iris Carving

Ed Nelson

Member
Messages
1,486
Location
Charlotte, NC
Took another shot at carving. Sketched out the Iris and carved in basswood. I definitely need to practice a lot more, but it was a fun project!

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Not bad at all for a second round, if you don't feel like working more on it just keep it in the bottom of drawer and forget about it for about a year while you do other carvings.

Then once the year has passed go and get it, put it side by side with the last one you've made. You'll be amazed to see how much you've improved and most problably you'll want to work a bit more on it, or keep it as record.

The best advice a master carver gave me many years ago was this:

"The art of a good barber is to get sideburns out of a place where there is no hair D.H."

And I must say that once you understand it, things become easier.
 
when i read the title my first thought was geeze that`s gotta be painful....
carving is like any other motor skill the more you do it the happier you are with the results. try and keep cutting chips every week instead of every year and in short order you`ll find yourself actually enjoying it. (this comming from a guy who hasn`t picked up his chisels in 4 years:eek:) the flower and especially the leaves look fine, like toni suggested chuck it in a drawer and do something else.......
 
Hi Ed :wave:,
What is the size on that piece?
Always pleased to see you putting up pics of your work, it is stimulating. Nice bit of work there. Carve on!:thumb: Do another related to this one, same size board, then later on use them as matching door inlays. BUT... You need do the second soon as your style may change and they might not look real similar. Just a thought.:dunno::D

"Oh Yeah, I got thoughts"!:rofl::rofl::rofl:
Shaz :)
 
Nice work Ed. Did you carve the background away by hand or use a router? Took a class a while back and they had us use a sprial bit in the router to carve out the various levels, then hand carve the remainder. Sure did make it move a lot faster.
 
Thanks everyone!

Shaz, I like the idea of matching doors, but this piece is a little small for that. I think I'll make a frame for it and hang it on the wall.

Darren, I hand cut the background away. The basswood is soooo soft, it sliced away with no problem. At several points I thought the wood was too soft. This is the first time I tried with basswood. My other attempts were in mahogany and walnut!
 
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