[Woodcarver] (no subject)

[Joe Dillett]

Hi Mary jo tiger,

Bill Judt gave you a very good answer. Essentially you need to study each
tree individually. Within a given species of trees each tree has a unique
shape and texture. It is helpful to build a vocabulary of carving techniques
as standards that are representative of the different species of trees so
you can look as a tree and modify the standard to fit that individual tree.

Bill says not to carve the leaves individually and I also prefer not to
carve the individual leaves unless the tree is so close in the picture that
each leaf becomes an important part of the foreground. However some carvers
like Ivan do a very effective representation of each leaf layering the
actual leaves to show the contour of the tree. His technique is very
dynamic. J.R. Cadawas is another carver that represents individual leaves
very effectively. Whether leaves are carved individually or not is just a
matter of style.

My mindset to texturing a tree, after I established the silhouette and
contour as Bill described, is to imagine that tree at its real distance from
your eye and imagine your fingers feeling the texture. My carved texture
needs to feel the same as I imagine what tree would feel at that distance.
The further the tree is from the eye the smoother the textures will look and
feel. As I feel the carved texture I imagine my fingers tracing the actual
tree at that distance and ask myself if that is how that tree would feel. I
reproduce this same feel and look for other textures such as shingles on a
roof, grass, bushes, etc.. I produce these textures with my V-tools and
gouges, using a combination of tools, by skimming the surface, and rocking
the tool side to side much like a painter uses a combination of brush
techniques.

That is the unique characteristic of woodcarving over painting, we can
actually feel the texture and shape. Also the light actually plays off the
different facets of the textured surfaces the same is the real object. For
me that is the true magic of woodcarving.


Joe Dillett
The Carving Shop
645 E. LaSalle St. Suite 3
Somonauk, IL. 60552
(815) 498-9290 phone
(815) 498-9249 fax
http://www.thecarvingshop.com
jdillett at thecarvingshop.com
http://www.carvingmagazine.com Carving Magazine web site and Readers Forum
http://community.webshots.com/user/joe_dillett
**************************************************


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "mary jo tiger" <joanna45 at hotmail.com>
To: <woodcarver at six.pairlist.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2004 8:31 AM
Subject: [Woodcarver] (no subject)


> To make a DONATION to the Mailing List using PayPal OR regular mail, click
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> Hi everyone,I'm just starting out on relief carving and I"m having
problems
> making my grass and leaves on my trees look real.I have Lora Irish,Bill
Judt
> and Georg Keilhofer books in my library but I think I need some hints.I'll
> take any advice that would help me break thru the
> block.mjb--joanna45 at hotmail.com
>
>
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