[Woodcarver] How about some basic relief carving techniques?

[Fran Hill]

Thanks so much, Bill.  That was a very helpful explanation.  For one thing,
I think the carving I attempted may have been much too ambitions for a
beginner.  I think I'll start with something that only has about 3 layers.
Your instructions are veryhelpful, and I will certainly look into your
books.  (I had no idea so many of you were authors and teachers as well as
excellent woodcarvers.  But it certainly makes sense.  Thanks for your
response. 

  _____  

From: woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net
[mailto:woodcarver-bounces at six.pairlist.net] On Behalf Of Bill Judt
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 10:42 AM
To: [Woodcarver]
Subject: Re: [Woodcarver] How about some basic relief carving techniques?


Fran: 

For me, relief carving starts with a full sized master pattern - accurately
drawn. Then I make two copies which will be used when transferring the
pattern to the wood in various stages of defining the carving.



I work in layers. Each area of the carving is assigned a layer - that is, a
certain depth in the carving. I separate my layers by 1/8".
If you take a look at some of the carvings on my website, you'll get the
idea. For an example of a pattern:
http://www.wwwoodcarver.com/ChristianCarvings2/JesusKnocking.html

My first book, Relief carving Treasury, contains patterns and photos of
finished carvings, and will help you think in layers.

When the pattern is TRACED onto the relief panel, routering takes place. The
layers are routered to depth, and islands of wood are removed. Routering
begins in the lowest layer and works forward.

The layers then need to be trimmed to their boundary lines, from foreground
to background. As each layer is trimmed, that layer is carefully cut out of
the pattern copy, and the pattern then drops to the next layer down - which
is then traced and trimmed.

Modeling begins at the TOPMOST layer and proceeds towards the background.
Same with the finish tooling. Start at the highest level and carve each
layer in succession. 

Hope this is helpful to you.

Blessings and Peace, 

Bill 

My books are for sale at: http://wwwoodcarver.com/Books/index.html
W.F. Judt,
46 Harvard Cres,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
S7H3R1
PH: 306-373-6649
bjudt at sasktel.net
Website: http://www.wwwoodcarver.com



On 31-Aug-07, at 8:19 AM, Fran Hill wrote:


Hi, I have done a woodburning of an old stone fireplace, and it turned out
very nice I thought. But I think it would make a great relief carving, with
maybe some burning for additional shading. However.......I transferred the
whole thing and started carving....Well, of course, I carved away most of my
whole pattern. I am trying to figure out how far to go because this
fireplace has things in front of it like the old pokers and a small bucket
of wood. At first I thought the mantle should be the farthest thing to the
front, but now, I see that the things in front should be out farther than
the mantle. Anyway, you can imagine what a muddle my board is in. Does
anyone have any sort of 1,2,3 beginning steps for planning a relief carving?
I think my original plan is now pretty much beyond salvaging. 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/woodcarver/attachments/20070901/84b4fd69/attachment.htm>