---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- May 2001 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com "Dedicated to the teaching, learning and love of woodcarving" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello Everyone! Feel free to forward this newsletter on to woodcarving friends, or anyone else you think might be interested. This is an opt-in newsletter and you should only be receiving it because you requested it from the website. Subscribe or Unsubscribe easily on the home page here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/index.html or using the link at the end of the newsletter. ==================================== ****CONTENTS: 1. Slipstones - May2001 2. Website Notes 1) Changing ISP's. 2) New Web Page - My First Workshop... 3) New Web Page - My First Woodcarving... 4) Recommended Books 5) New Inspiration 6) Gallery changes to come 3. Quick Carving Questions 1) I'm getting discouraged! 2) Wood cracks after carving 3) Which side of the leather for a strop? 4. Article 'Woodcarving Mistakes - Part 1' by Chris Pye __________________________________________ 1. SLIPSTONES - May 2001 __________________________________________ In Slipstones this month: *** The Essence of Woodcarving and Sculpture is L**** and S*****. Fill in the missing letters - or read all about it! *** Is there a Glue that will Stick Wet Wood? - Yes there is! *** What do I think about someone carving a design of mine? Find out! *** Do you suffer from Carved Panel Warp? - Checklist for minimising the risk. *** Would you use a Mallet on a Spoon Gouge? - Guidelines for when you can, and when you can't! *** Is there such a thing as 'Balancing' Carving Tool Handles? I don't think so. But the idea points to a vital attitude to be emphasised as really helping carvers. *** Sneak Preview: Royal Regiment of Canada Trophy, a third trophy made for HRH the Prince of Wales. It will be in the web galleries eventually, but you can take a peak behind the curtain now! *** And much more, including Follow Ups, 'Lines of Light' and Carving Tips. Find full details of this interactive woodcarving journal, http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slipstones.html Slipstones is like an invitation to my workshop where we can share experience, advice and support, and which aims to further carving at all levels. Join me! *There's a FREE sample edition to download *And a FREE copy of '101 Master Woodcarving Secrets' - only available on subscribing. __________________________________________ 2. WEBSITE NOTES __________________________________________ ****** 1) Changing ISP's I am moving the website to another ISP in the next couple of weeks. I cannot exactly say when but I'll be sending out a brief note to you all when it happens. If you have problems accessing the site around that time, it could well be because the process takes a while for the change to filter through... (That's as technical as I get!) If a problem persists for more than a day or two I'd be very grateful if you let me know! ****** 2) "MY FIRST WORKSHOP" Sounds like an essay doesn't it - but actually it's a response to a question I've been asked a several times: a couple of pictures of my first 'proper' workshop and one of a young hairy (really!) carver of 24... Here's the link: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/connect/c_wkshp.html The fact is that my biographical pages on the website are a little meagre and I suffer from a British reticence. I think the only way to enlarge on them is to add a few answers to questions like this. So if there is something about me you'd like to know (Hey, come on - not that!) then you can ask and I might use it to fill out these pages. ****** 3) "MY FIRST WOOODCARVING" Similar to above, a response to a question I've been asked many times. There were no doubt exercises and doodles in wood, but those ended up on the fire. These are my first proper carvings, a few weeks after first picking up a chisel. Here's the link: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/connect/c_first.html ***** 4) NEW RECOMMENDED BOOKS Some of the anatomy books I promised. 1: 'Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist' (Stephen Rogers Peck). Link: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/recbks/w_recbk_peck.html This is one of the best anatomy/figure drawing books around. 2: "The Figure in Motion" (Thomas Easley and Mark Smith - photographer) http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/recbks/w_recbk_easley.html (Photos of models moving...) 3: "The Book of a Hundred Hands" (George B. Bridgman) http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/recbks/w_recbk_bridgman.html (The title says it all.) 4: "The Human Figure" (Erik A. Ruby) http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/recbks/w_recbk_ruby.html (A lot of useful reference photographs) More to come! A short review accompanies each book. If you have a favourite - or any other book you'd like to recommend to others, let me know please. REMEMBER! If you have read any of the books in the recommended books pages: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/writing/recbks/w_recbks.html - You can add your review to mine! ****** 5) NEW INSPIRATION Gold! Gold! Gold! I love it - in the form of gold leaf anyway. This month, a small example, from a relief carving by Veit Stoss, of the way gold leaf catches every stray photon of light and produces a fascinating, abstract display of lines and lights. I try and learn a new skill every year - this year I'm inspired to learn how to gild.... Have a look: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/gallery/g_inspiration.html ****** 6) GALLERY CHANGES TO COME... I'm going to remove the tour altogether - unless I hear great clamours of protest. I don't think many people use it and go to the thumbnails. I intend having a lot more thumbnail galleries, with specific themes, of my work and, where possible links to the work in progress. Any feedback on this? _______________________________________ 3. QUICK CARVING QUESTIONS _______________________________________ **** QUESTION 1: I'M GETTING DISCOURAGED! "No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get the knack of woodcarving and am getting a bit discouraged. I have two of your books, some tools, and am a competent woodworker in other fields. Am I just too dense? A few words would be appreciated." **** ANSWER **** I'd urge you not to get discouraged by your sense of lacking of success in your attempts at carving. It is one of the most difficult crafts to master and I dare say that your circumstances and the lack of a tutor don't help. You may also have too high a level of expectation of yourself. You probably see great carvings and think 'Hey, I'd like to do that' but forget that you are looking at the end result of a process of learning and applying a skill. (I often use an analogy of learning the guitar - think how one does that...) You certainly have the manual dexterity; it's probably more a matter of approach. My best advice is to go back to the beginning and take the process as a journey of small but regular steps: 1) Check that your tools are sharpened correctly - not just the edges, but with the bevels at the correct cutting angle etc, as I have described in my books. Make sure you have sympathetic wood: close grained Basswood, Butternut or Brazilian Mahogany. And a place to work consistently. (See this as tuning your guitar...) 2) Start with the smallest of exercises - really: even just a straight line with a v tool; a few tool cuts. Play and enjoy this simple level of carving, try and feel at home manipulating the tools. (See this as picking out a few notes to get a feel of the strings and sounds...) 3) From here, take a very simple pattern for a relief carving - don't make the design too large: a leaf, a small fish or bird. Tangerman has a lot of simple designs. Try and pick things you are interested, and do lots of these. (See this as exercises, chords...) 4) Gradually expand out from here. Once you feel more at ease you can start taking on 'serious' projects. When you work in the round, or at lettering, say, take the same step-by-step approach. Carving is a skill and has to be learned like any other skill. True we all come with different talents and find carving more or less easy - but the skills have to be learned whatever. (Soon you'll be singing along quite merrily... How about a frieze on prison life?) So, take heart; think carefully about the steps you need to learn this skill, practice them patiently, and it'll come. Just don't give up - then it definitely won't! =================================== **** QUESTION 2: WOOD CRACKING AFTER CARVING "I have a question about wood and how to keep it from falling apart after I have carved it. "I am talking mainly about Ponderosa Pine, which I carve as a whole log. I have been carving about 5yrs and have tried just about everything to keep it from cracking: anti-freeze, linseed oil and polyurethane, just polyurethane, log oil, shingle oil, paint thinner and polyurethane and a combination of these, and nothing seems to work." **** ANSWER **** I'm sorry but I've no experience of the Ponderosa Pine as wood, or a tree. However: 1) I would guess the 'whole log' is your problem. The shrinkage between heart and sapwood is too great for the integrity of the material; pine is very straight grained anyway (splits a treat?). I know people use PEG to substitute for the water but few trees will take being used as a whole log without cracking. 2) Drilling the centre out goes back to medieval times and beyond and must have worked to some extent, as did hollowing out the back of a carving which sat against a wall (in a niche). I'm sure it's worth a shot but I don't know what diameter hole you'll need. Trial and error I suppose... Anyone else any ideas? =================================== **** QUESTION 3: WHICH SIDE OF LEATHER FOR STROPPING? "I get conflicting opinions depending on who I ask or what I read: which side of leather should I use for my strops, rough or smooth?" **** ANSWER **** Blows have been struck over this matter! My view is that the smooth side is the better first option, provided it isn't 'dressed', lacquered, in some way. If it is, then you can rub this back with fine sandpaper and wipe off with a damp rag. Yes, you can use the other side but it tends to be a little softer than the 'outside' and softness is undesirable. An alternative I find myself recommending now - mainly because people find it difficult to get thick hard leather - is to use thin stuff and glue it down to a flat board. This is possibly even better than thick, hard, leather as the surface remains even flatter as the tool passes along it and slows down the 'bevel rounding' effect. The real advantage of thick leather is in being able to fold it and push it into the inside bevel. I think this is one for Slipstones, don't you? I'll see if I can squeeze it into the next issue and add a few more ideas. __________________________________________ 4. ARTICLE 'Woodcarving Mistakes - PART 1' by Chris Pye __________________________________________ I said last month that I'd write a little bit in answer to the question, 'Do you ever make mistakes as you are carving?' This question is frequently asked by students or visitors at a woodcarving demonstration. And somehow, and very mysteriously, it is also asked by some awed voice from a dark corner of the room in which I am giving a slide show. The questioners are non-carvers, of course. Most carvers know better! That when you carve wood you skate continually near the brink of disaster... But if you think I'm going to real off a list of my best carving mistakes - you're the one who's mistaken! So, going back to the voice from the dark side of the room, my answer is simple: 'Yes, I make mistakes.' And, at this point, when the original question is followed by a silence from the questioner, stuffed with an implied, 'And...er, yes...?' I answer, 'And...I'm not telling!' Ok, I might reveal one or two of my more memorable mistakes to fellow carvers in private, but there are many reasons for keeping them to myself. I'll say more about this attitude later. Do you know the old saying: 'A person who never made a mistake never made anything'? Well, it's true! And while we can try our hardest to prevent or eliminate mistakes, mostly we exercise only limited control over events. Since the question refers to woodcarving, that's what I'm going to be discussing, but I realised as soon as I started mind mapping a few ideas around the theme, that there was more to be said than I could cover in one quick article. 'Mind mapping' is a bit grand - I really just ponder to the sound of a happy chisel, like most carvers. I started wondering about the nature of the beast: what is a 'mistake' anyway? Have my mistakes - carving or otherwise - anything in common? And so on. I will be coming to woodcarving specific mistakes in future newsletters, but here is a first thought: My baseline is this: I try to LEARN SOMETHING from the mistake - carving or otherwise - if I can. The thing I hate more than making a mistake is making the same mistake twice! In fact I would say that I have learned particular things from my mistakes that I could never have learned by my successes! It's lucky I haven't carried a self-destruct button or I'd be out of here ages ago. Although I've hated myself at the time, in retrospect some of my mistakes have been priceless for teaching me things. So, if a mistake is an unwanted outcome, but I LEARN SOMETHING FROM THE MISTAKE, the outcome is no longer so undesirable, is it? I've at least salvaged something from the wreck, grown a little in experience. Sometimes I've even been able to turn them to my advantage In fact I would say that the only way I could get certain experiences, and to the necessary depth, was 'the hard way'? It's not enough sometimes to be told. Mistakes are indeed the very stuff of 'experience'. As in: 'Chris Pye is an experienced carver'; which means: 'Chris Pye has made a lot of mistakes and hopefully learned from them while he's being doing other things righter, even if he's not telling.' This is really worth bearing in mind when we are afraid to make mistakes, carving, or otherwise. Sure, there's no merit in cultivating mistakes, but mistakes seem less daunting prospects if you know they are part and parcel of your growth as a woodcarver. ---------------------------- TO BE CONTINUED Next newsletter - Why bits "fall off".... ****Is there a particular woodcarving mistake you would like to have discussed? Would you like to share a mistake and something you've learned from it? Let me know and we could spread the benefits in next month's newsletter! _________________________________________ That's it! Once more: joy and success in your carving! 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