On the flip side...

Business Card Holder - M. Cartledge

...well if you are known for Hillbillies, this would be your business card holder.  It's a good one by Mitchell Cartledge.  I saw my good friend at the Charlotte show (BTW....excellent show, excellent people, excellent hosts) and this was on his display table.  The man can downright carve just about anything.  His style when examined is simplistic however it is executed with precision and Mitch constantly is pushing the envelope to improve his range and methods. 
  Having said all that, this is a cool rendition.  What will yours look like?

It's cold and it's snowing (here) so why aren't you carving?  There ain't no excuse...carve something!

New office needed some character...

A. Filetti - Business card holder

New job..new office.

With changing jobs came a new office that I needed to make my own.  I remembered in the past when I had the pleasure of carving with the renown Mr. Kaisersatt we were fortunate to be able to visit his carving lair.  I have always looked at Marv with great respect for his level of creativity, but when I saw his apartment it was interesting to see the types of things he has carved over the years which included an outstanding tape dispenser caricature.  So with my new office I decided I needed a business card holder and the picture to the left is my rendition. 

To create this carving I simply took a picture of myself in the pose for reference, the took a block of wood and outlined what I thought would be his front profile and cut it out on my bandsaw.  Once cut I just started whittling.  It is finished with acrylics, boiled linseed oil, and wax. 

The greatest challenge with the carving of this figure was of course the hands, however I just used my own as a model.

Simple carving and fun to carve.

Another year has come and gone,  and it's still a great day to be carving...what will you carve on today??

Enjoy!

What can you do with an hour?

One-hour carvings by R. Olsen

  On my recent trip to Dayton  I had the opportunity to finally meet Ryan Olsen who in recent years dominated the CCA competition with some awe inspiring carvings and finishes.  Ryan has since become a member of the CCA and since that time put together another really nice carving of a barbershop quartet as part of the CCA's street scene (picture can be found on this blog).

  Ryan hails from western Idaho and is a young and energetic carver who not only takes his carving hobby seriously but also, with his wife, enjoys singing opera.  This is most likely why music plays prominently in his choice of carving subjects.

  My traveling companions and myself happened to be staying at the same hotel as the CCA members and spent our evenings in the lobby both socializing with the members but also carving.  In my discussion with Ryan he mentioned a method he was currently using to improve his skills...the one-hour carving. 

  As part of this effort Ryan was basically pushing himself through what I have termed "carvers paralysis" and as such the result is astounding and attractive.  The carving shown on the left was carved using one of my large Ron Wells knives.  This resulted in a carving with large facets and deep bold cuts.  Of course, in his methods I do not believe he limits himself to a whittling knife but you can't deny the results of his efforts.  This is something worth giving a try.

  Thanks Ryan for the idea, I have since bought myself a timer and will giving this a try.

  It's another beautiful carving day...stop 'em up and get to carving!!

I hope all have had a wonderful and warm holiday filled with carving gifts.

Advancing the form...

 

The Brawl - C. Hammack

Over the past months I had anticipated the Dayton Artistry in Wood show due to the fact that they were showcasing the Caricature Carvers of America, many of the members I have had the pleasure of learning from, carving with, or just discussing the art form.  I have been carving since the 80's (yup, I was around when dirt was born) and to my detriment until a couple of years ago I had not known about Chris Hammack and his art form.  Traveling with a couple of fellow carvers I looked forward to spending some time with like-minded carvers and learning something new.

 

Now if you have not had the pleasure please take the time to take a look at Mr. Hammack, the man has all around art skills (can also play the guitar and sing) and is worthy of your time.  This year Chris has taken it to another level by taking 2nd best-of-show honors at Dayton, only being eclipsed by Fred Zavadil.  (I believe he also took the Caricature category at Congress but as of this writing I am unable to confirm). 

 

In the last two years I have been fortunate to carve with Chris, who has recently been selected into the CCA,  and have many of his study casts.  Chris also has the rare ability of being able to carve women who actually appear feminine.  Some of this ability comes from the all around art skills and experience he possesses.

 

Chris also has composition abilities that elude most of us.  The carving above is truly a representation of that skill as this carving is one of those you can look at for hours all the while discovering new items while maintaining necessary proportions for all the figures (horses, skunk, dog, etc.).  His carvings also bring the humor, as he has a good wit about himself.  At Dayton, I was fortunate to spend some time playing guard dog to his display, while he was attending to other duties and it was a pleasure to observe the attendees reaction to seeing his display and discussing their observations.

 

All in all, Chris is worthy of your time and admiration for the skills and mentoring he brings to our art.  Chris has taken to the teaching circuit and will be traveling to many a state in the coming year.  If you get the opportunity and are serious about advancing your skills you would be well served to give him a look-see.

 

It's a good day to be a Caricature Carver...so do something about it...research, learn, draw, sharpen, and get to carving!!

 

 

The simplest of tools...

This is just a quick post to tell you about one of the items I have in my tool box....a circle template.  These items generally sell for less than $10 but do bring some good value to our hobby.  I generally use this when I am designing a cutout or when I roughing out a carving.  It's a good reference to see where you are in relation to round.  If you are a carver who often produces square looking carvings just get a template draw a circle on the end grain of some 2"x2" stock and carve until you reach a cylinder...this will assist you in producing a better quality carving.  A square carving is usually the result of nicking the wood instead of carving...so go ahead and take some big, committed cuts for a better result.

HEY ITS A HOLIDAY!!!...Carve something besides the turkey!! 

(Best wishes to all for a safe and joyous Thanksgiving!)

One from the bench...

Just a quick writeup regarding a painting demonstration I provided my club...the carving to the left was carved along with a couple of carvers I coach in the art of caricature carving.  It's founded on busts generated out of Marv Kaisersatt's book and is a good way to teach face carving.  A while back our club was seeking content for our monthly meeting and I forgot to take one step back sooooo a painting demonstration seemed like a good idea.  I don't believe the club was thinking they would get a demonstration but rather a discussion.  For me its all in the teaching as anyone can just talk about it.  Many folks out there struggle with painting their carvings especially when it comes to the strength of paint color.  I laid it all out there for them and demonstrated it through the carvings dipping in the antiquing mixture.  The carving at left has since been waxed and buffed.  One item of note, I demonstrated with Sharpie markers for shirt stripes and as you can somewhat see the colors bled...its important to test this prior to painting on your carving as experiences will vary. 

This carving was painted using round brushes, H2O, a paper palette, acrylic paints, BLO, Deft, and Feed-N-Wax.  The most important portion of the process is to ensure you have thinned each paint so only a hint of pigment is showing.  Please understand that the color red requires a great amount of water and white is just the opposite.  A 'test block' is an important accessory when painting, its just a scrap block that you can test on.  The paper palette (or Styrofoam plate) is the best for mixing paints as it allows you to draw the pigment to the water rather than trying to mix the appropriate amount of each in a cup.

 

No matter what...painting takes practice and in order to practice you have to have cleanly carved carvings...so what are you waiting for????  Carve something!

I am not a bird carver, but...

A gift for Page!

  I will be the first to admit that I know nothing of carving birds, however this would be my third.  The first was when I was first learning about carving and I decided to carve a Rick Butz merganser for my parents...I created that one in cherry.
  The second was my original piece "The elusive Baltimore Oreo" which was driven by the fact that I wanted to show my club members (95% bird carvers) that I could if I REALLY wanted to.
  The latest, the flamingo to the left, is driven by a promise to a friend and one who wholly supports our art.  Many years ago I embarked on a great friendship with a gentlemen from the great state of North Carolina, we had very similar desires, a good sense of humor, and the need to do something different.  I would learn overtime the generosity not only of himself but of his supportive wife, Miss Page.  Over the years I have attended a number of events in the state of North Carolina and it would always seem that Mitch and Page were at the heart of supporting these events.Now I must say that Miss Page goes well above and beyond being supportive all while maintaining her sense of humor dashed with a bit of sarcasm (something I really enjoy).
  It was at one of the aforementioned events that Miss Page informed me that I owed her a carving,  no doubt I did so I inquired as to what she would like me to carve...the answer was that she liked birds, especially flamingos.  Well, it was decided then...a flamingo it would be.
  Now the only thing I new of flamingos is that they get their color from the generous amounts of shrimp they eat.  Not knowing where to begin, the "carvers paralysis" set in.  If you have experienced this you know that it is when you know you want to carve an item however you can't decide where to begin but there are way to many questions. 
  In this case I did what I could knowing that this does not pay the debt but rather just satisfy the bird requirement.  One interesting note when researching the flamingo...they are mostly shades of pink/orange almost everywhere. In finishing the piece I took this into account and gave the piece depth through multiple tonal values. 
  This carving while simple was still somewhat challenging,  a learning experience for sure.

  It's another day, don't wait...carve something!!