Ornament Demonstration

Ornament by A. Filetti (2015)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!!

Well back in August our woodcarving clubs executive board met to set the year's meeting agendas and for the month of November we decided on ornament carving talks.  The carving at the left is a result of my presentation to our club.  It is a simple relief carving taken from a holiday card found at a local dollar store for less than the expected dollar.  I made some minor modifications to the design to make it my own and using carbon paper I transferred the pattern to a 1/4" block of basswood.  I then spent time whittling my image and painted using acrylics.  Nothing too complicated with the piece and it can be turned out with a minimal amount of effort.  So when you receive a holiday card save the ones that you might be able to use as a pattern and throw them into your Artists Morgue for later use.
I hope this message finds all of you in the carving spirit and maybe this will provide some simple inspiration.  Its cold outside...oh what a great day to carve!!  So will you carve???

I've got my copy...

Caricature Carvers of America's Concepts to Caricatures

...so I just learned of the CCA's new book Concepts to Caricatures and was able to obtain a copy right out of the gate.  The book gives us insight into the design efforts of 26 CCA members with the highlight being Chris Hammack's "The Pitch" (really a series of 5 carvings depicting the various stages a baseball pitcher goes through in order to deliver his specialty).  Chris's article takes you step-by-step through the creation of one of the carvings in the series, and the series is a great study of motion.  As always you get your money's worth with Chris.
While I have not perused all 160 pages of the book, it is loaded with both pictures and content that make it worth the suggested price ($25).  The both includes patterns for those who want to give a particular carving a try and there is also a bonus picture gallery of carvings by both the active and emeritus membership.  The book's ISBN:  978-0-7643-4977-5  and is available via Amazon.com which appears to be selling for as low as $20.  A worthy investment for your reference library.

We all need some inspiration...with this you should be carving!  (Time to make sure your tools are sharp...like it or not winters a comin'!)

A good effort...

Meter Maids A Comin'
A. Filetti - 2015

  Well I hope everyone has had a good summer,  the weather here in the Northeast has been a bit weird the entire year, however the summer has been sunny with neither too little or too much precipitation.  This allowed me and the clan to carve on many occasions in the out of doors,  which is great considering that for 1/3 of the year we spend in overcast hibernation.
  As per normal I spent my time getting ready to compete in the annual Caricature Carvers of America competition...something I look forward to each year.  At the start of the summer I already had two submissions ready for travel and was working on a Mitch Cartledge roughout (Doc).  This brought me to my most recent conundrum...how to present the carving.
  It has been my experience that in the past carvings without a base do not fair well in competition an not wanting a simple pre-finished base I had an idea.  I decided to place him in a scene.  I checked the rules and the rules did not explicitly forbid placing a caricature carving in a scene and entering the carving in the roughout class.  Well of course the carving did not place in this years competition, which leaves me to ponder if the scene was the reason for it not placing.  Only the judges will know for sure.
  Having known about the competition concern going in, I just could not help myself.  The roughout was a fun one and the scene tells a story about a man seeing the meter maid coming, the parking meter has expired and all of his coins have fallen out of a hole in his jacket pocket and are resting comfortably in the storm drain.  The design was fun from the get-go, and getting the composition to gel was a challenge I sorely needed.  The carving is painted in Acrylics over a thinned coat of boiled linseed oil.  It was sealed with Deft and a coat of BriWax was applied.  Overall a fun piece that will bring a smile to my face for years to come.
  So the next time you get that itch to be creative, don't let a set of competition rules dictate your creativity but rather be as creative as you want and let the competition chips fall where they may.  I know this was the case for this carving and I absolutely have no regrets.
  Our summer days are waning,  grab a knife and a block of wood and go sit a spell under a shade tree...your soul will be better for it!

Whittling away at life's problems one shrimp at a time...

Bart holding court

  Well its been a busy first half of summer here in Western NY,  but I am happy to say that it also did include some carving and better yet it was with a cast of caricatures.
Each spring Mr. Bart Wilson, and his better half Miss Donna, host a weekend gathering of carvers where we all get to sit back and carve without a care in the world (i.e. just turn on the old black and white westerns and get to carvin').  There truly is nothing better.
  Carvers from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee joined me there.  It truly was like a family gathering as a menagerie of hounds provided first rate comfort and entertainment.  Bart and Miss Donna are first rate in hosting and we were treated to a wonderful Low Country Boil on Saturday night...awesome!
  Now you might be asking what was carved that weekend...well it really was not of great import as we were with our carving family,  having the occasional adult beverage and regaling each other with carving tales.
  At the end we were surrounded with chips, had the opportunity to see a large carving collection,  bellies were full, and stresses relieved.  That is what carving with family is like and it is one of the best attributes of caricature carvers...fellowship.
  A hearty thank you goes out to Bart and Donna for their hospitality, they were magnificent and I hope to return for future gatherings.
  This is how carving should be...and I wish you the same.  It's a beautiful summer day, get out and carve (and carve with your family if you can)!!

Knifespeak...

Blade Terminology

Knife tuning...

Case Polishing cloth, DMT Diamond Sharpener, Strop, Denny
knife, and DMT diamond sharpening card.

As with most Caricature carvers my primary woodcarving tool is a knife and as I have said on many occasions it should be a 'proper' caricature carving knife that enables its user to create the best carving possible.  You probably have also heard me state that if I had to have a single knife it would be the former Denny (now OCC Tools) 1 7/8" Straight knife.  It is an excellent all around knife and it usually can be purchased for < $25.
To be clear...for Caricature carving I do not recommend in any shape or form razor blade cutters as they are not reliable and their use often leads to choppy carvings and increased risk of injury.
I also do not recommend bench knives for this style only because of the thickness of their blades.  These type of knives are not by any means deficient, they are just not proper for this style of carving.
Now I do understand that not everyone has an extensive carving budget, but we do not have to be extravagant in our purchases to maintain a knife.  At a minimum a carver should have a strop, strop compound (I use aluminum oxide), and a sharpener of their choosing.
  To be fair I do own an Ultimate Sharpener which is kept close to my carving area for quick touch-ups and a Burke Sharpener for more serious gouge sharpening.  For knives though I do recommend you avoid these as much as possible and take the time to strop and sharpen by hand.  The reason...its our bread and butter and extra time and care should be taken.
  Now I am not an expert sharpener by any means, however I do get the desired result...a "slick" knife.  What that means is that my knife is not only extremely sharp it is also polished.  Now I know there is a debate on whether the inside channels of gouges or the sides of knives should be polished but I would say definitely yes to this as it reduces the drag when making a cut.  Allowing the user greater precision with less fatigue and frustration.
  How do achieve the polish...simple...after stropping the cutting edge...strop the sides of the blade...over time you will be rewarded with a mirror finish and beautiful cuts (better than sandpaper).
  One shape consideration...I was lucky to hear Marv Kaisersatt speak on woodcarving about 10 years ago and he showed us his preferred knife profile.  Of note was his rounding of the knifes spine.  He felt this allowed him greater ability to make curling cuts.  I too round the spine of my knifes as not only does it allow for curling cuts but also eliminates knife drag and wood breaks (i.e.unclean cuts).  I would note that the rounding of the spine changes the knifes rigidity make the blade more flexible which also can mean it more subject to knife tip snapping.
  Take some time to examine your knives and their shapes.  In the case of the pictured knife it had started to develop a tip-up at the tip of the knife and also an negative arc at the center of the cutting surface (interpret this as my knifes cutting edge was not straight).  These developments had come from years of use and stropping (some on the Ultimate Sharpener strop).  As such I needed to bring the knife back into "tune". 
  Tuning a knife depending on the situation takes time and patience and should not be rushed.  Trust me the effort and result are well worth it.  The first step I take when tuning a knife is to reshape the blade bringing the spine and cutting edge to the desired shape, once I have that it is a matter of sharpening the blade.   The length of the sharpening process will depend on the extent of the modifications required to reshape the blade and its condition when starting this process.  The key is to know what you desire and then put forth the effort to achieve this.
  If you are new to sharpening I would recommend getting/borrowing a copy of the video  "Sharpening Simplified" by Everett Ellenwood.  It is a good place to start.  Also if you have a limit I would look into DMTs Diamond Sharpening Cards (about $10 each, 3 different grit levels) which can be found at Woodcraft and other stores.
  Spring is here and I've given you something to contemplate...why not strop up your tools while your at it??

Good stuff...

Basswood bundle from Wilcox Wood Works

While visiting the Charlotte show I took time to peruse the vendors displaying their wares.  Two of these suppliers are a wonderful addition to the knowledge base.
The first being a little outfit out of Stanley, NC...Southern Carving & Leather.  These folks were displaying an array of leather items of particular interest were their strops.  one of which truly stood above the rest.  The single handed strop is two sided having both cow & pig leather strops firmly adhered to a healthy block of wood.  The strop was extremely reasonably priced at $10 and I would highly recommend this product.  (actually thinking of adding a few to my stockpile).  While I found no website the product can be obtained by contacting them at 704-215-9955 (number found on strop).

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  I prefer the tighter grain of pig leather used in combination with Aluminum Oxide powder...this combination keeps my knives highly tuned.

The second vendor is another fine addition as well....Wilcox Wood Works.  I met Rod & Muriel and at the show and Rod was kind enough to answer a question regarding basswood coloring and whether or not the clearer wood was from the interior of the log...the answer is that the color is not a true measure of where a particular block of wood has come from in a log.  This company is located out of Minong, WI and sells basswood, butternut, and pine.  For me the basswood is of high quality and comes in a variety of sizes which also includes board sizes of all starting at 1/4".  This supplier is another worth a look (my order was as expected and delivered in a timely fashion) and can be checked out online via the link posted on this site.
Having all this fine wood and supplies it is a day to be filled with carving.  C'mon get that lawn work done and whittle something while waiting on that grill!!

What a little color will do...

Best of Imtermediate Tom Wolfe Category by J. Butlin (2015)

For a little over a year now I have been coaching a couple of carvers and helping them through the steps necessary to advance their caricature carving skills.  One of whom is my friend Jim.  Jim has been carving for several years now and has taken quite a few carving classes with a variety of instructors.  These classes were on a range of topics and not limited to carving caricatures.  That actually has served Jim well when it came to finishing one of his latest pieces for the Charlotte show.  In the case of the dog in question I had provided guidance on a couple of recipes I learned, one in a standard style and one developed by Mitch Cartledge.  With the recipe and a little encouragement Jim was able to create an award winning piece (he won a Tom Wolfe carving) that has a tremendous finish.  Not surprising in this is that Jim has in the past carved and painted duck decoys and that skill served him well when it came to having the patience to apply the finish in the correct fashion. 
These days more often than not you will here carvers state that they either hate painting or do not want to paint at all.  That being the case I believe us experienced carvers need to start providing better guidance and instruction. 
For most carvers learning the art and attending classes the painting instruction most often does not involve the student selecting and preparing their paint.  This has lead to far too many carvings being covered with excessive amounts of paint with no wood grain being shown.  You might ask why having the wood grain showing is important...well it simply is to show that it is a woodcarving and not a piece of resin. 

A long standing finishing recipe for caricature carving is:

1. Ensure carving is free of dust and grime and all cuts are clean cuts with a sharp tool - no shredded wheat(this will help ensure uniform absorbing of the paint colors)
2. Wet carving-some folks will scrub with Simple Green (this step is optional however carving must be completely painted while carving is still wet)
3. Paint complete carving with thinned acrylics (depending on the color being used paints are thinned at different rates with reds being the most thinned and white being the least)
4. Antique the carving (tinted boiled linseed oil...per one gallon of oil add a one inch strip of Burnt Umber oil paint)
5. Sealant - matte finish (Deft spray lacquer is tried and true but can be hard to locate)
6. Wax - Feed-N-Wax provides the right amount of sheen

Recommendations:

• When applying the finish ensure you use and care for some quality brushes (round brushes are recommended)
• For a palette I would use a Paper Palette (thanks M. Stetson) found at art and hobby stores (comes in a pad like drawing paper)
• A helpful tool to have is a hair dryer, this can expedite the drying of the paint.
• A test block....always have a carved scrap nearby to test your color for transparency before applying on the carving (remember tint is hard to remove but can be added gradually)
• Have your "magic eraser" (Tom Wolfe speak for knife) on hand to eliminate bleed over should it occur.
• Practice...Practice..Practice...AND...thin that paint...no thinner...NO REAL THIN!!!
• Relax and enjoy your hobby (very important)

Ok so I made it sound simple...yes, but with practice and the right color selections you will advance your skills producing a nicely finished product.

My congratulations go out to my friend Jim Butlin, outstanding job my friend!!

Well, I got Jim to paint...what's your excuse??? C'mon spring might show up soon and then you will be having to mow the lawn again...carve while you still have the time!

Charlotte 2015...

Tom Wolfe Whittling Competition - Day 1

Well, the 2015 Charlotte Woodcarvers show has come and gone however its impact remains.  Folks, this crew knows how to throw a show and has an outstanding membership in support.  I have been going to their show for around 8 years and two venues.  While this competition covers the majority of carving categories it is one of the best for Caricature Carvers given the talent it draws. 
Anchoring this show is the support Tom Wolfe and Case Knives have long provided.  Tom hosts two whittling competitions, one each day, where all carvers are welcome.  In the case of 2015 one of our young talents, relief carver Dylan Goodson, swept both competitions as he applied his relief carving talent to the given block.  In these competitions, which are free, the carvers are handed a block of wood, told the rules (if there are any), and are given 1.5 hours to complete the carving.  Having sat in these competitions I can tell you it will test your mettle and through effort improve your skills.  This competition usually draws a large crowd with high interest.  For the competitors each are given a prize of sorts for use in there whittling adventures and we carvers are grateful to Case Knives, Heinecke Wood Products, and Smoky Mountain Woodcarvers for their longtime support.
It should be noted that the show is free and open to the public.  For competing carvers there is a standard entry fee for the competition which offsets the costs, but in return there are many carving forums held throughout the weekend on a wide range of carving topics and styles.
All in all a great show... and my thanks to a great club for making all of us feel welcome.  Let's hope for many more years!!
Ok, so it's Spring...you still can't do that much outside...so get carvin'!!!!!!

Charlotte Woodcarvers Club
 

A new recipe...



How Much?
A. Filetti - 2015

  As always I am out there ever searching for something new to learn about this art and I was fortunate to be taught a new finishing recipe.  As with all recipes you are seeking to improve your outcome and this was an experiment to do just that.
  The figure pictured here was featured in the previous post and is the completed piece.  The carving is now at home with a friend but the experience was an excellent learning experience.  During the holidays I turned to youtube.com to see what was available in helping to pick a color palette for painting the figure.  It turns out there are several videos on color theory which provide a whole range of information.  For me I tried to keep it simple using complementary colors (blue and orange) in order to create an attractive piece.
  Put the color study together with a new finishing recipe and you end with a finish as shown.
  The new recipe involves first slathering a 60/40 Mineral Spirits/Boiled Linseed Oil mixture on the entire fixture and letting it dry,  painting it with thinned Acrylics (to allow for the wood grain to show),  sealing it with Deft Spray Lacquer (I prefer Satin or Matte), and then once dry carefully applying BriWax Original (Golden Oak) with a toothbrush and then buffing.  Care should be taken when applying the wax as it will darken the finish drastically (The jeans were painted a denim blue and the shirt a light blue.)  When applied correctly the recipe seems to work well resulting in a warm and attractive finish.  It is my recommendation that if you attempt this you must first try this on a test piece to master the application of the wax.  Also, I do not believe you will get a better result with a substitution wax as the color tends to enrich the carvings shadows.
  I hope this information helps...its darn cold outside but the coffee is hot...so what are you carving???