Wood carving basics

Wood carving is a perfect hobby which provides unlimited freedom to everyone with artistic soul to express himself. In one of our previous articles Wood carving tools we provided you with the information about essential tools for ever wood carver and we presented ready-made wood carving tool sets in every price range. After that we received many mails in which you are asking us to give you some beginners tips on how to properly use wood carving tools and carve simple projects. To properly use wood carving tools and to learn to properly carve beautiful and demanding sculptures you need step-by-step instructions which we can’t provide in a single article and not even in a several articles.

Therefore we decides do present you Taunton’s Wood carving basics by David Sabol, a perfect book for every beginner in woodworking which covers all the basics on almost two hundred pages.

About the author

David Sabol woodcarving career began as an eight-year old’s hobby. He won his first ribbon at the age of twelve.  His carving ability improved throughout high school and college. Today he is a highly respected carver, teacher and woodcarving author.

Upon graduating from Southern Connecticut State College in 1983, David chose carving as his career.  His self-taught skills range from caricature, animal, bird and flower carvings to human form sculptures. He is a traditional carver who uses knives, chisels and oil stains to create his outstanding works. There is a unique quality to his carving that has enabled many collectors and students of woodcarving to identify his works at first sight. He is noted for his realistic and detailed expressions.

David’s outstanding carving abilities have led him to two auxiliary careers – teacher and author. He conducts 12 to 15 seminars each year, his reputation attracting both novice and advanced carvers. David is very proud of the number of students who take more than one class with him. Carvers from Europe and Canada have come to learn his technique of giving expression to their works. His class subjects include caricatures, birds, decoys and animals. His seminars covering Santas and Noah’s Ark figures are frequently oversubscribed.

David has authored several books that have received high acclaim in the woodcarving community. Letters and pictures are frequently sent to David by his many readers. Numerous articles about David have appeared in several publications including the prestigious Official Journal of the Guild of Master Craftsmen. The premier issue of Woodcarving Illustrated featured his work on its cover.

Since becoming a full-time carver in 1983, David has received many “Best of Show” awards at carving shows and wildlife art exhibitions. Newspaper and magazine articles have appeared in publications throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic states. His followers and collectors are numerous with many families acquiring his Noah’s Arks and adding additional animal pairs.

With a broad sampling of creative projects, Wood carving basics includes step-by-step instructions and colorful photos that show you how to make each one a work of art. Moving from one chapter to the next, you will learn all the valuable techniques you need to grow as a carver, including wood selection, tool choices, sharpening techniques, relief carving, wildlife carving, chip carving, power carving, wood burning and how to paint and finish your carvings with colorful detail.

From simple to more sophisticated techniques, you’ll learn all the valuable skills you need to grow as a carver. After a while, you’ll gain the confidence to try more complicated projects and experiment with pieces you’ve dreamed up yourself.

As a companion to the book Wood Carving Basics DVD puts more emphasis on demonstrating each technique. By providing you with video demonstrations, the DVD shows you precisely how every technique and special procedure should be done.

David Sabol will guide you through a wide range of creative projects — with step-by-step instructions designed to give beginners the experience of working in a wide variety of carving styles.

From simple to more sophisticated techniques, you’ll learn all the valuable skills you need to grow as a carver. After a while, you’ll gain the confidence to try more complicated projects and experiment with pieces you’ve dreamed up yourself.

For anyone who wants to master the essentials, this DVD is a great place to start. You’ll learn how to:

• Select wood from a wide range of interesting types
• Choose tools from knives and gouges to V-tools and power carving devices
• Sharpen and care for your tools to improve performance and longevity
• Relief carve wildlife and landscapes
• Chip carve, power carve and burn wood
• Paint and finish your carvings with colorful detail

If the artful and exacting process of wood carving has always sparked your interest, this DVD will show you exactly how it’s done — with expert advice from a seasoned pro.

Many people think that ability to carve beautiful things in wood is a gift with which the artist is born but they can’t be more wrong. Naturally, there are self-taught artist like the author of Wood carving basics out there but the majority of woodcarvers learned from books and magazines. Like in everything else, in wood carving you must learn the basics before you can start with your first project. You must learn which type of wood to choose, what technique must be used, what tools do you need and most importantly, how to use wood carving tools. If you don’t learn all that before you start with the project there are very slim chances that you will finish you project with success. Take your time to read the book and take your time to practice techniques presented in the book and be sure that you will carve beautiful things in no time.

With all being said, it is obvious that Wood Carving Basics is a perfect book for every beginner in wood carving. We highly recommend the Wood Carving Basics DVD with the book because you can practice what you learn from the book with excellent instructional videos.