Follow My Carving - Gaia - Step 7

The major sanding has been completed on the back, sides and top of the carving. The lovely grain has become the dominant feature instead of the carving strokes.

Most of the curves have been smoothed. You can still see a few uneven places in the tight areas of the side between the lower part of the arm down toward the waist. A few more strokes with 120 grit sandpaper will smooth those right out.

In the narrow areas under the breasts, a special pencil sander is used. That tool will also be used on the inside of the tree limbs, especially in the V areas. I’ll be sharing pictures of it in the next installment.

To see more carvings, please visit the Heartwood Art site.

The Might Oak has been sold

This stunning carving has just been sold. It is currently being featured in the 2009 Winter edition of Scrollsaw, Woodcarving & Crafts magazine. It was also the first in the Follow My Carving series featured on the Heartwood Art site, where you can see the carving as it was being made from start to finish. While you're there, you can also see the Gaia carving that is currently being made.

The Home page highlights another round tree carving that will be featured in the 2009 Summer edition of Woodcarving Illustrated.

For the latest updates on new carvings, be sure to subscribe to the RSS Feed for the Heartwood Art blog.

Follow My Carving - Gaia - Step 6

To celebrate Heartwood Art carvings being featured in upcoming issues of Woodcarving Illustrated and Scroll Saw magazines, the "Follow My Carving" series was created to give you a an insider’s view on how the art is made. This Gaia carving was requested by my dear friend who kindly took the pictures that will be featured in the magazines.

Now that the sides and back are all rounded, the tree and moon can be shaped.

All of the edges are rounded from both sides so the limbs seem to emerge from the body.

Unlike the large shaving that can be taken from the back and sides, trimming the tree requires taking very short and shallow strokes. This is the most delicate phase of the carving.

This tree will have no bark and the entire carving will be sanded to a smooth finish. Special sanding "pencils" are required to get into the small nook areas where limbs meet in a V shape.

The next installment is coming soon.

To see more carvings, please visit the Heartwood Art site.

Follow My Carving - Gaia - Step 5

To celebrate Heartwood Art carvings being featured in upcoming issues of Woodcarving Illustrated and Scroll Saw magazines, the "Follow My Carving" series was created to give you a an insider’s view on how the art is made. This Gaia carving was requested by my dear friend who kindly took the pictures that will be featured in the magazines.

Shaping the back and sides is a really fun part of the process. Bigger gouges can be used and the chips fly off in bulk.

A thin pencil line is drawn down the vertical center of the back. This is used as a guide to help angle down toward the sides in a graduated manner.

Once the back is finished, the sides of the front are carefully rounded, leaving enough edge for the outside tree limbs to give the illusion that they are emerging from the body. Next, the tree and moon edges will be rounded.

The next installment is coming soon.

To see more carvings, please visit the Heartwood Art site.