Cowboy Refrigerator Magnets

 These were carved on 1 1/2 inch square wood cut diagonal and 3 1/2 inch long. The i-phone is to recognize and focus on a face. It is interesting that it did focus on the one without the mustache and didn't on the others. It has on other carvings I did with a mustache. I like them all but it wasn't my favorite or my wife's.

  

FIREMAN

I carved this Fireman from a Moore rough-out. The total height is about 12 inches tall. I didn't take a picture of the back because it is  boring. A gift of a fireman for a retired fireman. Hope he enjoys.

Troll

While sitting around at the campground I started to carve this 4 inch tall Troll. I didn't like how it looked, so it was campfire wood. I started another one and corrected my mistakes from the first one. It was a challenge for me and I'm happy with the result. It has a finish of Danish oil.

Expressions

This was a rough out of six basic facial expressions from Phil Bishop. They are sadness, anger, joy, fear, disgust, and surprise. It didn't come with a picture, so I hope I come close to what the face should look like. Also it wasn't wood, it was easy to carve although it was stringy. I have a new camera so the colors are off.

Woodsman

This carving is from a Jim Feather's pattern. It is Basswood, 3 inches square and 10 inches tall. The hat was cut out on a band saw and the rest was drawn out on the wood, then carved.

 

Carving a Little Guy

These Little Guys are carved from one inch square by three inches tall basswood. My inspiration for carving these small guys came from Jack Price and Don Mertz and some of the information comes from these men. For the head I go 1 inch from the top in front and 3/4 inch in the back. The rest of the space is divided in three. The middle line is the waist and the bottom line is the knees. The bottom lines are 1/16 inch at the back to the front corner. The front of the foot is 1/4 inch from the bottom. Carve or saw out knee area.

Carve from front center line to the middle of the side middle line. If carving a fist or cane leave materiel in that area. Remark lines for reference.

Carve around head, 3/16 inch at the front and 1/8 inch on the sides and back. I also carve 1/16 inch off the back of the head to move head forward and 1/16 inch off the sides to narrow the head. Also scoop carve from the knees to the bottom angle that was drawn.

 
The arm is 1/4 inch wide. 
Next I carve the back of the arms and buttocks. Carve the front of the arms and pocket. I like to have a thumb sticking out. It add a little without carving the hole hand. 


 I mark the head in three parts, the top line the eye brows and the bottom line the bottom of the nose. The front of the ear is at the center of the head. The back is 3/16 from the front. The top is at the brow line and bottom is at the bottom nose line. You can carve ether the head or the legs next. I will explain the legs first although pictures also show the head.

The front and back start the same.Cut straight in down the leg line. Then cut in at an angle to the bottom of the first cut on both sides. The buttock side forms a T and the front forms a Y. Carve in shoes. You are ready to carve in clothes. 




   For the head carve simple ears and carve in hair line. Thanks to Jack Price for a study guide for the face. 1. v cut for the brow, 2. eye cut, v cut on both sides, 3. cut bottom of nose, 4. cut off outside angle of nose, 5. chip cut at outside of angle cuts, 6. cut smile lines, 7. round out mouth mound, 8. cut straight in top of nose to smile line. Make a cut into this line. 9. from a little above the smile line make a scope cut to top of nose. I also take a chip cut off the outside bottom of nose. 10. re-cut eyes. Different angles will give different looks. I also cut small v cut on each side of nose and start eye brows. The eyes are painted in.  11. cut in mouth line. Lower bottom to bring bottom lip down. 12. lower lip cut in with knife or small gouge.Carving Small Characters by Jack Price give a better explanation. I hope this helps a little in carving little guys.

The Patriot

I cut out a pattern and started carving with no idea what it would be. As it evolved I could see that it was a person who worked hard and was willing to protect our way of life. The axe in his hand is a symbol of George Washington's comment "I cannot tell a lie, I chopped down the Cherry tree". This carving is 6 1/2 inches tall. 

  

Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy starred in the black and white film era. They started out on their own and starred in many films. When they joined they become a great dynamic duo. I enjoyed many of their movies. They are almost 4 inches tall and carved out if basswood. I need to do a base yet and will have them slightly facing each other.

 

Grumpy

This carving is a little over 4 inches tall. To me he looks a little disgruntled. 

Frank

This carving is from one of two roughouts I bought at a fund raiser. I named him Frank after a local carver who said it looked like him, since he walks stooped over. He was fun to carve and I really like the way the face turned out. He is 8 inches tall.

Jim

 I had fun at the Spokane Rendezvous this year, and gave a class and participated in two others. John took some pictures of a friend at a Christmas party last year. Jim was surprised to see we were to carve him as a caricature. The talk was back and forth with good fun all day, The carving is white pine and 10 inches tall including the base.

Little Guy's and Gal's

When staying in our motor home while visiting family for a couple weeks I carved these small caricatures. They are 1 inch square by 3 inches long, I wanted to work at carving small gal's and the guy's with a cane. On one guy I used the back of my knife to carve in hair. I like to try differant techniques while carving. Don Mertz has a good blog (woodbeecaver.com) on carving small caricatures. My favorite is the guy with the mustache.

Little Guy

These little guy's were carved from 1 inch stock, about 2 1/2 inches tall. I like to encourage people to keep carving. My earliest remembrance is in my preteens going to the sauna for my dad's  hunting knife. And then we carved hunting knives and swords to play a sort of Robin Hood. Small figures like this can be carved with just a knife although I used a v-tool and small gouge. Keep carving.

Little Guy's

These little guy's are 2 inches tall. My plan is to make a scene with these after I carve a couple more of these guy's. They are fun to carve and they use some of the scraps of wood. 

 

The Parrot Has a Peg Leg

This is a rough out from Chris Hammack called Captain Short Shank. His bar scene rough outs are fun to carve. I got the beard and mustache a little to black for my likes, but otherwise I like it a lot.