Carve it a 1000 Times!

When I started trying to carve, someone told me to practice, practice, practice. Someone else answered my question about carving faces, by saying, "carve 1000 faces and you'll get it!" Yesh! it's a wonder I stayed with it. But there is a lot of truth in both of those statements. I am going to combine the statements into one that can be understood and followed by beginning and intermediate carvers alike. Pick out a smaller simpler item that you think you would enjoy carving. I picked the 5 minute owl and then the Santa . Try carving several of the items. Pay close attention to what you are doing and what is happening to the carving, and try to improve each time you carve the item. Keep on carving the same item. If you are fortunate enough to be able to carve everyday, carve several of the items each day. In fact, it's alright to obsess on them. You might even consider carving one of them as a warm up to other carving sessions. Each time you carve the item try to improve. in some way. You will be surprised at what you can learn, and how well you'll be able to carve the items. You will also end up with a bucket full of the items for little gifts. The item also becomes a great one to demonstrate the carving techniques.