Slicing Cuts!

As you read the various articles and books about wood carving you will see passages about the best way to make a cut with the carving knife. You may see reference to a push cut and a slicing cut. You may see the reason for learning to make a slicing cut, explained using the bread slicing example. Is it easier to slice a loaf of bread by pushing the knife through the loaf, or slicing the knife through the loaf? It's easier to make a clean slicing cut than merely pushing the knife through. This holds true in wood carving too. But it does take practice to learn to slice the knife trough the wood. This slicing of the wood is easier when you use the knife at the bottom of the photo - the one with the blade curved. Even when you try to push this blade through the wood it tends to slice.