Whittling a Face -- A continuation!

A previous post titled " WHITTLING A FACE - A REVIEW" was kind of left hanging without being completed.  This post is intended to correct that omission.  It's kind off quick and "dirty".

This photo is where we left off.  We were roughing in the face, and had done the nose and the area where the eyes would be.   For those who have not noticed, this is WHITTLING.  The only carving tool in use is a knife.  The original post had a pointed hat like maybe it was intended to be a wizard..

 This step begins to refine the nose by removing the tips of the "wings" so that the bottom of the nose is not a straight cut.  It also begins to round the nose end.

 This next step involves removing a sliver of wood from the center of the nose and continuing the cut through the forehead to the bottom of the hat.
Continue to refine the shape of the nose by removing a chip to define the bridge of the nose.   Finally,  thin the nose up to the bridge of the nose.    

It's useful to use a "curling" knife cut from the nose tip to the bridge, to result in a kind of scoop cut.

 Draw the mustache on the wood.  Don't worry about having one side exactly the same as the other side.  Notice that the tops of the mustache become the bottoms of the cheeks.  Next make stop cuts on the drawn lines that define the mustache.  Remove a sliver of wood from the cheeks to the tops of the mustache.  Repeat this for the bottom of the mustache, only remove slivers of wood up to the mustache bottom stop cuts.

The goal here is to have the mustache appear to stand out from the face.

 Make the mouth.  Draw the mouth, and make a stop cut that defines the bottom lip.  Remove a chip from the mouth.  Remove some wood up to the stop cut that defines the bottom lip.

 Make stop cuts from the outside corners of the eyes down to the tips of the mustache.  Remove slivers of wood out to these stop cuts.

To continue the Santa face, whittle a hat.

Use the knife to give the beard some shape.  Decide on the eyes.  The fastest eye is a three sided plunge cut with the chip removed.


There's any number of refinements that can be made at this point.

Texture the beard
Round off the cheeks a bit more
Highlight the eye brows
Sand parts or all of the piece
Scrub the piece with a denture brush and soap and hot water
Finish natural, stain. or paint