Wood Carving

Wood carving

Carved woodencranes

Finely carved wooden door in theGreat Mosque of Kairouan, Tunisia.

Wood carving is a form ofworking woodby means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or achiselby two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, re-sulting in a wooden figure orfigurine, or in thesculptural

ornamentation of a wooden object. The phrase may also refer to the finished product, from individualsculptures

to hand-worked mouldings composing part of atracery. The making of sculpture in wood has been extremely

widely practiced but survives much less well than the other main materials such as stoneandbronze, as it is vulnerable to decay, insect damage, and fire. It there-fore forms an important hidden element in the art his-toryof many cultures.[1]_{Outdoor wood sculptures do not} last long in most parts of the world, so that we have lit-tle idea how thetotem poletradition developed. Many of the most important sculptures of China and Japan in particular are in wood, and the great majority ofAfrican sculptureand that ofOceaniaand other regions. Wood is light and can take very fine detail so it is highly suit-able for masks and other sculpture intended to be worn or carried. It is also much easier to work than stone. Some of the finest extant examples of early European wood carving are from the Middle Ages in Germany,

Russia,ItalyandFrance, where the typical themes of that era were Christianiconography. In England, many com-plete examples remain from the 16th and 17th century, whereoakwas the preferred medium.

1 Methods and styles

2 Techniques

2.1 Tools

• Carving knife, used to round a corner of a piece of wood

• V-Tool, used to part lines and cut V-shaped channels 1

A selection of woodcarving hand tools: 3fishtail gouges, a v-parting tool, 4 straight gouges, 3 spoon gouges, and a carvers mallet

Desay Madu Jhya (window)inKathmandu,Nepalis a specimen of traditional Nepalese wood carving.

Detail of theLast SupperfromTilman Riemenschneider's Altar of the Holy Blood, 1501-05,Rothenburg ob der Tauber,Bavaria

2.1.1 Basic tool set

• thecarving knife: a specialized knife used to pare, cut, and smooth wood.

• thegouge: a tool with a curved cutting edge used in a variety of forms and sizes for carving hollows, rounds and sweeping curves.

• thecoping saw: a small saw that is used to cut off chunks of wood at once.

• thechisel: large and small, whose straight cutting edge is used for lines and cleaning up flat surfaces. • theV-tool: used for parting, and in certain classes

of flat work for emphasizing lines.

• the veiner: a specialized deep gouge with a U-shaped cutting edge.

• sharpeningequipment, such as various stones and a strop: necessary for maintaining edges.

A special screw for fixing work to theworkbench, and a

mallet, complete the carvers kit, though other tools, both specialized and adapted, are often used, such as arouter

for bringing grounds to a uniform level, bent gouges and bent chisels for cutting hollows too deep for the ordinary tool.

2.2 Wood

2.2.1 Selection

The nature of the wood being carved limits the scope of the carver in that wood is not equally strong in all di-rections: it is ananisotropicmaterial. The direction in which wood is strongest is called "grain" (grain may be straight, interlocked, wavy or fiddleback, etc.). It is smart to arrange the more delicate parts of a design along the grain instead of across it, and the more slender stalks or leaf-points should not be too much separated from their adjacent surroundings. The failure to appreciate these primary rules may constantly be seen in damaged work, when it will be noticed that, whereas tendrils, tips of birds beaks, etc., arranged across the grain have been broken away, similar details designed more in harmony with the growth of the wood and not too deeply undercut remain intact.

Probably the two most common woods used for carv-ing arebasswood(aka tilia or lime) andtupelo, both are

hardwoodsthat are relatively easy to work with.Chestnut, butternut, oak,American walnut,mahoganyandteakare also very good woods; while for fine work Italian walnut,

sycamore maple, apple, pear, boxor plum, are usually chosen. Decoration that is to be painted and of not too delicate a nature is often carved inpine.

2.2.2 Sculpture

A wood carver begins a new carving by selecting a chunk of wood the approximate size and shape of the figure he or she wishes to create or, if the carving is to be large, several pieces of wood may belaminatedtogether to cre-ate the required size. The type of wood is important.

Hardwoodsare more difficult to shape but have greater luster and longevity. Softer woods may be easier to carve but are more prone to damage. Any wood can be carved

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Mambilafigure, Nigeria

but they all have different qualities and characteristics. The choice will depend on the requirements of carving being done: for example a detailed figure would need a wood with a fine grain and very little figure as strong fig-ure can interfere with 'reading' fine detail.

Once the sculptor has selected their wood, he or she be-gins a general shaping process using gouges of various sizes. The gouge is a curved blade that can remove large portions of wood smoothly. For harder woods, the sculp-tor may use gouges sharpened with stronger bevels, about 35 degrees, and a mallet similar to a stone carver’s. The terms gouge and chisel are open to confusion. Correctly, a gouge is a tool with a curved cross section and a chisel is a tool with a flat cross section. However, professional carvers tend to refer to them all as 'chisels’. Smaller sculp-tures may require the wood carver to use a knife, and larger pieces might require the use of a saw. No mat-ter what wood is selected or tool used, the wood sculptor must always carve either across or with the grain of the wood, never against the grain.

Once the general shape is made, the carver may use a va-riety of tools for creating details. For example, a “veiner” or “fluter” can be used to make deep gouges into the sur-face, or a “v-tool” for making fine lines or decorative cuts. Once the finer details have been added, the wood carver finishes the surface. The method chosen depends on the required quality of surface finish. The texture left by shal-low gouges gives 'life' to the carving’s surface and many carvers prefer this 'tooled' finish. If a completely smooth surface is required general smoothing can be done with

tools such as “rasps,” which are flat-bladed tools with a surface of pointed teeth. “Rifflers” are similar to rasps, but smaller, usually double ended, and of various shapes for working in folds or crevasses. The finer polishing is done with abrasive paper. Large grained paper with a rougher surface is used first, with the sculptor then us-ing finer grained paper that can make the surface of the sculpture slick to the touch.

After the carving and finishing is completed, the artist may seal & color the wood with a variety of natural oils, such as walnut or linseed oil which protects the wood from dirt and moisture. Oil also imparts a sheen to the wood which, by reflecting light, helps the observer 'read' the form. Carvers seldom use gloss varnish as it creates too shiny a surface, which reflects so much light it can confuse the form; carvers refer to this as 'the toffee ap-ple effect'. Objects made of wood are frequently finished with a layer of wax, which protects the wood and gives a soft lustrous sheen. A wax finish is comparatively fragile though and only suitable for indoor carvings.

3 Traditions

The making ofdecoys and fish carving are two of the artistic traditions that use wood carvings.

4 See also

• Woodturning • Woodworking

• Woodcarved Catholic saints in theParish Church of Ortisei, northern Italy

• National Wood Carvers Association • Woodcarving events:

• Woodfest Wales

5 Gallery

• A wooden Bodhisattva from the Song Dynasty

(960–1279)

• FromAfrica

• Tilman Riemenschneider's Saint Barbara from

Germany

• inFestac Town,Lagos,Nigeria • Yombe-sculpture, 19th century • inFestac Town,Lagos,Nigeria

• Carved gallant genre scene with figurines fromVal Gardena, 18th century

• Sculpture by Medina Ayllón,Spain • Carving of a duck by aFloridaartist

• Carving of unicorn by G&H Studios, Somerset, England

• c. 1940s,hobobyCarl Johan Trygg

• The eponymous carving on theUrnes stave church

is an example of the Urnes style,Norway • A dragon’s head from theOseberg ship • Carvings for sale on a beach

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References

[1] See for example Martin Robertson, A shorter history of Greek art, p. 9, Cambridge University Press, 1981,ISBN 0-521-28084-2,ISBN 978-0-521-28084-6 Google books [2] “12 top tips for using a V-tool”.

WoodworkersInsti-tute.com. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2013. • This article incorporates text from a publication

now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cam-bridge University Press.

• This article incorporates public domain mate-rial from websites or documents of the National Archives and Records Administration.

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External links

• Chinese Wood Carving • Woodcarving Magazine

• Sharpening, Honing and Polishing Gouges and Other Carving Toolsby R.M Mottola

• The British Woodcarvers Association • Maori Wood Carving

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Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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• Wood carving Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood%20carving?oldid=641362935Contributors: SimonP, Michael Hardy, Menchi,

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