Art & Woodworking: How I relief carved Space Whales. Complete process with pictures.
Space Whales.
Relief carving is a type of woodcarving in which figures are carved in a flat panel of wood. The figures project only slightly from the background rather than standing freely.
More recent carvings: Wolf Face & Gangster Owl & The Elf & Some Foxes & Tim Tribute
(1) The space whales hanging on the wall like a painting.
(2) The space whales against a black background.
The pictures above are the results of at least thirty five hours of work. Even though I think this piece turned out pretty good, I’m not a professional woodworker. I’m still learning and that is the sole reason why I would like to share my woodworking process and progress with you Steemers.
Process.
All of my previous pieces had their carvings centered. This time I wanted to try something else. I wanted to get a story going, something more like a painting. To play around with the composition of how and where I could place the figures. Hence the flying whales and the floating astronaut.
(3) Like every other carving I began with getting the design on the wood and carving away the outlines.
(4) My focus was to get the astronaut done first. I started to play around with the planets as well.
(5) Before I started on the outlines of the whales I wanted to get the details done on the moon man.
(6) I wanted to get as much detail in there as possible. Wrinkles, straps, everything. The MDF did not allow me to go much further. It was way to fickle in the end.
(7) Now it was time to get the space whales going. Outlines and layers first. The details came later.
(8) I had some troubles making the smaller whale look less clunky. In hindsight I shouldn’t have carved his front flipper so deep.
(9) After finishing the big guy I did sandpaper the piece. As you might have noticed I used another coating this time.
Next.
At the moment I’m not really sure what my next project is going to be. Some days ago I got myself some basswood and birch. It will be my first time carving in real hardwood so I have to keep that in mind. This is also why I got the other coating. Let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas on what to do next.
End.
For those that are unaware, I do also stream all my woodworking endeavours live on Twitch.tv. As of right now I’ll also try to post on this blog at least once every two weeks. Interested in supporting and following my efforts of becoming a better woodworker? A follow on Steemit would mean the world to me.
Social & Media.
- Website: www.tomtinderbox.com
- Twitch: www.twitch.tv/TomTinderbox
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/TomTinderbox
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/TomTinderbox
- Steemit: www.steemit.com/@TomTinderbox
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/TomTinderbox
- Shop: www.tomtinderbox.com/woodworking
I’m happy to answer all the questions that come my way.
Much Love,
TomTinderbox
That's very cool. Thanks for sharing. So you have issued with the MDF splitting off at all? I don't do carving, but I have had that happen at times
Thanks Elvis. MDF is not really ideal to do carvings like this, at all. It indeed splits. The thing that happens to me more is that the fibers will slowly tear apart after cutting. It gets really fickle, almost impossible to get really sharp and clean cuts if you want to go into detail. One of the reasons I'm switching over to basswood and birch. I wan't to go smaller, but MDF doesn't allow me anymore.
I’m happy to answer all the questions that come my way.
Everything in this carving just fits for some reason. Whales in space...I love it. It just feels right, love that you put them with the astronaut. Btw, I am a curator with @ocd and would love to nominate your post.
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Once again a big honor! I like the combination of the whales and the astronaut as well. Are they in space? If they are not, what is that moon-man doing under water? Story in the making.
Great work. Have you tried water resistant mdf? you can get a good crisp finish and a depth of about 4mm because it has been treated. Also I strongly recommend you use limewood,( really sort but close grained so you can go very fine). Holly is very hard and close grained and good for miniature pieces. And if you can get it english walnut for crisp work. It will make all the difference and wont blunt your chisels like mdf. Thanks for sharing.
Oeh. I might have to take a look at that. I've seen limewood, but kind of hard to find in my area. My plan is to get used to as much different wood types as possible. I wrote your tips down. Thanks man!
No problem. The more experience the better.
Wood working is such an awesome hobby!
Glad OCD featured your post!
Thank you Public-Eye!