Hi Van, your videos have really helped me since I started carving 14 months ago & I thank you for that. For a while now I've moved away from Basswood & began carving wood from the local forests (Beech, Ash, Hazel etc.). Obviously the carving process is a lot slower & even though I'm looking to carve in a more rustic fashion your tutorials are invaluable. I'm carving faces in approx 2" dia branches. Whilst I am improving my biggest problem is the transitions from the eyes to nose/cheeks & generally bringing 'life' to my carvings without them looking too wooden (pun intended). I'm guessing that experience will be my biggest friend here but, at some stage in the future, if you could maybe cover this then I would be ever so grateful. Thanks so much for your efforts.
Good Instruction Van, I'm going to look at the pistol/pelican knives. I have a couple Deep Hollow knives, I like the blades with some flex and stay sharp for quite a while.
Thanks Van, very helpful tutorial. Eyes are something I find difficult to do. I also have difficulty with making the eyelids. I need to keep practicing & your tutorials encourage me to do that. Thanks.
Very good technique. Where I have a problem is the size of eyes on my characters. My cravings are 5 1/2 to 6 inches tall and the eyes are about 3/16 of an inch wide. Very small cuts are required.
