What is wood carving? Wood carving for beginners: secrets of craftsmanship from experienced craftsmen.

Wood carving is an amazingly beautiful and very popular type of hand-made wood processing these days. The carved interior details captivate with their magnificent appearance and reflect rich national traditions.

Creative people who are simply itching to do something very interesting and useful should pay attention to wood carving. Girls and women may think that this is only a man's activity. And they will be wrong, because there are no fewer women woodcarvers than men.

About wood carving for beginners

To decorate the internal and external space, various types of carvings and techniques for realizing the plan can be used. If you are interested in this type of needlework, then you must understand that you need to master the methods and techniques of wood processing, acquire the necessary tools and improve carving skills.

In the modern world of smartphones and tablets, a wooden stand decorated with wood carvings looks very original.

Skillfully executed carvings in the form of simple and ornate patterns and ornaments seem to enliven the world and endow it with sophistication, charm, emphasizing the taste of the owner of luxury items and the talent of the craftsman.

The works of the best carvers decorate the temples. Pay attention to the photo of the iconostasis of the upper Church of the Holy Image of the Savior, which is located in Moscow, in the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fili.

Modern masters with delicate taste create real masterpieces.

And thanks to finishing technologies and protection of the finished product from the destructive effects of mold and insects, these wood carvings have served people for hundreds of years.

Pay attention to the magnificent carved pieces of furniture:

Stylish doors:

Delightful handmade figurines:

Very often, connoisseurs collect handmade carved items. Wonderful chess that is worthy of any collection.

Perhaps, over time, your wood carving masterpieces will be carefully preserved by collectors or decorate temples.

Types of wood carving

Of all types of wood carving, it is very interesting openwork or through thread on wood, which is characterized by some transparency, in which only the image remains, without a background. An example is an applied carving - this is an ornament that is attached to a finished background after production by a craftsman.

Geometric carving woodworking – This is a type of carving in which the pattern is formed using many simple geometric shapes (a rhombus is often used).

Oriental carving on wood it is distinguished by its whimsical shapes. Egypt is the cradle of the oriental type of wood carving.

Relief carving on wood. In this technique, the image is located above the background or at the same level with it. These are carved panels of various shapes with three-dimensional images.

- This is a flat-relief carving, but distinguished by an abundance of carved and stucco decorations, various colors, curls, leaves, figures of people in unnatural poses, fabulous fantastic animals.

Originated in the village of Kudrino. Well-known products in this type of carving are boxes, vases, dishes, ladles, and home decor items. The main element is a floral ornament: rosettes, curls and twigs.

Volumetric (sculptural) carving Great for making sculptures, animal and human figures, toys. - a subtype of volumetric thread. This is the main industry of the village of Bogorodskoye in the Moscow region. The famous Bogorodsk toys are figurines of animals and people made of linden and alder.

Most often used to decorate wooden Scandinavian churches. Wood carvers decorated the inside and outside of church buildings with images of Gods and various animals.

- the simplest and most unique type of carving. On a flat background, the master cuts out grooves - grooves, forming a pattern. Carved landscapes - images of landscapes on wood.

All these types of carvings are quite conventional. Each master chooses the most suitable one, taking into account work experience, quality of wood and creative inspiration.

What can be decorated with carvings?

The simplest staircase is transformed, decorated with carved balusters. Balusters- these are figured columns in the form of columns, a stylish and noble decoration of the staircase. Wooden balusters look organically with a spiral wooden staircase.

Bas-relief. Another name is "low relief". This is a sculptural image on a plane. Most often these are figures of people and animals .

Choosing tools for wood carving

As in every business, wood carving has its own secrets and nuances, which allow one to reveal the beauty of wood in a wonderful ornament. It is necessary to select special tools for wood carving and stock up on the necessary blanks and sketches for wood carving, which will be embodied in the form of drawings, borders, lace or genre scenes.

Basic tools

Very high demands are placed on the quality of carving tools. Of course, skill plays an important role, but well-selected and sharpened tools will help bring your idea to life. Experienced carvers will tell about its quality at first glance at a tool, but beginners get lost in the store because of the huge selection.

The basic set for wood carving includes:

• several knives and chisels;
• needle files;
• hacksaws for metal;
• vice;
• sandpaper;
• drill with several types of drills;
• bars.

Knives should be made only from high quality steel. It is better to purchase them in specialized stores for creativity. Although at the initial stage, just sharply sharpened knives will do. An excellent start would be knives from Tatyanka, Narex, Kogatana, etc.

It is not necessary to choose an expensive foreign-made instrument, because domestic instruments can be of the same good quality, but much cheaper

As your skill grows, you may need a set of tools, a milling machine, a drill, etc.

Chisels for carving

Sometimes, instead of a chisel, a sharpened screwdriver or file is used for wood carving.

Flat chisel- This is a long rod, at the end of which there is a flat cutting edge. Very often it is used for primary wood processing.

Semicircular chisel- This is one of the most important tools for work. They differ somewhat in the degree of roundness, that is, they are medium, round and sloping.

It still happens V-shaped version of chisels. It can be useful for geometric wood carving, which we will introduce you to below.

Beginners need only a small wood carving set of good quality to immediately get used to the correct movements and pressure.

In this video there is a wonderful master A. Yuryev shared with us which tools to choose for carving.

How to protect yourself from injury when carving wood

Any tool of a master carver can be compared to a straight razor, therefore, when working with it, you must strictly follow safety precautions. The material must be positioned so that you can work freely with a knife or chisel, eliminating the possibility of the sharp edge hitting your hands.

The work place should be comfortable and clean. All unnecessary tools at the moment should be carefully folded, because they are very sharp and can cause injury.

Materials for work

Each type of wood for carving has its pros and cons. Soft wood is easy to work with, but there can also be a lot of defects. These are aspen, linden, birch. This wood is best for beginners.

Oak, boxwood, mahogany are more expensive and complex wood. It is hard and durable, so it is difficult to carve from such wood. Very often there are troubles when working with such types of wood. Either the instrument or the craftsman may be harmed.

An experienced carver can easily work with a variety of woods, including juniper. Well, for beginners it is better to use inexpensive materials - spruce, pine, pear or birch.

Whatever tools are chosen for wood carving, safety precautions must be strictly observed!

Geometric carving technology

Geometric wood carving is considered the simplest and is perfect for beginners. To create the intended design, you need to have a small set of wood carving tools and clearly follow the design. In geometric wood carving, symmetry and repetition are of utmost importance. This achieves a wonderful play of light and shadow.

Cutting boards using this technique and wooden panels look wonderful in the kitchen.

Geometric carving consists of sequential cutting out of simple geometric shapes: rectangles, triangles, squares, rhombuses. But the result is a wonderful ornament that looks different in different lighting.

Execution Sequence any wood carving is like this:

• First, a wooden blank is made (board, deck, blank).
• Next is rough leveling of the surface of the workpiece, during which all defects and roughness are removed.
• Then a decorative relief is formed using special cutters.
• After the main carving is completed, the finishing process is grinding, impregnation, painting, varnishing.

You cannot work with a workpiece on your knees! The master must have a table to work on.

Master class “Geometric wood carving on a cutting board”

Tools. You will need 2 knives for wood carving: a triangular jamb knife and a feather knife, a ruler, a compass, a pencil.

A triangle jamb knife is necessary for cutting triangular shapes of various configurations, as well as for cutting long straight lines. A pen knife is used to cut long lines such as a petal or groove. Carving knives should be sharp and comfortable.

First stage. We make a sketch of the pattern on the board. It can be applied using a compass and ruler. Or you can print out carving patterns taken from the Internet and use carbon paper to transfer them to a prepared cutting board.

Second phase. Cut out the petals. We use a pen knife.

While working, the thumb is pressed firmly against the board, and the index finger lightly touches the wood. This will help regulate the depth of the knife into the surface and the angle of inclination. And your thumb will help you move the blade smoothly. First, we cut in one direction at an angle, then we turn the board over and cut on the other side.

If the shavings curl like a rope, the knife is good and sharp. It must be periodically sharpened with a piece of leather with GOI paste.

Third stage. We cut out the triangles with a blunt knife. Using the heel, at an angle of 45 degrees, we cut the knife into the wood, not reaching the edges of the pattern on three sides. The slots should meet on all sides in the shape of a pyramid. The sliver falls out and forms a beautiful triangle.

Fourth stage. What we couldn’t cut, carefully clean it so that the edges are frequent and even. Using the same principle, we cut out grooves and triangles around the perimeter of the board.

Fifth stage. We sand everything with sandpaper and treat it with natural impregnation. All! The work is done. We decorate the kitchen with a useful and beautiful cutting board with wood carvings.

Wood carving designs

To perform wood carving, photographs, drawings and sketches are simply necessary. A large pattern for wood carving is used for large-scale products: for the facades of houses, interior decoration with carvings of churches, windows.

For interior items and furniture, carvers use small patterns that are carefully worked out by the craftsman.

YOU WILL NEED IT

We offer you an archive from . Choose, print, create.

Video master classes on wood carving for beginners

Of course, the wood carving looks especially impressive in the video. Channel "HAND WOOD CARVING" shows the features of geometric carving for beginners.

A woman's view of wood carving. Channel tatianacarving shows us how to make flower petals and leaves.

Konstantin Belyaev on his channel he talks in detail about wood carving cutters.

And in this video Ivan the Builder shows how to make relief-planar carving:

We will be very glad if this article inspired you to take up wood carving!

In past centuries, almost every resident of our country mastered handcraft techniques. Hand work was divided into female and male types. Today, gender boundaries are somewhat blurred, and everyone can choose any business to their liking. Few people choose obsolete types of manual labor as their main occupation, but most people want to have an exciting hobby. One of the arts that you can choose as a hobby is real wood carving, which is suitable for beginners. Carved elements on boxes, photo and painting frames, as well as furniture and interior items look very beautiful.

• First you need to prepare a theoretical basis. Look Pictures with the works of craftsmen, videos on the topic, read articles and scroll through books . If you are sure that you want to try yourself in this creative work, then you should get tools, blanks and other things necessary for a master.
• First of all, you need to prepare your tools. It is important to monitor their quality: a poorly sharpened knife can discourage you from continuing to learn a new craft for a long time. In addition, if the tool breaks during cutting, you will not be able to finish the job at all, which will lead to great disappointment. Tools for the carver can be ordered on well-known Chinese websites, bought in construction or specialized stores, and also made to order from a good, trusted craftsman.

Learning wood carving for beginners with basic techniques

The first and main assistant for the master will be a jamb knife. It is a cutter with a short blade beveled at an angle. They are convenient for cutting out geometric patterns and some other elements.

In addition, a set of chisels will come in handy. They differ from each other in shape and size. There are flat chisels; semicircular chisels of various diameters for cutting grooves and notches; square and triangular - for various carving techniques. Initially, in order not to spend money on expensive tools, some craftsmen sharpen flat-head screwdrivers themselves for these purposes. There are also various tools for professional craftsmen, which will be useful to the artisan after he has mastered carving techniques with basic tools. In addition, carvers sometimes use electric tools: a router, a jigsaw, and even a chainsaw.

Choosing the type of wood for different types of carvings

To master wood carving with basic techniques for beginners, you need to understand that different types of wood have different qualities from each other. They all have their advantages and disadvantages. Soft woods - linden and juniper. They are easy to cut, but all the flaws and unnecessary cuts are visible. Many masters do not advise starting to learn using them. Spruce and pine are denser and more durable materials, but this makes the cutting process a little more complicated. It is quite easy to cut birch, but it is not very strong, and over time the product can become deformed and darken. Thus, the choice of wood remains with the master.

A simple way to avoid paying too much attention to this aspect: take an existing cutting board at home or a blank box from a craft store. You can also try it on a piece of wood from the garage. When you understand that carving is for you, you can purchase special materials.

When choosing wood, you need to pay attention not only to the type of wood, but also to the uniformity of the block, the absence of knots and cracks. When preparing, you should not sand the block so that particles do not remain on the wood, causing the knife to become dull.

When learning any business, it is important to remember the principle of gradualism. You should not start carving wood with sculptural carvings: in this case, there is a high probability that nothing will come of it until he knows how to hold a knife in his hands or has no idea about the volume of the product.

Oddly enough, you don’t have to be an artist to master this craft. To perform beautiful work, it is enough to hold a knife in your hand correctly and master the basics of this art. To make a pattern on a box, board or somewhere else, you can use ready-made sketches, stencils and templates, which can be found in abundance on the Internet or in books, and you can also repeat drawings in books or patterns on fabrics, for example, on wood.

Let's look at a master class on geometric wood carving for beginners

The simplest type of cutting is flat carving. It is divided into several types, the simplest and most accessible even to children is geometric carving. The name itself suggests that ornaments consisting of simple geometric shapes are cut out with a knife. However, with careful work and interesting combinations, this type of carving can also look very impressive and beautiful.

To work you will need:

• knife-jamb
• a block of selected species
• pencil with ruler

First, you need to draw two parallel lines on the workpiece at a distance of 1 cm and make marks also 1 cm apart in a checkerboard pattern.

Connect the dots to form triangles. Make a mark in the middle of each triangle on the bottom row.

Connect the centers of the triangles with the vertices of the triangles. Now insert the knife into the middle of the triangle to a depth of 4-5 cm, and bring the obtuse angle of the knife to the top. Do this for all three corners.

Then cut out the sides of the triangles as shown in the photo.

Do the same with the top row of the ornament.

Having a little experience in wood carving from the master class above, you can safely start cutting out slightly more complex elements. The following stencil or any other will be useful for this.

Video lessons on the topic of the article

Wood carving

Modern carving

It does not have a strict classification, since different types of thread can be combined in the same product.

Conventionally, we can distinguish types of threads:

1. through thread (this includes cutting and slotted threads)
2. blind thread (all subtypes of relief and flat carving)
3. sculptural carving
4. house carving (is a separate direction, since it can combine all three of the above types).
5. Chainsaw Carving (Performing primarily sculptural carvings using only a chainsaw.)

The conditional classification of thread types is as follows:

Through thread

Walnut

Through thread is divided into actually end-to-end And invoice, has two subtypes:

• Proriznaya thread - (through sections are cut with chisels and cutters)
• Propilnaya thread (actually the same thing, but such areas are cut out with a saw or jigsaw).

A slotted or saw-cut carving with a relief ornament is called openwork.

Flat grooved thread

Flat grooved carving is characterized by the fact that its basis is a flat background, and the carving elements go deep into it, that is, the lower level of the carved elements lies below the background level. There are several subtypes of such carvings:

• contour thread- the simplest, its only element is a groove. Such grooves create a pattern on a flat background. Depending on the chisel you choose, the groove may be semicircular or triangular. The semicircular one is cut with a semicircular chisel, and the triangular one is cut with a corner cutter, a corner chisel or an ordinary knife in two steps.
• staple (nail) thread- the main element is a bracket (outwardly similar to the mark left by a fingernail when pressing on any soft material, hence the name nail-shaped) - a semicircular notch on a flat background. This notch is made with a semicircular chisel in two steps: first, the chisel is deepened into the wood perpendicular to the surface, and then at an angle at some distance from the first cut. The result is a so-called bracket. Many such brackets of different sizes and directions create a picture or its individual elements.
• geometric (triangular, trihedral notched) thread- has two main elements: a peg and a pyramid (a triangular pyramid buried inside). Carving is performed in two stages: pricking and trimming. First, the sectors that need to be cut are pricked (outlined) with a cutter, and then they are trimmed. All elements are performed with a knife-jamb. Repeated use of pyramids and peg at different distances and at different angles gives a great variety of geometric shapes, among which are distinguished: rhombuses, swirls, honeycombs, chains, radiances, etc.
• black glaze carving- the background is a flat surface covered with black varnish or paint. As in a contour carving, grooves are cut into the background, from which the design is built. The different depths of the grooves and their different profiles give an interesting play of light and shadow and the contrast of the black background and light cut grooves.

Relief carving

Relief carving is characterized by the fact that the carving elements are located above the background or at the same level with it. As a rule, all carved panels are made using this technique. There are several subtypes of such carvings:

• flat-relief carving with a cushion background - can be compared with contour carving, but all the edges of the grooves become rolled, and sometimes with varying degrees of steepness (more sharply on the side of the design, gradually, gently, on the background side). Due to such oval contours, the background seems to be made of pillows, hence the name. The background is flush with the design.
• flat-relief carving with a selected background - the same carving, but only the background is selected with chisels one level lower. The contours of the drawing also become shaved.
• Abramtsevo-Kudrinskaya carving (Kudrinskaya)- originated in the Abramtsevo estate near Moscow, in the village of Kudrino. The author is considered to be Vasily Vornoskov. The carving is distinguished by a characteristic “curly” ornament - curling garlands of petals and flowers. The same characteristic images of birds and animals are often used. Like flat-relief, it comes with a cushion and a selected background.
• carving "Tatyanka"- this type of carving appeared in the 90s of the XX century. The author (Shamil Sasykov) named this formed style in honor of his wife and patented it. As a rule, such carvings contain floral ornaments. A characteristic feature is the absence of a background as such - one carved element gradually merges into another or is superimposed on it, thus filling the entire space.

Sculptural carving

USSR stamp, 1979, Bogorodskaya carving

A distinctive feature is the presence of sculpture - images of individual figures (or groups of figures) of people, animals, birds or other objects. In fact, it is the most difficult type of carving, since it requires the carver to have a three-dimensional vision of the figure, a sense of perspective, and maintain proportions.

It is considered a separate subspecies Bogorodskaya carving. The art of chainsaw carving, which is becoming increasingly popular both among carvers and connoisseurs of beauty, can also be considered a type of sculptural carving. The popularity is easy to explain. Chainsaw carving is, first of all, an action, a performance, a show. Increasingly, festivals, competitions, and demonstration performances by chainsaw carving masters at public events, presentations, and exhibitions began to be held. Unlike other genres of wood carving, the viewer not only sees the final result of the master’s painstaking and long work, but also visually participates in the process of creating the sculpture.

see also

Notes

Literature

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what “Wood carving” is in other dictionaries:

wood carving- Wood in art has been used since ancient times in architecture, sculpture, decorative and applied arts, especially folk art (utensils, furniture, often tinted or decorated with carvings, intarsia, painting, gilding, etc.)... … Dictionary of Temple Architecture

ARTISTIC WOOD CARVING, one of the oldest and most common types of artistic woodworking, in which a pattern is applied to the product using an ax, knife, cutters, chisels, chisels and other similar tools. WITH… … encyclopedic Dictionary

FLAT-RELIEF WOOD CARVING, one of the most common types of carving. The relatively shallow relief (5-20 mm) maintains the same height with the same depth of the main background. The main motifs of flat-relief carving are floral ornaments... encyclopedic Dictionary

GEOMETRIC WOOD CARVING, one of the most ancient and widespread types of wooden ornamental carving. It is made in the form of recesses of two, three, tetrahedral shapes, which in combination give a large number of different compositions.... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

All photos from the article

Wood carving has been familiar to mankind since time immemorial; it was actively used in decorating and arranging homes, turning it into a real art with its own subtleties.

Types of carvings and their history

The very first craftsmen used a fairly primitive tool: the transformation of wood took place with the help of an adze, spoon, planer, chisel and axe.

A composition depicting deer, which dates back to the 5th-2nd centuries BC, has survived to this day.

1. House carving differs from other types in its scale. To perform it, you will need mastery of a saw, chisel and ax. Most often, coniferous wood is used as a material.

House carving has much in common with ship carving and is divided into slotted, relief and volumetric. The first three-dimensional carvings adorned the bows of ships; ships with wooden figures of horses, birds and deer plied the sea.

The relief look can still be seen on the gables of houses, platbands and windows. The first masters of incised carving appeared only in the 19th century, when openwork ornate decorations were created on railings and entrances to houses.

1. Volumetric carving can rightly be called the most complex type of wood processing. The sculptural method allows you to create images that are separated from the general background, which requires considerable skill. It was this method that was used in Rus' to make toys, animal figurines, whistles and church paraphernalia.

Note!
Cornoplasty also refers to volumetric carving. To create original images, the lower part of the tree, which has a wide variety of shapes, is used.

1. Contour carving is a type of ornamental carving that has become widespread since the 15th century.. It is made on wood in the form of straight lines that are cut along the contour of the design.
   Outwardly, it bears some resemblance to engraving; it has a simple, dry, clearly defined composition, the variety of which is added by coloring.

1. Geometric carving is the simplest type, suitable for beginners. The pattern is created on the basis of wedge-cutting grooves of various depths and directions.
   This type also includes bracket carving, the pattern of which is created using a round chisel. Craftsmen consider linden, aspen and all the variety of coniferous species to be the most suitable wood.

1. Relief and flat-relief carvings differ in that the ornament has the same height. In most cases, the image of leaves of plants, birds, animals, and geometric shapes is taken as a basis.
   The hobby of relief carving will require a considerable number of tools, among which there must be knives, chisels, hammers, scrapers, and rasps. To carry out the work, choose hard wood: beech, oak, fir, cedar.

Tools and materials

Before carving patterns on wood, make sure you have the necessary tools and materials.

Standard sets of cutters consist of 18 tools, their size varies from 2 mm to 5 cm. The main thing in the tool is the sharpest possible sharpening, which allows you to do without much effort.

Note!
Tools for wood carving, including chisels, are sharpened on both sides.
This provides scope for choosing the cutting angle of the wood.

Flat chisels have the same sharpening angle on each side, while round chisels have a larger bevel on the outside. To sharpen such tools, you will need shaped whetstones and high-quality sharpening stones.

Choosing wood

The success of your creative impulse is largely determined by the correctly selected wood.

If your plans include creating elements that will be located outdoors (window and door frames, cornices), use softwood. Thanks to the resin content, carved creations are protected from rotting.

Advice!
When choosing material, pay attention to the presence of knots.
Their presence makes the wood unsuitable for carving.

Harvesting wood

If you are harvesting wood yourself, after drying it is cut. For wind boards, carved platbands and cornices, a board with a thickness of at least 20-25 mm will be required. If after cutting the workpiece has a different thickness, level it using a plane.

Boards prepared for carving are not sanded after planing. Ignoring this recommendation can lead to rapid dulling of the tool due to abrasive stuck in the wood.

Master class on geometric carving

Pattern “Single Triangles”, “Snake”, “Rosette”

Circular ornament

1. To create a circular ornament, draw a circle of the required diameter and divide it into an arbitrary number of parts.
2. Connect the center of the figure with the dots. Inside the circle, draw another circle of smaller diameter.
3. Deepen the tip of the cutter, tilt it to the base of the triangle and remove the chip.
4. Cut out all the triangles in the same way.
5. Make a cut on the inside line of the beam.
6. On the outer line of the beam, tilting the cutter to the right, cut one side. The second side is cut out with the same movement.
7. The result is a “Shine” pattern. Finally, sand the surface with sandpaper.

Secrets of the professionals

If you seriously decide to master the skill of wood carving, you will need not only a standard set of chisels, but also smaller tools: a corner, a tsarazik and a cranberry.

To transfer a complex design onto the surface you will need carbon paper, tracing paper and a pencil. First, the ornament is transferred to tracing paper, and then to a block or board using carbon paper. To prevent the sheets from moving, they are secured with buttons.

After completing the drawing, the surface is lightly sanded. and coated with varnish. Craftsmen choose oil varnish for this purpose. The brush is drawn in parallel in one direction and then in the other direction.

After drying, sand with worn-out fine sandpaper, brush and repeat the varnishing procedure, creating 3-4 layers of varnish.

Conclusion

Creativity is limitless, and your imagination can be realized on canvas, a piece of wood or shapeless clay. Choose what you like, and the video in this article will tell you about the secrets of the craft.