I am a self-taught carver and I have been carving for a little more than a year now. I learned most of my techniques by watching videos created by Gene Messer. This is a great place to watch and learn the art of carving.
I joined The Lorain County Woodcarvers soon after I started carving and have learned much from the members.  The variety of skills of the members has exposed me to additional styles of carving including chip carving, relief carving and pyrography (wood burning). I also manage the Club’s Web site and Facebook page.

The inspiration for this carving came from my 4-year-old granddaughter. She sat on my lap and asked, “Papa, would you carve me something?”  When I asked what, she said, “An Angel.”  Now how could Papa say no?!

I found a picture of an angel carving that I like on the internet. I downloaded the photo and resized it to my carving size. The following photos document how I made this angel carving.

1. Once I find a picture to use as a pattern, I print it out to the desired size of the carving.  Using carbon paper I trace the outline and any specific details I want onto a blank.  I then take it over to the band saw and cut the outline of the blank. It is then ready to begin carving.

2. I make stop cuts (cuts made straight into the wood) along the guide lines, then use a small palm gouge to start taking away wood and begin shaping.  On the front of the wings I create a scooped effect, taking more wood out of the center.  On the back of the wings I draw a center line, and work from the center line to the edge and to the center of back to get a rounded effect.

3. With this angel, I started to form the wings.  I wanted to have them roll forward and be scooped.  I made stop cuts with my knife and then used a combination of knives and palm gouges to create the relief.

4. I made stop cuts along the arms to form the arms and chest. Once stop cuts are made, I again use a small palm gouge to remove the wood.

5. I started to define the arms, pushing back the lower gown and chest. I used my knife to create stop cuts and then used my palm gouge to create the relief. I used my knife to start rounding the edges of the gown.

6. I used my knife to shape the hair and separate the face a little from the hairline.

7. I created the hair texture with a small palm V gouge.

8. I added a little additional detail to the carving that was not in the picture – the tassels.

9. Since I will be carving an angel for both my grandchildren, I decided to personalize each by chip carving their name into the angel’s gown. I used carbon paper to place the letters and then chip carved the name.

I have learned that carving is really a very simple art.  Once you decide what you want to carve, in this case an angel, you simply remove all the wood that does not look like an angel!

Good luck with your carving projects!