Wood elf day 8 quick post.

Did a lot of things last night. I worked on probably every part of the body just refining it a bit. Her hands, her face, her boots even her battle dress skirt. Today I want to work on her spear a bit more and her hair. I already chainsawed out the feet as well. Cheryl thought I would just leave the boots where there where, the weight of the base would help keep her centered and everyone would think she was walking in mud or water. But I thought that perhaps a little more exposed foot was needed. We'll see how it goes. If I go too close to the base, the oak will chip off in a big block. So caution is required. Well...off to carving. It's cold outside and in the garage...so basically I'm stalling until I can get some hot beverage in me.

Day 7 wood elf

Worked a little on her tonight ....just a quick post trying to even up the legs. I still have to separate the feet to get the real feel of it. But here are the pics.

Carving the wood elf Day 6.

I know I didn't post anything yesterday because it was late and I felt as if I had done very little in the way of carving. Not that I didn't spend 6 hours working on her, Just that I had a lot of wood to remove and it took a long time to remove it ...so in the end. I didn't have much in the way of pics to show the progress. She now weights much less than before so I can put her on the saw horse. I used the chainsaw to separate her legs and from there I have been chipping away. After all that work, I got only one leg partially revealed. Feeling a Little discouraged, I worked a little on her arm and hand. I'm getting better at hands now in that they look more like a female and less like a meaty paw that I used to make. There is still a long way to go on her other side. I have to carved out her arm, hand, other leg and the spear that she is holding. then there are all the details. Who ever said carving was 'easy?' I'll see what I can get done tonight. I might post again later.

Tree carving day 5

Has it been 5 days? Well, tonight I have been working on the ears, hair and back of our little wood elf. I still don't want to do to much detail on her head, but outlining the ears seems to be helpful. Then I moved onto the back. Her cloak is probably going to look more like a toga with all the linen folds I would like to put in. You see, the last tree carving had hardly any folds in her dress. So to spice this one up a bit, I thought adding a LOT to her back would be cooler. It's going to take some time to smooth out all those wrinkles, but I'm liking the way it is turning out so far. And finally..My new shop cat. Or I should say 'the return of the old shop cat. Now that the door is closed, Red can come in and play on the carving as much as he wants....or until I kick him off and out.

Tree carving Day 4. Origami skull.

Continuing on the carving quest. Today it snowed and got a lot colder. So I decided to step up the carving plan and do my best to move her inside where it is slightly warmer. The garage is not heated, it's just shielded from the wind and draft of the outside. Plus it is a lot easier to light up. I did my best to remove the bark off the lower half, and clean up some of the chainsaw marks. She is still too heavy to put up on the sawhorse. But hopefully she will begin to dry and lose that heavy water weight. As for the carving part...I focused on the torso and a little on the right arm. That arm will be a tough time because it is basically one huge knot. It tends to bounce even my sharpest chisels back at me! Now that she is inside. I'm hoping that I can now make some real progress on her lower half. Also, While fooling around with a stray Arbies wrapper, I made a skull of an antelope. My first ever attempt and I like the way it turned out. More pics at the progress goes on.

Woodnymph tree carving ...Day three!

OK wood nymph or wood elf. She will probably look more like an elf when she is finally finished. I worked mostly on the head and face tonight. to help give me a focal point for the rest of the body. My partner in crime tonight was "bear" the neighbor hood stray cat who thinks he lives here. He's actually pretty well behaved for a non fixed male cat. Anyway..It started to snow tonight ( grrr) but I worked on through. I started with the chainsaw tonight, but actually I didn't do much with it. I 'm afraid to take off too much wood at a time. ( unlike chainsaw carvers) Besides the chisels are much cleaner to work with and don't make much noise. Well, she is taking shape. I'll continue posting the progress

Tree carving day 2

Well here's what you can do in about 8 hours with the help of a chainsaw. I have to admit that I think I got pretty far on her tonight. If my arm didn't feel like it was going to fall off, I probably would still be working on her. She probably is not very sexy at the moment, and it would be pointless to describe what is going on in my head. But you'll just have to keep following to see the progression. It helps to keep the chisels sharp, and I'm very happy with the Phiel ones I got at Woodcraft. They hold their edge the best of all those old ones of Grandpa's.

Another tree carving! YEAH! and Origami Rose

For the last couple of days I have been dragging two huge logs over to our house so I can have another large project to work on. I was able to grab two logs this time. Both oak! And spent the first couple of hours today trying to tip one up so I could work on it. It was a bit of a challenge, but i think the next one will be a little easier. I didn't get too far tonight, Basically I just chainsawed lightly on the bark and used my construction chisel to rough off the outer shell. It has been nice and warm here lately, so I'm hoping that the removal of the bark will aid in it drying a bit and getting lighter. (Did I mention it was HEAVY!) Once I get a little more off I'll be able to move it inside. Still have not decided what she is going to be. I have several ideas floating around in my brain. Oh, And I folded An origami Rose. the pattern being off of Robert Lang's version. I still need to work out a few bugs, but this one at least looks presentable.