In this section of our free, online Wood Spirit Carving Project by Lora Irish, we will learn how to correctly slope the sides of the human face in your basswood practice block. Learn the techniques for carving your own walking stick or cane wood spirit.
The seventh chapter in Lora Irish’s Great Book of Free Carving Projects and Patterns Series
“Wood Spirit Carving” – Sloping the Sides of the Face
Steps 11 – 12
Step 11
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| Looking at the face straight-on, the sides of the face appear to end just beyond the outer corners of the eyes.At that eye corner the face angles back towards the hair. |  |
| Place your hands against your face with your fingers touching along the ridge of the nose, and your fingers and palms held straight.Your fingers will touch the nose, cheeks, brow ridge, and even the eyes, but your hands do not touch the sides of the face once the face moves beyond the outer eye corner.As we work these next steps I will be dropping the sides of the face away from the outer corner of the eyes. |  |
| Use a pencil to mark, in general, where the edge of the face flows into the hair line on the side of the face. |  |
| I have also marked a curved line at the bottom of the cheek where the side-burn hair will begin, and a third line along the curve of the cheek that will become the outer edge of the beard. |  |
| Using a two-cut stroke with your bench knife, cut a shallow line along the side hair line to distinguish where the face stops and the hair begins. |  |
| Repeat the above step for the bottom line of the cheek and for the outer edge of the beard. |  |
| Note – these are just guidelines and because they are shallow, you can easily change their position in the coming steps. |  |
Step 12
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| I am going to take a few moments to shave away the remaining marking pen lines so that we have a clean face that is easier to see.The photo below shows an overlay of the our original step that marked the guidelines and where our wood spirit carving is. You can see how those guidelines have determined the position of each of the flat planes. |  |
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| At this point in the carving we have established the basic features of the face – the eyes, eye brow ridge, nose, nose bridge, cheeks, and sides of the face. | |
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Exclusive Designs |
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Wood Spirit Carving, Free Project by Lora Irish 1 Introduction and Supply List 2 Walking Stick Preparation 3 Exploring the Human Face 4 Planes of the Human Face 5 Carve The Human Face 6 Shaping the Facial Features 7 Sloping the Sides of the Face 8 Rough Cutting the Features 9 Carving the Eyes 10 Detailing the Eyes 11 Shaping the Features 12 Defining the Cheek and Nose 13 Working the Facial Hair 14 Refining the Face Shape 15 Carving the Wrinkles 16 Trimming the Beard 17 Review of the Techniques |
