Disappointed in Woodcarving Illistrated Mag

[GerryAttrick]

As a new carver(whittler), living outside of USA, who recently posted my first post in Caricature Carving I find the biggest drawback is overseas postage costs- see my other post. This is not just on magazines but USA postage in general.

I want to read a magazine that I can hold in my hand. Its a pain to have to refer to a computer screen when surrounded by wood chips and dust.. I also do wood-turning which is even harder from an electronic copy. I will try a digital copy to gauge the content but it is doubtful that I will ever spend $70 postage on an $8 magazine! Delivery time is not an issue but cost sure is. I may consider a digital sub and resort to printing out the odd article to use as instruction

As a Numpty (technical term) I would want to see basic cuts and something along the lines of Doug Linker (and others)YT tutorials or the information in Mike Shipleys books to get me started. I am less interested in watching videos without some sort of explanation on the How/Why a certain cut is made. Nothing is more guaranteed to turn me off than the result of an attempt to carve a face and have it turn out like an over ripe pumpkin dropped from the top of a 5 story building. Once I have a decent result I am OK to to try some of my own carvings with less "guidance"

I am always interested in articles about sharpening and tool care and also tips from experienced and not so experienced carvers.

Alan

[DiLeon]

I think of my woodcarving interests as being on the fringe of the hobby. The mainstream is caricatures, canes, ornaments, and gnomes. When I post photos of my carvings, the usual comments are "That's nice, but it's beyond my patience." The magazine probably matches the interests of the mainstream. That's okay.

Your work is total art, and art is one thing that lasts in history. In war, it is so priceless that many countries go to lengths to destroy the artwork and the history that goes with it. And there are the people who bury it for generations to come. We live in this cheap throw-away world that does not understand the big picture of what has true value.....Phil your work goes beyond it all. Be proud that you are willing not to take the easy road and make true work that is hard yet pleasurable. True value art and books.

[pallin]

I think of my woodcarving interests as being on the fringe of the hobby. The mainstream is caricatures, canes, ornaments, and gnomes. When I post photos of my carvings, the usual comments are "That's nice, but it's beyond my patience." The magazine probably matches the interests of the mainstream. That's okay.

[DiLeon]

Wish I could afford it and other things but the times have got me on a razor's edge as far as finances. It keeps going up there may be a time that the wifi and car will have to go in order to survive. One thing about the medicine is they sure do know how to keep you in the poor house. One great thing about books and magazines is they are real items you can hold and use....unlike the meta verse where everything can be hacked, no usage if electricity is gone, or looking at a very possible war...one EMP would take out in seconds. Sad but most people do not have enough brain cells to get on the road without a robot telling them where to turn. Books are priceless, and so are magazines. I do have about five years of woodcarving magazines to entertain my woodcarving. I know the journalism of printing is major hurting these days as my sister works in the field, but if one person can hang on, I do believe it will be major needed in the future.

[uvawyo]

The Winter 2022 issue was excellent.

[Daliab]

Glad to see WCI has taken the initiative and partnered with one of the YouTube woodcarvers - Doug Linker, one of the woodcarvers that I recommended at the beginning of this thread. I believe WCI is taking a great step forward. WCI, there even more out there to be tapped. Kudos!

[Sharon of the Dell]

I have not subscribed to WCI in quite a while because of finances and also because I moved, but I continue to buy an occasional copy when I can.
Not everything appeals to me, not even from old issues. But some of the articles from old that didn’t appeal to me, I want to try now.
I hope WCI magazine can continue to keep the publication going. I still love it.

[uvawyo]

IMHO it was a better magazine when Roger Schroeder was editor. You could tell the editor was a carver. The how-to articles were easier to follow. However, I still do find interesting and informative articles and will continue to subscribe being optimistic that it will get better.

[NoDNA]

I have tossed the need for the mag. and not re upping it.
They are at loss one what we wish to see and do.
Cheers Chuck

[Daliab]

Well, Steve, I'm willing to pay for content that interests me...I have no interest in or time for producing content. As a buyer/consumer/subscriber, I have no reason to contribute to a magazine I pay for. I no longer subscribe to WCI as it seldom presents material of interest to me. I voted with my feet, as the saying goes, and spend my subscription dollars on a British magazine, digital edition, that gives me 80 pages of content that interests me, six issues per year. I find no fault with WCI, it's just not for me.

Arthur C. What is the British magazine name. Might be interested. WCI has to many ads....understand that's what pays their bills.

[Arthur C.]

Well said Brian T. For those who are disappointed in the magazine, write an article on what interests you and present it to the publisher. Participate, instead of throwing stones. This way you get your ideas and interests across. I am a long-time subscriber in WCI and Chip Chats also. Do I always find useful articles? No, but I usually find some good information in every issue. I also have had the honor of having an article published in WCI, a real thrill for me! We are a community, whether here on the forum or via the magazine. The exchange of ideas is what it is all about, this is how we grow.
Steve

Well, Steve, I'm willing to pay for content that interests me...I have no interest in or time for producing content. As a buyer/consumer/subscriber, I have no reason to contribute to a magazine I pay for. I no longer subscribe to WCI as it seldom presents material of interest to me. I voted with my feet, as the saying goes, and spend my subscription dollars on a British magazine, digital edition, that gives me 80 pages of content that interests me, six issues per year. I find no fault with WCI, it's just not for me.

[Daliab]

Steve, hopefully you read through the entire thread, then you know that I was contacted by Kelly from the publishing company and I gave her everything she was looking for in my disappointment rating in WCI. As you can see from the comments given, some folks like yourself, enjoy reading WCI while others don't and stated the reasons for their disappointment. Everyone that added comments to this threat (good and bad) has provided the publisher feedback which I believe they are hungry for. They are a business. Their survival depends on their readership and ad sales numbers...period. All feedback provided to the publisher via this thread will hopfully provide for a better magazine and continue to keep the readership high enough to continue to publish this magazine. Nobody here is throwing stones at anyone. We're providing the publisher feedback. If they don't want the true feedback, then they have the ability to delete this section of the forum but, I don't believe they will because they welcome the feedback to keep the magazine afloat. My 2 cents.

[Steve Reed]

Well said Brian T. For those who are disappointed in the magazine, write an article on what interests you and present it to the publisher. Participate, instead of throwing stones. This way you get your ideas and interests across. I am a long-time subscriber in WCI and Chip Chats also. Do I always find useful articles? No, but I usually find some good information in every issue. I also have had the honor of having an article published in WCI, a real thrill for me! We are a community, whether here on the forum or via the magazine. The exchange of ideas is what it is all about, this is how we grow.
Steve

[Brian T]

I sensed that the carving styles described in the WCI magazine wouldn't feed my interests very much.
What is it? Same bunch of authors in each issue? If that's true then it's up to the readers, the subscribers, to start writing about their carving passion.
Some magazines, I think they keep publishing the writings of a regular group of authors because they don't have many to pick from and nobody new is in the wings.

Fear not. You will get editorial advice. You are an investment to those people. They are quite willing to polish your writing to make the whole effort attractive to read and follow. That sells magazines.
I've been there and done that, writing science and technology for radio and for children's magazines. Over the years, I got to be pretty good at it (publish a first draft, some editing wood carving, etc).
Yes, there are text books that offer genuine advice for magazine & radio writing.

Next time you sit down at your bench, think about what those authors were trying to tell you. Can you tell a compact story about some independently contrived carving?

As you all know, I'm strongly influenced by PacNW First Nations art and carvings. Probably less than 2 dozen lavishly illustrated books of carvings. What keeps me going is visits with carvers in their individual websites. They all seem more than willing to help me overcome carving challenges such as left/right symmetry. I can cut 11 different geometries of kerfs for kerf bent box corners. I can do a 6" corner in about 30 minutes or less. All from museum collections. Will you ever see that in WCI?
I won't answer my own question.

[Don by the lake]

I too am disapointed in WCI.I will have 100 issues when my subscription ends and I seldom find anything in new issues that is interesting to me. I have all of my issues in my shop and I keep them for reference for carving projects. The older issues are alot more interesting and a great source of how to carve. I suggest the editors go through the old issues and maybe republish some of the old articles