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Preparing your self mentally and physically for your project.

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  • #1

    Preparing your self mentally and physically for your project.

    Well im still tryin to figgure out the proper steps and take the proper steps.
    baby steping to becoming a GOOD CARVER REALLY// so i think to get A carving done it Is long process and I AM I REPEAT great full for all types of wood reaLLY IN THIS WORLD..hALALUA
    oK IM GONNA GET BACK TO CARVING

    I first try visulize the what im going to carVe MAYBE ITS MUSHROOM LOL MAYBE ITS DRUNKIN BEE ON FLOWER MAYBE A DIAMOND RING.mY MIND WANDERS and I breath taking deep breaths
    1 and two and three AND I HOLD MY BREATH AND ExHALE! I CAN DO IT! I TELL THAT MYSELF OVER AND OVER I CAN.. meanwhile doing mediatations my tiny little stinky compainon the poodle need outside to carve a loaf ..
    You have to eliminate all distraction be one with the wood so i hear.
    that includes screamin bratts and demanding poopy poodles..Its just seems i cant bring to that point in a wood carvers life to make the first cut. its a big step i realize this it makes or breaks a carver..and is the hardest for me because it decides exactly what this block of wood is going to be... I cant do it there to much pressure.. lol
    HELP!!!! in the meantime i will think about trying to do a bit of yoga after because it is stressing me out horribly ..
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  • #2
    Re: Preparing your self mentally and physically for your project.

    ... make the first cut .... it decides exactly what this block of wood is going to be
    no, here you are completely wrong in my opinion... when you carve, you will be amazed how many many many correcting changes you can do, at every stage... remember, michelangelo turned moses head by 30 degree, after (!) the carving was finished..and you know, this is one of the best carvings ever... a carving is not easily ruined by a few cuts,,, of course, if you break off a leg of a horse you want carve, you really have a problem, but otherwise, you can make tons of mistake, and still you will be able to correct all these while you go on in your carving... i do this all the time... so long saying, short meaning :
    take a gouge, and just start, dont worry, just carve..

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    • #3
      Re: Preparing your self mentally and physically for your project.

      Hi Woodfish,

      If you want to compare carving with meditation...to paraphrase the meditation guru Jon Kabat-Zin, the purpose of (carving) is to (carve), not to become an expert at it. Enjoy it for what it is, and THAT is the goal.

      Now, go get a glove on, and pick up your knife and carve! Stop worrying about it, just enjoy!!!

      Mark

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      • #4
        Re: Preparing your self mentally and physically for your project.

        Ditto what MarkKen said. Enjoy. You are making much to hard.

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        • #5
          Re: Preparing your self mentally and physically for your project.

          Whow....... lighten up on yourself, it's only wood! First cut, last cut, deceided somewhere inbetween what the final outcome will be. Focus, yes, but don't get so tense. What makes a good carver is relaxation and practice! Good tools help, but the practice is the key.

          Cut ten small blocks of wood, all the same size, then carve out ten hearts. Try to make them all the same or each one different, your choice. Not happy with one, throw it away, but practice, learn about grain, learn how your tools cut and learn what works and what doesn't.

          A good carving doesn't just happen. It takes practice, practice, practice.

          Bob
          Before they slip me over the standing part of the fore sheet, let them pipe: "Up Spirits" one more time.

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          • #6
            Re: Preparing your self mentally and physically for your project.

            I totally agree with Bob's comment....my first craving course with Lee Valley tools.......the instructor gave us a flower to carve, sounds easy..but we all could see the end result...and it gave us all the cuts...I think if my memory is right, I did 20 of those flowers...then scathered them around my Studio for show, and attached a number of them to boxes. Practice, practice.....every sculpture I do I learn from it and the wood.

            Good luck, Knarl

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            • #7
              Re: Preparing your self mentally and physically for your project.

              Woodfish .. when I read your post .. I just smiled ... I remember a picture my wife had of me sitting in Disney World with huge crowds going back and fourth and right in the middle of it I sat on a bench carving away as if the rest of the world didnt exist .. I love that picture .. It shows me what carving does for me ..

              Carving releases me from that stress your talking about ..

              As the others have said ... carving is to be enjoyed .. not to stress us out .

              Maybe your trying to be a perfectionist in your carving and not make mistakes .. yes that will stress you out ..

              Please .. please .. allow the act of carving to be your stress reliver .. not your giver ..

              Carving is the thing that kept me sane durining my wifes six year illness with cancer and her death .. Look at as a gift .. not a burden

              If you cant use the goughes with the little ones around .. just pick up a knife and whittle a little figure or something ... just something to relax ..

              Carving is one of the greatest enjoyments I have ever had in my life ..
              and whats best .. you dont have to be very smart to do it .. and that saves me

              God Bless

              Gene

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              • #8
                Re: Preparing your self mentally and physically for your project.

                Hi Woodfish, I agre mosty with what was replied here & just want to share my onw experiences also. I would go out & stand in fromt of a log & contemplate where to make a first cut & what to do? THis took up more of my time & created great stress & I was more atuned to this than actually carving. What I have learned from my experience is to "just go for it" & this puts you directly onto the right side of the brain & into the art of creation. It is this self doubting & hesitation that our left side creates all along & hampers the art from truely showing itself. I never hesitate now & learned this by doing live carving shows & speed carving & I am talking about a chainsaw here where ya can hack a peice off in seconds but I have only ever not been truely happy with a couple of pieces out of hundreds of carvings. You must just trust your intuition & challenge yourself. I also try to carve or challenge myself to carve by just viewing images of a subject matter then go out & "just do it" & I anaalyse this as taking the long way around from point A to point B but find that once you do this it pays you back ten fold in confidence & really knowing by learning form your mistales. If you use reference material & totally depend on it you dont learn in the same way. I agree that reference material must be used when doing a specific human or recreating a subject to exactness within one carving but to challenge yourself is the best exersize in learning & learning fast. he ehstitation will hamper ya & it is unnecessary stress!
                Thanks, Robbin
                Shine On!

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