How to Carve the Sides When Making Wooden Gifts

When many people first learn to carve wooden gifts, they don't know which to cut and which to keep once all three sides of the block have been drawn. Today we will answer this common question for the beginning wood carver, and you will improve when you learn these tips.

Prioritize drawing and cutting the front side of the block.

When carving wooden gifts, skilled woodcarvers usually prioritize one side of the drawing, the front view of the block. After drawing the front side, they will cut off the excess, and after that, they will draw the sides, and finally, they may also trim the draft while carving (mainly because after cutting off the lines, some of them are not clear or not sure).

Drawing auxiliary lines on the side of the block.

Draw the three side lines, which are extensions of the front lines, using a ruler or tape measure to wrap around the block and draw the lines according to the scale of the figure on the front. As shown in the picture, the head of the figure is in the position of the drawn auxiliary lines, then the head of the figure should be in the same position in the side view. A vertical center line also needs to be added to each side view to ensure symmetry of the figure in the individual views.

Redrawing and revising

After drawing the auxiliary lines for the sides, start drawing the side view draft of the figure. The vertical center line previously drawn will keep the head or other parts of the figure in the center of the wood block and prevent the figure from being out of proportion. In this step you need to have three-dimensional thinking and imagination, for example, although most parts of the example work are symmetrical, but the duck hat on top of the head is facing to the left, so you need to imagine the hat when you draw the draft in the side view.

It is possible to draw and cut just one side (left or right).

If you can stay vertical and precise when cutting, then you usually only need to cut out the front and one side without having to draw a draft of both sides. This is because once you have cut away the excess wood by following the contour lines on the left side, the right side will take on the approximate shape, and at this point it is only necessary to make small modifications using the carving knife, without having to repeat the draft of the right side.

In conclusion

In short, as a novice learning to carve wooden gifts, need to practice more, to find their own suitable feel and method, the process of wood carving is quite a test of the wood carver's three-dimensional thinking, these are also hands-on slowly go to accumulate, the novice can start from the simple works, such as symmetrical, round.