1 Carving and Sculpture: Visual Literacy
 I have been taking classes in different aspects of woodcarving at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship annually for the last 10 years.
The week-long courses have always included relief carving ('The Fish', on the completion of which you join the quasi-astrological group 'Pyces'), something along the lines of ornamental carving (mouldings or lettering) and an intermediate class where students bring there own projects.
Last year, I also ran a course called Sculptural Carving and I'm very pleased to say I'm running it again this year.
Why so pleased?
Partly it's because, as a teacher, I get a chance to improve on what we did before in the light of experience, and partly because I think it is by far the most important thing I have ever taught.
How so?
I think the 'rules' and principles of woodcarving are quite straight forward and readily learned: sharpening; how to hold and work with the tools; create effects and so on.
Sometimes I don't think I do more than about 5 things; I just do them well and can readily adapt them. We are talking here of the mechanical skills in woodcarving. And in learning any skill what matters above all is intelligent practice.
No matter what your natural talent, you need practice to make the most of it.
I also think that getting to a reasonably competent skill level in carving is not too difficult for most people (given that practice).
But what really separates carvers out is what goes on inside their heads: how they perceive what's in front of them, and what difference it makes if they do 'this' or that' to the piece of wood in front of them.
Woodcarving then becomes a mental, 'inner game'. I'm talking about nothing less than understanding the 'visual language' of three-dimension form, of the physical world in which we find ourselves and that we engage in our carving and sculpture:
 The difference between 'mass' and 'volume'
The many types of space and the way in which space interacts with volume
The impacts of light & shadow
Surfaces: textures, planes, edges, lines
Rhythms; different symmetries; balance; movement
The 'affect' of each element; how it affects the viewer. Why do some shapes feel uplifting, others claustrophobic?
'Meaning': how do we make the viewer see in the way we want them to?
These and many other elements in sculpture (of which woodcarving is just one form) interact and are what makes carvings 'work', or not; 'beautiful' or 'meaningful', or not.
And the more we, as carvers, can be aware of these sculptural qualities - can be 'visually literate' - the more successful will be our carvings.
Once we get to a certain level of woodcarving competency, these are the things that matter.
An analogy would be that learning the rules of chess is pretty easy - that's the mechanical skill. Playing chess above mere competency with the rules, however, is another matter. And all in the mind.
And this is why I think this Sculptural Carving Course is of special importance to anyone who really wants to understand what makes woodcarving 'tick'.
So the course arose out of my wanting to explore the visual language of wood sculpture with students.
We work non-representationally: in other words we choose to work directly with these visual, sculptural elements, so we can see and really appreciate them, outside of 'meaning' something (like 'bird', acanthus' etc).
We can then bring this new understanding, this ability to see, into whatever carving work we undertake.
More than anything else in the course we bring in and share our sense of play - our most creative state!
It takes a lot of courage to engage in this way: we are all so fearful at freeing ourselves up and I am asking nothing less than that we start seeing the world around us differently.
So, what do you think? Why not join me in Maine?
June 18 – 22:
Sculptural Carving at the Center for Furniture Craftmanship
2 Key Notes on Sharpening Woodcarving Gouges
I always seem to have to cover sharpening with students, despite (or perhaps because of!) having written about sharpening in various books and magazines.
I repeatedly tell students about certain fundamental qualities they need to have in their gouges and this prompted me to write a few 'key' notes on sharpening - sort of bullet points.
These notes don't pretend to cover the material in my books, especially Woodcarving Tools, Materials & Equipment Vol. 1.
More, I rather hope that these key points are short and sharp enough for students to memorize and keep in mind as they commission their carving gouges.
I thought it would be a pity not to make them generally available so here they are in PDF format for you to download freely and pass around:
By the way:
It's no doubt a case of 'seeing is believing' and to that end I'll be making a DVD on the subject soon - you'll have the details in this newsletter sooner than anyone else, so keep a look out!
That's it!
Please forward this newsletter to a woodcarving friend, and anyone else you think might be interested. Thanks!
Joy and success with your carving.
Chris Pye
PS: One for the Bench:
"Significance doesn't lie in the object itself, but in the object as perceived, however erroneously, or distorted.
Husserl appreciated that. And that seems to be true in science as in analysis."
~ Brian Aldiss: 'Forgotten Life'
3 Miscellaneous & Useful Website Links
BACK ISSUES of this newsletter:
http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html
including zipfiles for 2001 - 2006 text-style newsletters
TUITION/TEACHING 2007
UK (1-TO-1 PERSONAL TUITION)
The best way to learn or improve your carving is to join me in my studio for intensive, custom tuition, tailored to exactly what you need. Easy to arrange; dates to suit.
Full details here:
http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/tuition/t_custom.html
USA 2007 (Center For Furniture Craftsmanship, Maine)
| June 18 - 22 |
Wood Sculpture |
| June 25 - 29 |
Relief Carving |
| July 2 - 6 |
Intermediate/Advanced Carving
|
Details on the CFC website: http://www.woodschool.org
SLIPSTONES WOODCARVING MANUALS
Help yourself!
You are free to copy any or all of these ebooks, send them to your carving friends, or have them available on your own website but you must not charge money for them.
Full list and details here:
http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/index.html
Key Notes on Sharpening Woodcarving Gouges (pdf only)
Master Woodcarving Secrets (pdf only)
(Sponsored by Tools for Working Wood)
Quick Carving Questions - 1
(Sponsored by Tools for Working Wood)
Quick Carving Questions - 2
(Sponsored by Classic Hand Tools http://www.classichandtools.com/)
Quick Carving Questions - 3
(Sponsored by Preferred Edge Carving Knives & Supplies)
Quick Carving Questions - 4
Selecting & Sharpening Your V Tool
Learning to Carve
Learning to Carve 2
A Guide to Safe Woodcarving
Mistakes and Woodcarving
Fundamentals of Woodcarving
Slicing, And The Value Of The Inside Bevel (pdf only)
PDF versions of all Ebooks
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