1:  The Big 5...
2:  New eBook - Notes on Learning to Draw
3:  Teaching in the UK: Westdean College 2009
4:  Miscellany:
       One for the Bench
       Back issues
       Woodcarving Tuition/Teaching
       Woodcarving DVDs
       Slipstones Woodcarving Manuals

More and more, carving seems to me an 'inner game'.

I often think that I only do a few 'things' - let's call it 5 - when I carve. These are not so much techniques as attitudes that I have; focuses; ways of working.

It's hard to overemphasize how profound these things feel to me sometimes. I mention them to students ("Here's a pearl. Catch!") but I'm never really sure if they get it since I also understand how banal or drippy these things must sound.
Anyway, judge for yourself.

Here's the fifth and last:

By design, I mean its plan or scheme; the way in which the carver has arranged all the various parts of the carving. It would include the 'whole point' of the piece, its conception, and the way the thing communicates to me the viewer.

By execution, I'm talking about the way the carving has actually been made; the technique as a vehicle for the design; how the wood has been handled.

Using the idea of looking with 'either eye' is quite a good analogy because although we can choose to cover up one eye and just look at something with the other, this is not normally what we do. Our two eyes work normally work together.
In the same way, we normally see the design and the execution together as one and of course they are inseparable: you can't volitionally make something that is 'designless', even if the result is unintentional, and a design without being made is just an idea in your head.

I'm possibly making this more complicated than it needs to be. Any judge of a woodcarving competitions will look at the design aspects of a carving separate from its execution, as well as putting the two together and considering the whole.
So what's my point?

The best instance will always be when great design is accompanied by great execution. However, for me, when there is an equality design always wins over technique because in the design lies the essential communication with me, the viewer.

In other words no matter how good your technique is, if your design is poor (boring, unbalanced, failing to deliver your 'message', just not 'working' etc) your carving will leave a viewer cold.
 
On the other hand, even if your technique is a bit rough or inadequate but you have a great design - one that communicates instantly and strongly - you can stop a viewer in their tracks.

Most beginners concentrate on technique - the 'how' of carving, and that's probably a reasonable enough thing to do.
But I've watched too many of them stick at this stage: always copying the designs of others. There are surely many reasons but I suspect mostly they fear a lack of 'artistry' or design skill and this stops them from even trying. It does take a lot of courage to put your designs up for public scrutiny.

If you never have a go at designing your own carving, you'll never communicate anything from yourself no matter how well you execute the piece.
And you'll never know where the real buzz lies: in the fine execution of your own design, communicating yourself as best you can.

 
This is the end of my train of thoughts. I'll assemble and illustrate these 5 articles into a download file when I can. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts on further subject for this newsletter, do let me know!

2  New eBook:

Last newsletter, you may recall Henri's essay on drawing, which started:

"Many times I've thought that woodcarvers might benefit from some advice on drawing.

"Between 1990 and 2002 I studied to become an artist, and spent quite a lot of my time learning this skill: drawing, and I'd like to share some thoughts and pointers here..."

Read the whole essay, now kindly edited, illustrated and turned into a pdf document by Henri - to whom I offer many thanks!

3  Teaching in the UK: Westdean College 2009

Advanced warning in brief that I am booked to a beginner's course in Relief Carving at Westdean College, Chichester, West Sussex, 2-6 Feb 2009.

West Dean College is part of the Edward James Foundation, a charitable trust located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in south-east England. The college is residential.

I'll be posting more details in a future newsletter as they are finalised.

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:

"Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought."

          ~ Jonathan Swift

BACK ISSUES of this newsletter:

http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html
including zipfiles for 2001 - 2006 text-style newsletters
 

TUITION/TEACHING 2008-09

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.
Click here for full details
 

USA 2008 (Center For Furniture Craftsmanship, Maine)

  July 21 - 25:  Relief Carving

  July 28 - Aug 8:  2 week Intermediate/Advanced

Details now on the CFC website: http://www.woodschool.org
 

UK 2009 (Westdean College)

  February 2 - 6:  Relief Carving

 
USA 2009 (Center For Furniture Craftsmanship, Maine)

  June 22 - 26:  Relief Carving

  June 29 - July 10:  2 week Intermediate/Advanced

 
WOODCARVING DVDs

Full list and details: here

  Sharpen your Gouge
  Essential Lettercarving Techniques
  Ornamental Carving
  Buy all 3 and save 10%!

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

  Notes on Learning to Draw by Henri Ruukki
  Slipstones Interactive Woodcarving Journal & Newsletter - Archived
  Chris Pye Signature Slipstones (pdf only)
  Deep Undercutting Tools (pdf only)
  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