First Attempt at a bear

[abercarver]

This afternoon I thought id have a go at a bear on some easy scots pine.

 

Isn't finished yet but planning to do the usual welcome sign held on to.

 

Not sure how to carry it on from here so some advice would help. Especially on the arms and hands. Its slightly out of proportion but all good practice.

 

Iv only done mushrooms in the past so thought id try something more challenging:001_smile:

[wisewood]

Hi mate,

Great first effort so far, quite a step up from shrooms:thumbup1:

Take a look at other carved welcome bears, that will help.

You could try out ideas with clay,playdo, wax,or soap in miniture,that way you'll have a good idea what shapes you want when you pick up the saw.

[abercarver]

Many thanks wisewood.

 

A few more and I should be doing ok. Great advise, might try that, thought id jump in at the deep end and try something mad

[dervishcarving]

Im a firm believer of... run before you can walk I went from shroom, shroom2, dolphin, cat and onwards. if you dont push yourself you will stagnate

you have the blocking out idea right, maybe the proportions are off a tad but thats just practice (or use splinters-approach and mark it out on the wood before you start) Your next step will be to experiment with the details. I started studying anatomy (no, not just himan although most of my career has been medical-related so i guess i had a head start). Find some books (or google) on animal anatomy, learn how the skeleton fits together then move onto how the muscles are attached to this skeleton. once you have that you are ready to 'add flesh' to your blocked-out carvings. If you sand the finished piece like this you can see how you did. or you can also learn how to carve fur-detail at the same time (takes practice to get it right and learning to use the side of the chain a lot) and add fur-detail as you go

 

I agree with Si on this one, when i started (and if i am doing more complex 'intertwined' pieces) i model it out with bluetak first before i put saw to wood

practice is all it takes. time and practice

[abercarver]

Many Thanks for your advice dervish :-) :-)