In today's episode of "Yet another hobby Nydex picks up that will 100% get abandoned soon," I've decided to embark on a whittling/woodcarving journey. I've had my eye on this craft for quite a while now, partly because I love doing stuff with wood, partly because I love blades.
In reality, most of the impetus behind this is the fact that the more AI encroaches on the digital territory of my professional domain, the more I am compelled to specialize in a craft that produces real-life, tangible, physical outputs in the form of art. Whittling and woodcarving fall directly into this category of craft, among other things like blacksmithing and carpentry, which are also on my list.
So I grabbed myself a whittling knife and a bunch of basswood carving (aka linden) blocks, as well as a protective glove and a stropping leather paddle with some stropping compound, and I tried it. The first project was a human head, since one of the things I want to specialize in is carving faces (human and otherwise) into larger blocks of wood at some point in the future, as those can make for some really psychedelic, beautifully geometric wall art (think of Shpongle's iconic emblem).
I think I got the proportions more or less correct, with the exception of not leaving enough material for the upper lip and jawline. Perhaps the most challenging part of the face for me are the eyes, and it gave me a bit of relief to see that in most woodcarving communities, beginners usually struggle the most with the eyes and mouth, so that's reassuring.
I will definitely continue this journey for now because there's something really therapeutic in creating a piece of physical, 3D art out of a blank piece of wood, and I find that really attractive. Plus it reprograms my terminally-online brain to a state of higher coherence with the real world (which is just code bro speak for touching grass, let's be real).
Feast your eyes upon my first, arguably pathetic attempt at carving out an elderly man's head:
In case you're wondering what tutorials I might be following, look up Alec LaCasse and LINKER on YT. The knife I use is a Pfeil Shape 11 detailing knife. And if you're planning on trying this, please, always wear a protective cut-resistant glove and remember that it will protect you from cuts, but it will not protect you against stabs. Control the knife and you'll save yourself a whole lot of pain and regret.
Also, this craft is among those wherein you can put dozen, hundreds of hours in polishing and very fine details, and one has to be mindful when diminishing returns start hitting, and have the will to move on to a new or different project that further develops your skills in a broader way rather than the tightly-scoped and focused manner in which fine detail and polishing does. A day only has so many hours, unfortunately...
Cheers
In reality, most of the impetus behind this is the fact that the more AI encroaches on the digital territory of my professional domain, the more I am compelled to specialize in a craft that produces real-life, tangible, physical outputs in the form of art. Whittling and woodcarving fall directly into this category of craft, among other things like blacksmithing and carpentry, which are also on my list.
So I grabbed myself a whittling knife and a bunch of basswood carving (aka linden) blocks, as well as a protective glove and a stropping leather paddle with some stropping compound, and I tried it. The first project was a human head, since one of the things I want to specialize in is carving faces (human and otherwise) into larger blocks of wood at some point in the future, as those can make for some really psychedelic, beautifully geometric wall art (think of Shpongle's iconic emblem).
I think I got the proportions more or less correct, with the exception of not leaving enough material for the upper lip and jawline. Perhaps the most challenging part of the face for me are the eyes, and it gave me a bit of relief to see that in most woodcarving communities, beginners usually struggle the most with the eyes and mouth, so that's reassuring.
I will definitely continue this journey for now because there's something really therapeutic in creating a piece of physical, 3D art out of a blank piece of wood, and I find that really attractive. Plus it reprograms my terminally-online brain to a state of higher coherence with the real world (which is just code bro speak for touching grass, let's be real).
Feast your eyes upon my first, arguably pathetic attempt at carving out an elderly man's head:
In case you're wondering what tutorials I might be following, look up Alec LaCasse and LINKER on YT. The knife I use is a Pfeil Shape 11 detailing knife. And if you're planning on trying this, please, always wear a protective cut-resistant glove and remember that it will protect you from cuts, but it will not protect you against stabs. Control the knife and you'll save yourself a whole lot of pain and regret.
Also, this craft is among those wherein you can put dozen, hundreds of hours in polishing and very fine details, and one has to be mindful when diminishing returns start hitting, and have the will to move on to a new or different project that further develops your skills in a broader way rather than the tightly-scoped and focused manner in which fine detail and polishing does. A day only has so many hours, unfortunately...
Cheers
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