DIY Network

Jim Wright: Driftwood American Indian Stress falls to the floor as he carves, just like his wood shavings. From "Woodsculpting" episode DWDS-109

Jim can see a face in each piece of driftwood that he finds.

Wood carver Jim Wright, has a love for carving with driftwood. Jim’s talent lies in being able to see the face in a piece of driftwood before he begins to carve. Not only does Jim carve driftwood, he also carves logs in-the-round, or 3 dimensional. But because no two pieces are the same, Jim's passion is relief carving in found driftwood.

Using just a few wood chisels and a mallet, Jim shows how he carves the face of an American Indian into a piece of driftwood as pictured to the left. He begins by establishing the eyes, or eyeline. Then, using the eyes as reference and the curve of the wood, he works his way through the rest of the face.

Materials:

Mallet
#10 gouge
#3 chisel
#4 chisel
Driftwood
Pencil

Figure A

Steps:

1. Select a piece of driftwood and mount it to a piece of plywood for more stability while carving (Figure A). When selecting the driftwood, use the off-shots of branches and roots as reference, try to visualize the hair and movement in them.

2. Start with the deepest part of the face - the eyes. Determine about where the eyes will be. Then, use a #10 gouge and start by working the eyes (Figures B, C, & D). Carve a wide gap, or gouge. This will establish the eye line and will also serve as a reference point for the rest of the facial features.

While carving this deepest part, keep in mind the thickness of the driftwood. If you are working on a piece of wood that isn't that thick, you don't want to carve too deep and create a hole.

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

3. Once the eye gouge is cut in, start by removing wood around it (). Use these eye gouge as your reference.

Figure E

Figure F

4. Next, move to the hairline, noting where the hairline will begin and how the hair will part (Figures G & H). Once the hairline is established, move on down the face, removing more wood.

Figure G

Figure H

5. Continue on down the face, forming the nose. At this point the face really begins to take shape. Then, change to a #3 chisel to remove more wood at a time under the nose (Figures I, J, & K). Doing this the mouth area and chin begin to take form.

Figure I

Figure J

Figure K

6. Now move back to the #10 gouge again, and remove the wood under the chin to form the jaw line and the neck (Figures L & M).

7. Next, to further establlish the American Indian cheekbones, use a flat #4 chisel with a narrow stem to carve a deeper line along the side of the face (Figure N). This chisel allows for carving in tight spaces.

Figure L

Figure M

Figure N

8. Moving back to the #10 gouge, begin carving the hair. Follow the established hairline and also the grain, or flow, of the wood.

9. To further shape the nose and the bridge of the nose, use a small chisel to push the wood off to define the nose and the bridge (Figures O, P, & Q).

Figure O

Figure P

Figure Q

10. Now it's time to establish the mouth. Use a pen or pencil to mark the location of the mouth. On most faces that generally falls in the upper 1/3 of the area between the end of the nose and the end of the chin (Figure R). Then, use the gouge again to outline the mouth (Figures S & T).

Figure F

Figure S

Figure T

11. Use small #4 chisel to push the wood off from around the mouth, adding in the fine details of this feature (Figure U). Do the same thing with the eyes and hair.

12. After carving the facial features, use a small chisel to add the fine details and to smooth out the wood, removing any burrs or rough spots (Figures V & W).

Figure U

Figure V

Figure W

RESOURCES :

Fox Chapel Publishing Co.
Publishers of
Woodcarving Illustrated magazine and numerous books on woodcarving.
1970 Broad Street
East Petersburg, PA 17520

Websites:
www.foxchapelpublishing.com

Fox Chapel Publishing, featured authors

Special DIY page at www.woodcarvingillustrated.com

Woodcarving Illustrated magazine
Website: www.woodcarvingillustrated.com