How to know which type of wood carving is right for you
Perhaps you have recently had a friend’s birthday and you would like to give her a piece of your hand-carved ornament but you don’t know how to start yet. At this point, you start to check out the relevant knowledge, then this article we hope can help you. For beginners, all the techniques are very vague, and the most important thing you want to know is what type of wood carving is best suited for you and what kind of finished product you can expect. In this article we will carefully describe the differences, advantages and disadvantages of the different types of wood carving to help you differentiate exactly what you want. It would be our pleasure if you could gain some insights after reading this article. Let’s get started on our carving journey!
Relief sculpture
Relief carving is a kind of carving process that carves a three-dimensional pattern on top of a flat piece of wood. This type of carving is quite three-dimensional and can be particularly graphic, so it looks cool and stunning. The process of relief carving is that the carver will carve the pattern into the wood, and through constant sanding and modification of the details so that the pattern protrudes from the wood, presenting a three-dimensional effect similar to 3D. This type of carving produces finished products that are both simpler and more complex. If you are a beginner and want to learn relief carving, you can try to carve some simple patterns such as letters, flowers, rainbows and so on. After you slowly improve your skills through learning, you can gradually increase the difficulty and start to carve some scenes and images, such as your favorite movie or anime character images. The advantage is that you can learn from hard to easy, step by step, and get a great sense of achievement. Its requirements for wood are flat therefore it is also easy to find wood. The difficulty is that you still need to take some time to get good at using a carving knife and chisel, and learn to rough out the general shape and then refine it to carve out the smallest details. Carving is a manual task that requires patience, and you need to be careful with the carving knife so that it doesn’t scratch you. You can also use an engraving tool with a safer working handle that will hardly hurt your hands.
Three-dimensional sculpture
Dimensional carving is also known as round carving. Cubic carving is the process of carving a three-dimensional object out of wood, which is very different from bas-relief carving. Both the raw material and the finished product are three-dimensional, whereas the raw material and the finished product of a bas-relief carving will be on the flat side. Since three-dimensional wood carvings are completely three-dimensional, they can be appreciated from all directions! Because the sculpture is completely 3D it can be viewed in all directions. This type of sculpture is often used to create sculptures of people, animals, elves, and other works of art, and it has a very wide range of applications. There are also a lot of videos on this type of carving, you can find many beginner videos on the website and following the instructions on the videos you can complete your work step by step. The disadvantage of three-dimensional carving is that it can be a bit harder than other types of carving and requires a bit more tools.
Spoon sculpture
Spoon carving is a type of tree carving. It is very popular so people have put it in a separate category. Tree carving is the process of carving a piece of wood into a useful household item. Spoon carving as the name suggests is carving spoons. This one is good for beginners. Firstly, it is simple, and secondly, a carved spoon has a practical value. Lastly, spoons are relatively small, so it is also easier to find suitable and cheap wood. The complexity of the spoon can be up to you. The advantage of spoon carving is that it’s fun and easy, and the carver can also engrave or design a little bit of their own ingenuity on the spoon. The difficulty is that your carving tools need to be well sharpened.
Green wood carving
Green wood refers to fresh wood, wood that is not yet completely dry. This wood has a high moisture content and it is not as hard as dry wood. It is this type of wood that is used as the raw material for many tree carvings and spoon carvings. The raw material for green wood carvings often comes from nature, so you can go out into the woods and pick up some of the branches of trees that have naturally fallen. You can do this by taking a tour or hike and enjoying nature while keeping an eye out for wood that can be used as carving material. This kind of carving is very free and you can design what it can become while it is still in its initial form. It is important to note that green wood contains a lot of moisture, and during the drying process it may crack or undergo some unknown condition, which is a new experience for the carver.
Wood chipping
The difference between wood chipping and dimensional carving is that wood chipping uses only a carving knife and sharpening tool; it requires no additional tools. Many beginners start with this type of carving because it requires fewer tools and is easier. Of course if you are carving by hand you still need to be careful with your hands and be careful not to cut your fingers. You need to be more careful with this type of carving because it uses more tools than other types of carving. The good thing about it is that beginners can get started very quickly and it has a low learning threshold, so you can teach yourself by watching videos.
We have introduced a total of five types of engraving, and we hope that we can help you find the most suitable engraving for you and help you discover the beauty of engraving. Through our introduction, do you have an initial idea in mind? We hope that wood carving brings you relaxation for your body and mind.
