Recently I spoke with a novice carver who was having trouble knowing where to get started. She had a million questions, but no idea where to look. Who to trust.
Of course, the internet is an incredible resource. But its also an overwhelming resource because of the sheer number of voices and opinions vying for your attention. Who is right? Who should I listen to?
This person wished there was someone they could turn to for definitive answers to her questions .
Unfortunately, that's not possible or even realistic. Every carver has their own way of doing things. These aren't math problems. There isn't one right answer. And that's where a lot of the anxiety about getting started stems from for beginners who are starting a new hobby.
In this upcoming year, our goal at Schaaf Tools is make learning how to carve more accessible for people with little or no wood carving experience. Our company was built on the idea of making quality tools accessible to everyone, so it makes sense for us to take this next step towards providing educational building blocks to beginners as they begin their carving journey.
We plan on working with professional carvers in their specific fields of expertise (relief carving, face carving, spoon carving, sculpture carving, etc.) to create bite-sized, simple educational videos geared for carvers starting for square one.
We want to ensure that these tutorials aren't overwhelming. Each video will stand alone to share valuable skills and techniques, while also functioning as educational building blocks towards making you a better woodcarver as a whole. By the end of each series, beginners will feel comfortable putting those blocks together and working on bigger, more complex projects.
Over the last few months, Schaaf Tools has worked with master relief carver Randy "Madcarver" Stoner to begin developing a first series on relief carving. Already, some of these videos are available on our YouTube channel.
A few videos include answers to question like, "What is the correct way to hold your carving chisels?" or How do I properly use a wood carving mallet?"
You'll learn to carve an oval and then a cube. We'll cover how to think about depth and perspective in your carvings, and how to carve something so it looks as if it's going underneath something else.
Each of these carving tutorials for beginners will slowly grow your carving skills.
Feeling inspired? These first lessons are already up on our YouTube channel. Check them out today, and let us know what carving questions you have.
Also, we have a lot more exciting learning material planned in the months to come. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and our YouTube channel so you don't miss anything.
Leave a comment