Medium Sized Wood Carving Animals

Students will create a wood carved animal sculpture using basswood. Alternatively, students can opt to carve a smaller hardwood sculpture. 

This unit has four parts: research and design (designing a project, measuring for materials), rough cutting (scroll saw), hand carving final project (whittling), and documentation of the finished work (photos, email, reflection, and critique).

Overview Unit Goal

RESEARCH & DESIGN
  • Find images to base a creature design from
  • Design a creature that is recognizable and specific
CREATE
  • Create 2 different views of that sculptural idea and transfer them to the wood
  • Rough cut your block into your form using the scroll saw
  • Whittle your wood rough cut form into the creature you designed
  • Add details and be sure to have different levels on each surface area
  • Sand and polish your wood carving
  • Optional - paint your wood carving
DOCUMENT, ANALYZE & REFLECT
  • Document your artwork using professional techniques, with solid colored background, lighting, and cropping
  • Analyze your own work
  • Reflect on the creation process
  • Identify other students' work that you appreciate and figure out why you like theirs more than others

Composition Concepts

  • Designing a Wooden Object with Recessed Levels
  • Functionality
  • Abstraction that has a clear reference (Simplifying without losing specificity)

Technical Skills

  • Carving
  • Whittling
  • Filing / Gouging
  • Sanding / Polishing

Tools & Supplies

  • Jewelry Saw, Scroll Saw, Band Saw
  • Cut resistant gloves
  • Whittling knife
  • Cutting tool (gouging blades - 1 through 5)
  • Wood rasp
  • Sandpaper, Sanding Twigs, Bench Sander
  • Wood Glue, Wood Filler
  • Wood Oil

Technical Skill Videos

SOFTWOOD CREATURES
ADVANCED IDEAS

Order of Work

Determine Your Design
  • RESEARCH the creature you want to create - consider different art styles of that creature idea - try to find unique, weird, different versions of that idea so that you have a lot to choose from 
  • BE SPECIFIC - "dog" is too generic, instead choose a type of dog, like "poodle" - consider the best way to simplify your forms, so that they are recognizable and yet easy enough to make
  • DRAW out your design in two or three views - side view, front view (optional - top view) The drawings should be the actual size you will carve, and the scale of each drawing should match each other. So if the head is 1" wide in the top view, it will also be 1" wide in the front view.
  • Start with the dimensions of the wood block and draw as big as you can within that area - Try to get your character to fill up as much of the space as you can. 
  • If your design exits the box, you'll need to fill that area with wood. You can use the negative space you don't use to match that volume. 
  • Consider cutting a big area and gluing to a different side to make your starting block dimensions better fit your creature idea.
  • Optional: You can choose a hardwood block instead of basswood, but it will take a lot longer to carve as it is much denser. Hardwood holds more details, while softwood is easier to carve.
Rough Cutting with the Scroll Saw
  • Draw your design on the BASS BLOCK wood on the front view and side view
  • Use the scroll saw to cut all the exterior lines of your sculpture from both the side view and the front view - retape your block after every cut so that your wood stays to gather as you cut all the sides
  • If your block is too tall for the scroll saw, you can use the band saw - but the band saw is less accurate and removes more wood, so if you can use the scroll saw, you should.
Soft Wood Carving
  • Using carving gloves and a whittling knife, carve away at the negative space. 
  • Cutting with the grain removes large pieces with ease. Cutting against the grain will remove smaller bits.
  • Use precise cuts prior to carving a large area to prevent the wood from pulling out of an area you don't want
  • Work from the side view, then the front view, then back to the side view until you have removed all the main negative space areas.
  • Then, sculpt it into a more organic, natural form
  • You can use a rasp to file away areas you don't want
  • You can sand parts you want to be smoother.
  • You can carve grooves and details using the alternate blades inside the handle
  • Your sculpture should sit or stand on a table without falling over
  • You can finish your carving with a wood sealer or paint
Documenting

Research & Design

RESEARCH
TRY TO FIND AS MANY DIFFERENT SYTLES OF THE CREATURE YOU ARE INTERESTED IN CREATING

RESEARCH by searching for images using your key word plus different art styles, different emotions, different eras/times to get the largest variety of visual ideas you can come up with
Chicken examples:
Photos of chickens
Cartoon chickens
3D models of chickens
Chickens expressing emotions (scared, angry)
DESIGN
You will receive a wood block.
  • Draw a rectangle that matches the dimensions of your wood block.
  • Draw your creature as big as you can within the confines of your wood block.
  • If your creature needs to have parts that stick out, you'll want to cut your wood block and glue it back together to match.
TOUCAN EXAMPLE
  • DRAW your creature in at least two views
  • Use the block dimensions to guide your drawing
  • Try to fill up as much of the block space as possible - big drawings are best!
  • The views (front view and side view) should match dimensions - so the top of the head and the bottom of the head line up in both drawings, the height of the body matches in both drawings, etc.
FOX EXAMPLE
RESEARCH
  • Research photos of the animal or creature you want to make
  • Be specific - "dog" is too generic, instead choose a type of dog, "bull terrier", etc.
  • Find at least one of each view: side view, top view, front view, back view
DESIGN: Softwood
  • This design should be drawn inside a rectangle that matches your wood block
  • If an area of your design sticks out from the rectangle, you'll need to glue some of your scrap wood to fill that spot
  • The three drawings (side view, front view, and top view) should have the same scale - so the size of each element is consistent across drawings

Softwood Carving: Whittling
  • Draw or cut out and glue a drawing of your creature onto your wood block on the side, front, and top views.
  • Optional: If some areas of your creature stick up beyond the block, you'll need to cut some of your negative space off and glue it to that area
  • Using carving gloves and a carving tool (blade 6), remove the negative spaces - first from the side view, then the top, then the front view.
  • Have your original drawing or reference photos on hand to check back on your carving accuracy as you go
  • To prevent too much wood from being removed in an area, make a cut where you want your next piece of wood removed to stop - this will improve accuracy
  • Cutting with the grain of the wood removes a lot of wood quickly - cutting against the grain makes choppy irregular cuts and jagged edges
  • Continue carving the main body elements, and then focus on the details
  • Other tools you can use:
    • Wood Rasp - filing away areas
    • Sand Paper - sanding 
    • Sanding Twig - sandpaper on a stick
    • Blades 1-5 (inside the handle) are great for creating details
  • Once you have your sculpture carved, you can finish it by sanding and then oiling or painting the surface

Things to Consider

  • ​Your animal should be unique enough to be specific - not "dog", instead "great dane"; not "bird", instead "heron"
  • You won't get every detail in - prioritize which details are most important to communicate that specific animal
  • Consider exaggerating or simplifying certain parts to emphasize the animal type
  • Consider an animal or creature with good negative space - the silhouette should be interesting to look at

Deer Example

Picture
Draw your animal designs - BIG drawings should touch the edges of the boxes
Picture
Draw or transfer your animals onto the wood (tape your hardwood stack on the edge; cut and glue your softwood into the ideal shape for your animal)
Picture
Cut out the outside edges of your animals (the scroll saw is faster, the jewelry saw in your toolbox also works)
Picture
Draw the front view on your softwood before starting to carve

Wood Animal Ideas

4 Photos of your Wood Sculptures

  • Use a solid background (no distracting lines, shadows, table, or other stuff) like the photo cube
  • Use quality lighting (soft shadow from artwork only)
  • Photo should be in focus, with artwork centered
  • One photo of your front view
  • One photo of 3/4 view
  • One photo of side view
  • One photo of back view
  • Four photos in total

Email an Image of Your Project

Grading Criteria