Carved Jolly Santa Ornament | Popular Woodworking

Before we begin carving, listed below are a number of primary carving rules. Stop cuts are cuts that shield areas you don’t wish to take away. These merely sever the fibers and outline shapes, permitting you to make cuts into them with out chopping previous them. Next, bear in mind you possibly can all the time take extra off however not add it again. Finally, work with sharp instruments. Sharpen your instruments with a superb stone and hold a strop helpful in order that uninteresting instruments flip you right into a Scrooge. 

Begin by penciling in a number of tips to assist proportion Santa’s face utilizing the diagram on the backside of this text. You can begin on a flat aspect or make the most of a nook to assist information you. I discovered engaged on the flat face resulted in a Lego-like Santa. Now, carve out the shaded areas as famous. The  higher space tapers the face, whereas the decrease taper will transition from the underside of the nostril to the mustache. By eradicating these two areas, you’re defining the nostril, which you wish to be the proudest function of the face.

Pencil in primary tips and carve the shaded areas.

With the block prepped, draw within the eye sockets, nostril, mustache, and cheeks. This is a good time to alter Santa’s facial options to the way you think about this jolly fellow to be. For me, that’s a bulbous nostril, handlebar mustache, and a wide-open smile.

Begin With the Face

If you’ve by no means carved or haven’t tried faces but, take a look at the Carving Faces Workbook by Harold Enlow. As you possibly can see within the images, I nonetheless reference it once I work. Start with a gouge to deepen the attention sockets and scale back the thickness of the bridge of the nostril. Then use a carving knife to stop-cut alongside the traces of the nostril and reduce every line to separate the cheeks from the nostril. As you’re employed, refine the underside of the nostril and cheeks earlier than thinning the bridge of the nostril to look harking back to a ski slope. Now it’s time to change to a small gouge to cease reduce as much as the edges of the nostril again into the aircraft of the face. Lastly, use a v-gouge so as to add the nostrils.

Use a gouge to separate the cheeks from the nostril.

Moving down the face, redraw Santa’s mustache and lips if wanted. Use a carving knife to make cease cuts alongside the underside half of the mustache. Then make slicing cuts into the stopped reduce to start shaping it. Use your carving knife to form the mustache, and end up with a v-gouge to re-define its form if essential. 

Working decrease, make a deep cease reduce into the corners of the mouth with a small veiner, and reduce the chips free with a knife. Use a gouge to around the mouth space and a knife to deepen the mouth cavity. Pencil within the backside lips and seize your smallest v-gouge to start carving alongside the underside pencil line. A phrase of warning—begin on the backside of the underside lip. Starting on the prime will generally tend to chip out. If it chips, merely make the mouth greater. To finalize Santa’s mouth, carve a deep gouge on the prime of the tongue, so it appears as if the tongue extends down the throat and a smaller gouge on the backside of the tongue to separate it from the lips.

Deepen the attention the attention sockets.

The final facial function is Santa’s eyes. Many carvers agree that that is the toughest half to carve and should select to color them on as an alternative. If you’re as much as the problem, remember to follow first and easily consider the eyes as a sequence of cuts that collectively kind an eye fixed. Start by eradicating a triangular chip of wooden to kind the corners of the attention. Then full a sequence of four v-cuts with a gouge: the primary defines the highest of the higher eyelid, the subsequent is the underside of the decrease eyelid. Finally, the final cuts kind the alternative sides of every eyelids to separate it from the attention. Round the eyeball by making cuts alongside the sting of the eyelids. Since I deliberate to color Santa, I selected to color the iris and pupal. 

Make cease cuts alongside the underside edges of the mustache.

Lastly, the Beard & Hat

With Santa’s face established, spherical out the block. Pencil within the hat, pom-pom, and beard. Start with the hat by making cease cuts on the prime and backside fringe of the trim, together with the pom-pom. Round the hat ensuring to separate the tail of the hat as you go. Taper the brow up  and “tuck” it below the fur trim, so the hat appears like it’s sitting on his head. This can also be a superb time to additional spherical the edges of his face and add a small furrow between the eyebrows.

Pencil within the guides for the beard and hat.

To carve the beard, make deep cease cuts defining the beard. Now, use the gouge from the again of the top towards the beard to outline the bushiness. Next, soften the sides of the beard with a small gouge. Lastly, use varied dimension gouges to interrupt the beard up into giant locks of hair. Gently spherical out the again of the top, including wisps of hair with a v-gouge. 

Use a big gouge to take away wooden from the again of Santa’s head to outline the edges of the beard.

Use a small v-tool to carve particulars within the eyebrows. Then transfer onto the small print within the mustache and beard.

Final Details

Use sandpaper to clean any tough edges and put together for ending. The remaining particulars may be reduce in with a really small v-gouge. Carve alongside the traces on the eyebrows and mustache. Free-hand in curving traces of hair within the beard. I selected to make use of a Dremel to stipple the fur on his hat, however a small gouge would additionally work. After portray, add a small eye hook on the highest to hold the decoration. 

I extremely suggest selecting up a replica of the Carving Faces Workbook by Harold Enlow. He does a incredible job of strolling by the every facial function one by one.