8 Basic Steps to Successful Woodcarving

1. Decide what you want to carve.
2. Make a scale drawing or plan for that carving.
3. Find a piece of wood that suites that carving (size and material).
4. Transfer your drawing or plan to the piece of wood.
5. Roughing out or grounding.
6. Modelling.
7. Detailing.
8. Finishing.

If you follow these 8 easy steps you can carve anything, from the simplest leaf to full figures. The steps are always the same.

Carvers tend to get into trouble when they transpose the order of the steps. It quite often leads to what I call “square duck syndrome” but more on that to follow later. Of course each of those steps are not as straightforward as they seem. I will be presenting some of the many lessons I have learned in the last 15+ years of carving and woodwork.