I started carving a kind of cartoon cat a few months ago, but then got busy with other (non-carving) things, and only recently got back to the cat. If all goes well I should complete it this weekend.
I found the Woodcarving Illustrated message board shortly after I started carving back in November. There’s an unbelievable wealth of knowledge there, and the members are, as a rule, very willing to answer questions. They’re extremely patient with beginners. As with any message board, the quality of answers varies widely, but the experienced carvers really do provide excellent advice.
Many of the carvers post picture or video tutorials that show, step by step, how to make various types of carvings. For example, Lynn Doughty’s Out West Woodcarving blog has dozens of projects with detailed instructions and sometimes hundreds of photos on the accompanying Picasa photo album. I consider Lynn’s projects a bit beyond my current abilities, but perhaps I’m just being timid. I’ll certainly look into them when I’m ready to try caricatures.
Gene Messer, another very skilled carver who frequents the forum, started making video tutorials and posting them on YouTube. I’ve watched a few of the videos and, although I haven’t yet tried to do the lessons, I’m pretty sure they will be very effective. As soon as I finish my cat, I’m going to try my hand at his 5-Minute Bear project. He has a couple of other short and simple projects that look very appealing. The 5-Minute Wizard, for example, would make a great Christmas tree ornament.
It’s no surprise that carvers specialize. But I was pretty surprised at how narrowly some specialize. There’s a fairly large subgroup, for example, that specializes in carving Santas. Arleen, a carver from Pennsylvania, has produced a couple dozen videos that walk you through carving simple Santa figures. She also includes basic carving techniques and some information about painting. She, too, makes the carving seem very approachable.
I’m simply astounded at the wealth of information out there. For free! Even five years ago, you would have had to spend hundreds of dollars on DVDs or classes in order to get the quality information that you can find for free now on YouTube and on carvers’ blogs. The sites I mentioned above are just a sampling of what I’ve found in my brief research. There are surely more, on many different topics.
If you’re interested in carving—or in any other craft, come to think of it—you’ll probably be able to find a lot of very good tutorial videos on YouTube. Take a look. What have you got to lose?
