Carving a Bird: Overview
Wood carving is a form of art that is and has been practiced in many cultures throughout all of history. Both western and indigenous people use wood carvings to portray many different things such as stories or even to replicate things found in nature.
When doing any carving with wood, the choice of wood is very important. If the wood is too hard, it is very difficult to carve, but if the wood is too soft, this is not good to use for carving either. In the carving below, basswood was used because it is very easy to carve with and has a very consistent grain pattern. For this reason, basswood is the most common wood used for carving.
In the following pictures you can see the different steps it takes to carve a chickadee including marking out the lines where you need to cut, carving out a rough carving of the bird, carving the more detailed shape of the bird, sanding the bird, wood burning detail into the bird, putting eyes and legs on the bird and mounting it on a stand, and finally painting the bird.
When doing any carving with wood, the choice of wood is very important. If the wood is too hard, it is very difficult to carve, but if the wood is too soft, this is not good to use for carving either. In the carving below, basswood was used because it is very easy to carve with and has a very consistent grain pattern. For this reason, basswood is the most common wood used for carving.
In the following pictures you can see the different steps it takes to carve a chickadee including marking out the lines where you need to cut, carving out a rough carving of the bird, carving the more detailed shape of the bird, sanding the bird, wood burning detail into the bird, putting eyes and legs on the bird and mounting it on a stand, and finally painting the bird.