The mighty mallet
Roughing out a large carving, or even a medium-sized one, can be a very laborious process. In the interest of saving time and energy, many carvers opt for 'power'.
David Bruce Johnson
David creates a broad variety of sculptures, in both wood and stone. He is in demand in Canada and the United States as an artist, an instructor and a competition judge. His work is represented in collections in several countries.
Articles by David Bruce Johnson
Intaglio revisited
“Intaglio”, the reverse of “relief” carving, is an age-old carving technique. It involves carving everything below the surface of the wood. In other words, intaglio is carving negative rather than positive shapes.
Ladybug Fridge Magnet
Carving this ladybug is simply a matter of rounding a carefully selected piece of butternut.
Carving Green Wood
Many carvers believe that to carve, they need dry wood, but I ask, "How long are you prepared to wait?"
Tricks of the Trade
Renowned Canadian woodcarver David Bruce Johnson shares some of his top carving tricks.
Carving Bench
The only way to effectively carve, while standing, is to use a bench.
Hanging Hanky
To practice carving folds, there is no better exercise than copying the real thing.
Fundamentals of folds
To carve any realistic object, an understanding of its construction is essential. In fact, the more you see when studying a subject, the more you will be able to reproduce it.
The Bluenose
Canada's Bluenose was a positively magnificent ship and an important part of Canada's history.
Intaglio
Most wood carvers are familiar with the concept of relief carving from the very beginning of their carving experience (probably even earlier).
Cartoon caricature
Carving for fun is a great way to learn how to carve for "serious".
Sharpening for carvers
Without a doubt, "sharpening" is a skill that many carvers (and other craftsmen who work with wood) pursue endlessly with varying degrees of success.
Relief carving
Relief carving is the use of perspective, highlights, shadows, and texture to effectively create an illusion of depth.
Relief carving
Relief carving is very appealing. Wood for carving is readily available, little working space is needed, good results can be achieved quickly.
Decorative owl
Because of its many round masses of feathers, an owl is an excellent subject to make using a wood with character.
Wood grain
When carving wood, one thing is a certainty – you must deal with wood grain.
Canada goose
This project - carving a Canada Goose with its head turned – is a very simple application of the Johnson Method.
Direct carving – the Johnson method
Direct Carving can be defined as "the process of creating a three dimensional image without using a pattern or a clay model for reference".
