This is a pretty piece. My mother is one of those people with a theme house, and I grew up surrounded by grapes. Grape wallpaper, copper grape jello molds hanging on the walls, plastic grapes in basket cornucopias on the coffee table, just grapes everywhere. While I watched these videos, I was struck with an idea. You mention repeating the pattern on a frieze, I am thinking around the sides and up on the top of a small box, I think Mom would like that.
One question - I didn't see you do so, and at the end when you were turning the piece around, I only got a glimpse of the edges, but did you undercut the leaf at all?
Hi David,
I did not intentionally undercut this, but it certainly can be done, and would really make the leaf stand out. With basswood, I wouldn't try to undercut it too much, as it can get very fragile - just enough so you don't see the straight edges. If you do undercut, it's best to do this towards the end of the carving. Just keep in mind, when you make those initial vertical cuts that define the edge of the leaf, don't make them to deep, as they will show as cuts in the background - unless you lower the background to a depth below these 🙂
More than once, I've ended up making a background lower than originally intended. After digging a valley to get the knotty area smooth, the valley had to be eliminated by taking everything else down yet more. You make it look easy!
Thanks for another helpful lesson through a difficult part of the carving.
Pretty soon you reach the bench, and carving into the bench is not good.
And there is NO way you can make these cuts with the grain without something coming up and biting you. These can only be cut securely across the grain.
I'll get to working on these. Resin castings are definitely sturdier but material cost is considerably higher than plaster. I'll let you know when these area available.
Autumn,
I did make a rubber mold of this, but will probably need to make the casting with resin so it is more stable, which will make it more expensive. It might be as much as $45 or $50 for the casting. If you're interested, let me know and I will make one.
Yes, please, I would like to have one. It would make it so much easier if I could see the levels right in front of me. Thank you for offering to make it available.
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From Autumn Doucet on Carving a Shell & Acanthus Leaf Design - Episode 1
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