Wood Carving For Beginners 

We use Wood Carving as a medium like a painter used Oils to created his amazing  piece of Art, the  sculptor that used wood  express his life in that block of lumber that will be  transform like magic into a great sculpture that will stand for ever...
Wood Carving  is the representation  of a moment  in life  or a feeling true a certain  moment  in history  of men cain, we used the art of sculpture  to tell other  what is happening  or what is the opinion  about  an event, that  touch the artist fillings,  and true the action of using different  elements  like  wood,  the artist is able to recreate  his own  version,  his own  point of view of what  he want you to see or feel, like his experience ...

Woodcarving Is the action of creation using a sharp tools again  a piece of wood, you will carve out the image that is in the block of wood.  Is just that simple...

We ask many questions  our  selfs when we are  going to begin a new  task  or project, most of the  time we get full of of worries like. What if this does not work? What if I can't  do it?  And you my friend never never never take that step forward to start Wood Carving.

The best way to begin  a Wood Carving is to Start.n

So less be real Is only one way you could start a wood carving:  Is just start today...
Less get  a Chisel, design and a block of wood.  You need to start transferring the pattern or design using a carbon or graphite  paper to copy the design into the piece of wood and them secure the wood with a clamp to the table. You are ready to begin Carving you amaizing woodworking project is that icy...

Lest go over what you need and  slow start the process of wood carving... Continue reading and by the end, you will have the knowledge and you will ready to chisel away the extra material that is covering your amazing Art piece...

This few supplies will be  great to begin your Art Sculpture.  
True time and when you advance more and more you will add more tools to your collection, by them you will have a better feel for what is best for your style as a wood carver...

Now when you are starting you don't  know  what you need, let me go over some of these materials and tools, let's start with the basic the piece of wood or lumber that is going to transform in from of our eyes into a beautiful Wood Carving.

You have a lot of types of wood available to choose from,  some are great to work with, some have more grain, some are dark in colors or light...

Is a great idea  to try many types of wood but wood is expensive  so that is why I will give you my opinion  of what I learn true the years about different  types that I created projects with. I will never recommend  something  to you with out first  try my self...

List of what you need to Start Wood carving

Best Wood For Carving

Whach this video about what type of wood I used for my projects.

Trude the years of woodcarver, I had used many types of woods for my sculptures, I prefer same ones more than others, the best is to try as many you can, in this way you will have the experience with each type and by the years of using a few tips  you will determine what are the best for your Art pieces... I will go over the  types I used and I will describe what I like about it or what I dislike.  In this way you don't have to spend more money  texting many types of wood  that are sometime difficult  to carve or get results...

Aspen or Limewood

Aspen or Limewood is  my best choice to create my carvings because are soft to cave without any problems, the grain is minimum  so you don't have to fight to carve in any direction.
This type of wood was used in the 1700 hundreds by Grinling Gibbons  how become the master of the relief carvings that will give you the feeling that they are floating  in the air. This is the best word to describe his work by Horace Walpole. He said "There is no a man before Gibbons, who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers..."

In Europe this type of wood is known as  Lime wood.
Aspen wood is fantastic to give any fines because  the quality  of a light  color that will take any color. You as well will obtain  greater details on your final  surface. The cost is usually lower than  most types of hard lumbers

Aspen or Limewood is a fascinating  tree will give you his amazing  view true all the season of the year in spring will give you the greenish white color leaf that will move creating amazing  sounds and for that reason is called Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). The explendor of  Fall will give you the desire of start painting what you see this missing Fall landscape full of  beautiful  vibrant yellow  color...    

Aspen or Limewood are categories as  the most widespread tree in North America. From the Midwest, across Canada, north into Alaska and across the West through to Arizona and New Mexico,  as well in part of the southern States even find it in Mexico and Tennessee. Bigtooth (or large-tooth) Aspen (Populus grandidentata), which also quakes, prefers the Great Lakes states and New England...

One aspen tree is actually only a small part of a larger group of aspen trees is considered a singular organism with the main chain of life is underground in the extensive root system. Before a single aspen trunk appears above the surface, the root system may stay dormant for many years until the conditions are just right, god sunlight and soil.  Each tree is a genetic replicate of another,  that is why is a clone family of trees, they will spray among swaths of dark green conifers, the deciduous aspen stands up in a variety of environments. Aspens quickly colonize recently burned or bare areas to establish a stand of young trees given the proper conditions. They prefer moist soil but can survive near springs in desert conditions as well.

The oldest known aspen clone has live  on Utah’s Fishlake National Forest. Not only is the clone the oldest living organism, it is also the heaviest. Even if the trees in a stand are wiped out, it is very difficult to permanently extinguish an aspen’s root system due to the rapid rate in which it reproduces...


Aspens grow all the time—even in winter. Beneath the thin, white outer bark layer is a thin green photosynthetic layer that allows the tree to create sugars and grow when other deciduous trees would otherwise be dormant. During hard winters, the green, sugary layer provides necessary nutrients for wildlife like deer and elk. For many years  young aspens have provided food or a variety of animals like Bear, Beaver, Moose, Porcupine, Grouse and Rodents...

Aspen doesn't contain resin, and has toughness as well as exceptional stiffness. The wood resists splitting when  you are nailing or screwing. Is great to use with any hand tools because is very soft and pleasant to work with it. It also glues well and is one of the best to create wood sculpture  it cut graceful, well with the gauges or any wood carving Chisel is one of my fever types of wood to create any size Sculpture



You can use Aspen for almost anything  you need to, you will find Aspen in food products like serving bowls, in aspen, furniture, and the toy maker loves Aspen wood because it doesn't split  so is safe for kids. You find in many museums  in many Aspen Arts Sculptures
So the application  is infinite...

BASS WOOD 

This is a great material to use for woodcarvings, is not hard to obtain great carvings. A lot of woodworkers  used this particular type of wood.  Is light  in color that is great quality to give it stain finished because is icy to dark as light type of wood. The only disadvantage is when you used sand paper to give the final surface is a little difficult and need longer work to obtain a really smooth surface. But overall is a great wood to work with it, you need to maintain  your wood carving tools real edge sharp if not you will have a difficulty to carve special, against the grain, this type of wood is very economical and that is a good quality special when you are starting  to carve.

Poplar  wood

This particular wood  is also harvested in the USA the main characteristic of this material it has a green color, grain in combination with the light color this could give you a lot of possibilities to create great projects... Is a soft and icy lumber to carve as well good to obtain great finish results. The cost of the lumber is in the low range, it stain finish very well because is a light  color, but you have to take in count the green grain that will turn darker with the finished.

Cherry  Wood

I love this type of wood the color those earth tones and warm tones that will give you a very elegant  Carving.  My opinion of this type has the classic feeling and will make your creations  radiant of mystery. This is a  medium hard lumber  this quality  will make a little more difficult  to used for Wood Carving, but you don't have to stay away from it  for  the contrary, you need a list try one and you will see for yourself and you will love it as well...

This is the only type of wood that the traditional woodblock printmaking from Japan used over decades like the greatest Japanese  print making Yoshida that created  many fantastic Japanese prints.
This process is similar to a  carving with the knife or Ship Carving. This process is simple, for example, you have a design with 8 different  color tones so you have to create one carving for each color so after you have all your blank carved you will use Japanese  inks with a brush,  And will put a paper over the top and rob using a Baren and you will have a Japanese  print.  In the future, I will make a blog about it.
Cherry  wood is in the medium price range, you have to know that the price of any type of wood could change all the time.
This type of lumber will finish very well and will get a beautiful finish with the wood stains, you have to remember  that you are starting  with a red or dark tone color wood...
As well you could combine with a light color wood to create a cool patterns an idea if you are carving of  a person made out Aspen wood and you would like to have the clothing out different  color you could used cherry and you will have amazing  effects. And finally  this wood is also harvested  in the USA.

Maple Wood

This is a very strong wood and with the quality  of light and rose  tones , is in the family  of medium hard wood that means that you will need more effort  to created your woodcarving but  you will created amazing art work that will preserve for ages.  Maple wood has a few grain pattern you could purchase  curly maple the pattern is amazing  most of the time you will found this type of pieces  in the electric guitars.  The plain wood graing maple is very similar to cherry  grain. Well you could carve aech one of this types of maple but remember the more complex  the grain  pattern  the hard and difficult  to work with. This type of wood is in the medium price range and also harvest  in the USA.