Decorative Woodcarving: The Complete Course

by Graham R. Bull

Book Overview

Accompany a master woodcarving teacher as he reveals the secrets of his art--and build skills, confidence, and creativity. Decorative woodcarving brings ornamentation, depth, and pattern to a simple piece of wood. For everything from a wall plaque to furniture; the chisel or mallet equals the painter's brush. For the beginning carver, there's no more authoritative guide to tools, techniques, materials, and safety procedures than this complete course...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806995874
• ISBN13: 9780806995878
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: Sterling
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.6" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

truly excellent

Absolutely magnificent ... extremely helpful. I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone who wants to learn woodcarving (and I have many books on the subject), it is a shame it is out of print but chase it up on zshops or marketplace, it is worth it. Well written, enjoyable and useful. I would say, if you are going to get a single book on woodcarving, get this one - it shows you everything from tool selection (even pointing out the differences in mallet handle shapes and their advantages) to tool sharpening, then goes through many different projects building your skills with each one. The techniques are explained in detail, with all the subtle differences required. Examples are shown of works gone wrong - even though only slightly wrong - and an explanation given for what went wrong. It is more important to show what goes wrong than just show perfect examples, otherwise you would not even know what was wrong with your piece or how it could be improved. The examples cover everything and build a great skillset. Also, the many, many, many photos are COLOUR, and excellent quality. Considering what you would pay to do a course such as this, it's a steal.

a unique experience

I am the author of DECORATIVE WOODCARVING THE COMPLETE COURSE. This book is unique as it describes the real life experiences of a group of my students during their learning process. It encompasses the things that went wrong, how they should have been, why, and how they were corrected. It is a description of the reality of the learning curve for decorative woodcarving, about real people who started with no knowledge or skill and ended with a considerable degree of both. If you follow the text and illustrations, you too can enjoy these new horizons. We start with the background essentials of tool sharpening, drawing, modeling, and wood, and then move through a series of carvings each of which adds new skills and knowledge to complete the learning process.