Letting the Dwarf Hear

Last night I got back to work on my dwarf. He can now hear out of two nicely carved ears. Here's a close up of one ear:

Through carved golf ball faces, I have become better at producing faces in wood, too. A few months ago I would not have dared attempt a face this large, because the facial details would have been too daunting to consider. One of the greatest joys in carving has been continuing to see my skills develop over time. I never get bored of trying new patterns and looking at other ways to be creative within the limitations of round figures.

~Karen V.
www.etsy.com/shop/thewhittlethings

Carving a Dwarf Egg

My newest project is a basswood dwarf. I started with a basswood goose egg at about 3.75" tall. I made a line around the top where his hat would be, and used a micro V-tool to mark it. I then used a straight blade to create a stop cut, and carved into the cut until the hat seemed a good depth. Next, I decided where the base of the nose and the eyes would be, and roughed them out. At another time, I will go into more detail about how to carve eyes and noses, two of the hardest elements in carving faces. I also marked the ears, and again used stop cuts and V-tools to define them.

So far, as you can see, I have formed the eyes, nose, and the dwarf's long mustache. I am modeling this fellow after an illustration in The Spiderwick Chronicles. Inspiration for carvings can come from anywhere -- books, computers, or random people on the street. My husband just rolls his eyes now whenever I tell him, "Look! That person would make a fantastic egg!"

~Karen V.
www.etsy.com/shop/thewhittlethings