Finger Carving

[Spinner]

Thanks Rusty, I'll look again.

Hi Spinner, While I appreciate your comments about my attempts at finger carving,,, I feel we should show what a true Finger Carving Master can do. Here are a few pictures of just a few things that Bob Park (hidepounder) has done. Bob is a true inspiration to us all. Ed the "BearMan"

Hey Ed,

I had seen Bob's work before but was having trouble finding the examples I was thinking of since it's usually part of a bigger picture. Yours was the most recent picture I saw and stand by my comment of it being a very nice example.

Thanks for finding more examples, I appreciate it. My goal is not to copy but to study the style in depth so as to create some of my own to share.

[TwinOaks]

As far as practice patterns go.....they are in every newspaper and magazine that has pictures. To study the style, you need only to look at it. To practice the style, you need to become adept with the swivel knife. That means that the knife and your hand create what your eye sees. The ONLY way to get to that point is practice. Run some black and white copies of pictures, transfer them, and 'draw' them w/ the swivel knife. The purpose is to train your hand, so why not use a multitude of straight and curved lines? Nobody ever said that carvings and finger cuts on leather HAD to be a certain style.

[BearMan]

Good Morning Spinner,

There are several finger carving Masters, Bob being one of the best. There are as many different finger carving styles. Here are a couple more, from a couple more Great carvers. The first is a knife sheath from Al Gould. The next is a saddle done by Rick Bean. Both are great example of what can be done. I have years & Years of practice, before I can come even close,,, but I'm trying!!

Ed the "BearMan"

[gtwister09]

This brings up a point on how to better navigate and utilize leatherworker.net resources.... If you know who does the work then go to their profile and many times there will be examples of their work and even gallery photos. For example here's Bob's aka...hidepounder.

Bob's Profile

Regards,

Ben

[joquarter]

Thanks for the explanation, also never heard about finger carving.

But I'm fond of the results.

[Hilly]

I could be wrong here, but I think THIS might also count as finger carving?

[GrampaJoel]

</h3>

<h3>Hilly

I could be wrong here, but I think THIS might also count as finger carving?

Yeah it does!! I'd say that is the most beautiful saddle bag I have seen!

[Tina]

I have seen a couple of times the awesome finger carvings of Bob (hidepounder) and others, specifically of birds and floral designs. In telling a newer leatherworker about them she became intrigued and asked where she could get practice patterns. Unfortunately I haven't had call for them yet so I haven't drawn any up (and quite frankly not sure how good they would be) and so I wonder, does anyone know of a source book for patterns or on designing your own?

I'm pretty adept with pen & paper but I didn't know much about the theory behind them to get started.

Thanks,

Chris

Go to google image search and paste in:

Victorian Calligraphy

Now you should have some more pattern options :-)

[Spinner]

That's an excellent one too Hilly, thanks.

I'll check out that Google Tina, thanks for bringing that up.

[Spinner]

Found another good example done awhile back by Bobocat: