floral carving step by step

[Cecil]

Thanks for the tutorial Clay. The discussion about the sequence in which you use tools I found very interesting. I have always used the beveler first. I will try alternative sequences.

[jonwatsabaugh]

Many times we get hung up on the order of progression, and the types of tools we use for this or that when all the time we neglect the two most important aspects of Sheridan style tooling. First of all a beginning tooler must practice and master the use of their swivel knife. Each cut must be smooth with perfect transition from increasing to decreasing radius and visa-versa. This is accomplished with properly conditioned leather ( there are some great ideas found elsewhere on this sight regarding the casing of leather), a properly sharpened and polished blade, and of course much practice. Develop the ability to cut long flowing lines in your vine work with one continuous motion, starting with a deep cut and fading the cut to nothing. Secondly is the ability to develop and draw your own designs. You will learn more and much faster by studying the work of the masters such as Chester Hape, Jim Jackson, Keith Seidel, Don Butler and many others. Try and copy their work. I might suggest getting the book "Sheridan Style Carving" by Bob Likewise. This book is worth it's weight in gold. Study and follow the tutorials and the beautiful photos in this book. Everyone with the desire to learn Sheridan style tooling should have this book. It will inspire you!

Happy tooling,

Jon

[knkwoodcrafts]

Clay, Nice carving... I am a newbie and have a few questions. First how do you do the initial pattern transfer? do you case the leather before you transfer the pattern with the stylus? Second how do you get the burnished look with the pear shader and beveler? I think I am working with my leather when it's too wet. Third I don't get much definition with my tools regardless of how hard I strike them. I am using a marble slab setting on my brick fireplace for a work surface so I know it is stable enough for carving. Are my problems with this also because I am working with the leather too wet? Thanks, Kevin

knkwoodcrafts

[ClayB]

Hi Kevin,

It sounds like all your problems can be from your leather being too wet. If you use the search here on the forum, you should find several threads about casing. There are a lot of ways to do it and you might want to try a few and pick what seems to work best for you. Different leather reacts differently, so if you get different leather, you might have to change your procedure. I like to wet my leather front and back (but not soak it) and then put it in a plastic bag for awhile to let the moisture even out throughout the leather. This can be a half an hour to overnight, depends on if you plan in advance or not. Then when you take it out of the plastic, let it start to return to its original color if it hasn't already. If it's darker than when it was dry, it's probably too wet. Trace your pattern with a stylus on the damp leather. Then cut with the swivel knife and start tooling. If your moisture is right, you will get "burnish" (leather turns dark when you stamp it). It will take some practice to know just when it is right. If you have to leave your project while working on it, cover it with plastic again to keep it from drying out. If it starts to dry out while carving, I like to add moisture with a spray bottle. On leather that dries out quickly, I will spray the back more often to keep the moisture level. If your leather is too wet, your stamping will be mushy and your cuts will close up. If your leather is too dry, it will be hard to carve and your stamping impressions wont be deep or sharp. If you dont get good impressions, another thing you might try is rubber cementing a piece of cardboard to the back of your leather (especially on thinner leather). This will keep your leather from stretching, and also tends to make your impressions deeper. There is a lot of good information on this forum so do some searching through the old posts if you have time. Hope this helps a little and good luck!

Clay

[Spinner]

I know this is an old thread, but just wanted to say thanks Clay. I'm going to try the tooling in this order to see if it helps get the definition I seem to be lacking in some areas.

[pete]

Thanks for the how-to, Clay; you did a great job. What are the tool numbers for the cam and veiner you used?

This brings me to my question of tool-order. If you pearshade before beveling, don't you find that, as Pete mentioned, the leather "bunches up against the cut line" -- making it more difficult to position the beveler IN the cut? You know, if the pearshader closes the cut, it seems easier to accidentally bevel either in front of or behind the cut (not desirable).

L'Bum

You shouldn't have a problem seeing/finding your cut line if you cut cleanly, deeply, and the casing is correct. The lines should stay open and clear. If they close up your leather is probably too wet.

pete

[DonnieBlaze]

love the tutorial thanks

[cjowett]

I have a question on back-grounding. How deep should it be? Is the intent to set it well back so the figures are almost in relief or are you just trying to rough the surface so it will take a dye or stain adding texture to the background? Similarly what is the intent with pear shading? This tutorial is very helpful and I think I can now get a good effect with scrolls but what am I trying to achieve when I move on to roses and oak leaves?

[ClayB]

I try to get my background as deep as I can to get the relief you mentioned. It's really up to you how deep you want to go and what effect you are going for. The pear shading is to give the scrolls, leaves or flowers shape and depth. There is a tutorial here on how I carve oak leaves (not sure how it got put into the figure carving section) Roses are something I've never gotten that good at but there are some great examples of how they are done well here on the forum. Look at the work of Bobocat and Tina here on the forum for a couple that come to mind.

Also, check out Paul Burnett's Painting Cow website and sign up for his free tutorials. Paul goes into detail and really explains some things that anyone learning how to carve should read and study.

[cjowett]

I downloaded Paul's free tutorials. Great information. I'm looking forward to my next project to see if I can take it to the next level.