Caricature Carving
From Head to Toe
A complete step-by-step
guide to capturing expression and humour in wood
by Dave Stetson
Softcover
215 x 280mm
91pp
Published by Fox Chapel Publishing Co. Inc., East Petersburg PA USA
R.R.P.$39.90
ISBN 1-56523-121-X
Ball Player
As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 129
The title of this book begs the question: What is a Caricature?
Dave Stetson believes that good caricature is an exaggeration of realism and he is often heard to say: Caricature is not a realistic carving gone bad!
Stetson was co-creator and founding member of the Caricature Carvers of America and has been a full time instructor, artist and show judge of the craft since 1996.
His passion for caricature is obvious from the first page of this book. So is his unconventional approach. He says that he generally likes to let his figures happen, allowing his mood at the time to dictate the direction in which the figure will grow.
The book begins with a statement of rules concerning proportions of the human head. The next three chapters deal with the Use and Care of a Carving Knife, the Anatomy of the Head and Neck and Carving a Face with Expression. It is in the second of these that Stetson introduces the use of clay as a modelling tool.
The next Chapter - Carving an Old Man - contains a carefully detailed description of the carving of a typical caricature. It begins with a discussion of the use of a clay model of the figure and then proceeds, step-by-step, with the translation of this model into wood, employing well over 100 photographs and a dozen drawings.
Chapter 6 complements these instructions with advice on how the caricature of the Old Man may be painted.
The final two Chapters display other caricatures by the author which show how the ideas presented earlier may be extended to a wider range of figures.
This unusual book, well illustrated and written by a master of the craft, should provide woodcarvers with opportunities for further development. Success in carving caricatures should also give them a new range of marketable work.
Three additional patterns included:
-
Santa
- Ball Player
- Cowboy
Photos: Colour
Contents
About
the Author
Introduction
Chapter One: Mastering the Art of Caricature Carving
Chapter Two: Using and Caring for a Carving Knife
Chapter Three: Anatomy of the Head and Neck
Chapter Four: Carving a Face with Expression
Chapter Five: Carving the Old Man
Chapter Six: Painting the Old Man
Chapter Seven: Three Additional Caricature Projects
Chapter Eight: A Gallery of Caricatrue Carvings
Cowboy
Santa