Carving the Ouroboros Gargoyle by Paul Carrick
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2024
- I document and narrate the process of carving my original design of an Ouroboros gargoyle. Basswood, 12x13"
See more of my art here on my youtube channel, www.paulcarrick.com nightserpent.deviantart.com
Check out my friend Danial Wolff's amazing carvings: www.deviantart.com/danielwolff-gallery
Thank for documenting and narrating the process. This was really inspiring and educational. Love watching the tools and approach as this is what I'm going for. Thanks!❤
Got here from Reddit, Thanks for the great narrated process, this is very helpful!!
That's so nice to hear, thank you! Is there anything in particular you wanted to know, possibly in a future video?
That was fantastic. And it is really interesting video showing your methods of clamping and adjusting the carving. Made me subscriber.! Thank you and best wishes
I appreciate the comments and subscription, thank you! Should have another video out shortly. I may make a video which is just about different ways to hold wood for carving, as there seems to be some interest for it. Any other topics you'd like to see??
@@pmcarrick Perhaps some carvings using power carvings with Dremel tools? .... I will understand if that is not part of your repertoire... Thank you..
@@jayc3110 It is true, I do not use the dremel very often to carve, I Prefer traditional methods. Too noisy and messy for me! I did carve a pipe once with a dremel: www.deviantart.com/nightserpent/art/pipe-II-01-498918195 But I am by no means an expert on them.
So enthralling. I loved watching your process, which I had no idea would begin with a sketch! I also enjoyed how you pivoted when things went a bit off-course. Those are the real learning opportunities. I look forward to seeing more of your videos, Paul!
Thank you! Not that one couldn't spontaneously carve, but I find that you can work out a lot of design problems in the 2D and 3D sketch stages as well as end up with more pleasing results. Mistakes can still happen, as they did, but I find it fun to be in a little trouble. I hope to have a new one up shortly...
Love this video, will subscribe in hopes to see a few more videos concerning the process of sculpting, carving and design or tools.
Thanks for your comments and the subscription, I appreciate it. This video was well received, at least compared to my prior ones, and that has encouraged me to make a new one... which is almost done! Though I may not be able to please everyone, hearing about the sort of things you'd like to see in future videos would be helpful. Cheers!
Another viewer from Reddit here. This is really amazing work, you're a true artist!
And speaking as a guy needing to gear up to realize my dream of becoming an amateur violinmaker, I am *lusting* after your gouge collection and your Tormek setup.
Thanks for your kind words! Violinmaking must require some extreme precision! I inherited most of the gouges from my father, who was also an artist. I probably couldn't have afforded them otherwise. I also have a good amount of knives and palm tools, (mostly flex-cut -a bit more affordable than pfeil), for detail work. The Tormek was a real game changer for me, my blades were misshapen and I struggled to get them in working order with oilstone, but the tormek got them all in great shape. Some people look down on the hollowed bevel as they feel it weakens the edges. I haven't had problems with it, but I tend to work with softer species such as butternut and bass.
@@pmcarrick If I had a Tormek, I'd use it on chisels and knives, for sure. As for gouges, do a Google image search for "gouge eyebolt sharpening". That's the method I plan to use. I have a combination 1000/8000 grit Japanese waterstone that I currently use for all sharpening tasks, followed with a leather strop and chromium oxide.
I don't think I could get away with hollowed bevels on my gouges, I'll be using them on hard curly maple a good portion of the time.
Nice piece, boss👍This is definitely a few steps up from the bars of soap I whiitled back in scouts. I thought for a moment the hole might be additionally covered by a tatoo.😛
Thanks for sharing.🍻
Thanks Duffy! It's just a really big bar of soap. ;)
I love watching it go from "this was a huge mistake this will never be anything" to "holy crow human hands made this"
Heh! Thank you! I seem to thrive the most when I am in just a little bit of trouble, if I know how everything is going to go then there is no element of surprise.
just give away all your secrets journeymen. Thank you.
Heh! NEVER!!! is there anything in particular you'd like to see or hear about? I hope two make more of these in the future, so it helps to know what people would find of interest.
My body chemistry makes my hands react with the wood so that my hands and the wood turn dark, especially in high tannin woods like oak. Is that why you have a cloth in your hand, to keep the wood from turning grubby? Do you prefer that to a glove? I'm not a big fan of gloves, but the cloth looks like an interesting idea. Are there times it can just lay over where the wood is supporting you rather than actually having to hold it? I"m going to go search through your videos to see if you say more about using clay and how to work with it (shaping, tooling, etc.)
If it is warm out, or I am working hard (and therefore perspiring) I also find that it can stain the wood, I think oils from my skin can do it too. That is indeed why I use the cloth! I can just lay it down wherever I may want to rest a palm. Ideally it would be a white cloth, so you can see if the cloth is getting dirty and swap it with a fresh one. The cloth is more important as you get the end of the carving, as you approach your final surfaces.
I do have a pair of 'cut proof' gloves, but I have never used them. I think they'd make my hands too warm, something like latex gloves would just have them sweating even more. I also like to feel the wood surface sometimes to see how smooth it is.
I don't think my other videos cover any of the clay phase. This is my first video that I went in with the intent of making a youtube video, so it is a bit more complete. But, now I know that someone out there might be interested in seeing more about the clay phase. I could show my clay tools, which are quite basic. Was there anything else in particular you wanted to know?
@@pmcarrick Thanks for the reply. I build furniture and am learning to carve ornamentation. So far, that has all been low relief. I am working on a grandfather clock that has a more high relief carving up on top of the bonnet and I'm trying to learn how to shape deeper, higher relief forms. Your carving in this video is roughly similar to the level of "3D ness" or depth that might be involved.
I was thinking that using clay would be a way to explore. That means both teaching my eyes and hands to see and make higher relief but also to figure out what I want to carve.
When I've tried to use clay, though, it hasn't worked for me because I literally tried to form it by carving away. It is too sticky and squishy for that. The other day, I heard or read someone say "subtractive sculpture vs. sculpture by building up" and it made me think, "Ah, dummy...I should have built up the clay rather than trying to carve it away."
I say all that just to give a sense of where I am and how clueless I am with clay. I have questions like: What clay to use? How to mass it out and shape it? Is it all fingers or do you use tools? What tools? Can you improvise them?
@@ef2b Well, I can get you some quick answers now, and then hopefully get more into the explanations in a future video.
For clay, I use an oil-based clay, like a plastelina type. I Use oil based because it never dries out on me, and I can re-sue it over and over. Avoid the types made for kids (often in bright rainbow colors), that's the soft stuff. The pro versions come in different hardnesses, I would advise something on the harder end of the spectrum. The harder sorts take a little while to knead and get workable (you can chop it up to start softening it), but it also stays put better and holds detail. If you're creating a shape that can't support itself, you can insert toothpicks or wires to give it strength. For tools I have a very basic kit, some shapers and some of the wire-ended loop tools for cutting clay away. I also use an x-acto knife. You can most certainly improvise to one carve your own tools.
I thought your comment about subtractive/additive sculpting was interesting. I see nothing wrong with either, really. There are times I made a lump of clay in the shape of the wood block, and then removed clay to see what I could fit within that shape. I think both approaches are viable and useful.
@@pmcarrick Thanks- That is a huge help. I was, in fact, trying to use kids clay. It was too squishy and sticky, so when I tried to shape it, it would just distort. I'll go get some of the plastelina and see what happens. I'll see if Michaels or the local art store offers different hardnesses.
My immediate experiment is to play with flame finials, but of a style that are more irregular in the way the flames divide rather than the uniform twisting ice cream cone that some styles have. I think it is a bit like how some do locks of hair that have big subdivisions and then smaller. So, I'm just going to play with make those sorts of divisions and S-curves and so forth.
Ideally, I'll make a cylinder-ish shape and go from there. This is where the kids clay failed as it would just mush. You can maybe see how I was trying to do this as "subtractive" sculpture by making a cylinder, rounding the ends, tapering the bottom, and then trying to remove clay to make the next step in modeling...but it just stuck to my tools and mushed around.
I was about ready to get my chip carving knife and carve potatoes as a way to quickly model, then I saw your video. Thanks for the interest in replying and for your help.
@@ef2b You can give the wrapped blocks of clay a little pinch to get a sense of it's firmness. They will all soften up a little with use. The firmer the better, I think, because it'll hold its form better. But, if you're working large you may want to go softer because it's hard on your hands to get the firm clay workable.
I was under the impression that a gargoyle was a rain spout, hence the word gargle, otherwise the sculpture would be called a grotesque.
Your impression was indeed correct! My assumption was that if I had called it a 'grotesque' I would be confusing most people who didn't know the distinction between the two terms. But, it is 'grotto-esque', referring the sculptures of Tiberius' grotto. Lesson learned!!
Non the less, wonderful work.
@@oatkeroder Thank you!
To my mind it is a grotesque and not a gargoyle.
heh! I understand why. I find when I use the term 'grotesque' around most people, they are confused and think I am saying it is ugly or hideous. So, I tend to say 'gargoyle' in most cases for simplicity's sake. I recently heard that 'grotesque' comes from the term grotto-esque, referring to the grotto of a Roman Emperor which was known for having a lot of colorful and bizarre sculptures.
Got here from Reddit, Thanks for the great narrated process, this is very helpful!!
I appreciate the feedback, thank you, it is nice to hear it was helpful. Was there anything in particular?
@@pmcarrick i like that It is a good walkthrough of all your tools, setup, and many holding jigs i haven’t used before. If only there is more video time dedicated to your actual carving, not sped up, and talking of some parts you found tricky.
@@tianwang Thanks for explaining, I really appreciate your feedback. I had hoped the various different ways to hold wood might be of interest to someone, as it is something I once struggled with. I wound up with 2 hours of footage for this, I was concerned it might be too long for most viewers (so many youtube viewers have such a short attention span). So, I went for an overall view rather than a full 'how to'. I think I'd need a lot more footage and better angles to cover the whole thing to make a decent tutorial. But, I am learning as I go along...