How to Read a Wood Carving Pattern
- 1). Make a copy of the pattern that can be marked up in this planning phase.
- 2). Look for a title or explanation that describes the wood carving pattern so that you can navigate the drawing with some knowledge of its structure.
- 3). Find the major structural pieces of the carving. Look for heads and legs on a body, windows and doors on a facade or the trunk of a tree. Trace these lines with a highlighter or thick pen to make them stand out from the rest.
- 4). Create a second tier of structures for complex drawings with many small lines. For example, after isolating a bird's head, body and feet, draw a colored border around the outline of each feather.
- 5). Review the interior lines within each structure and determine their purpose -- e.g., lines within a bird's feathers can indicated veining, while the lines on a cat's tail might represent the texture of fur.
- 6). Simplify the drawing by eliminating sections of detail. For example, you can omit the veining on a bird's feathers to make the carving easier.
- 7). Imagine the image as a three-dimensional carving by looking for logical areas of depth and shadow, such as the nook under a bird's wing or the folds in a shirt.
- 8). Lightly fill in the deepest parts of the pattern with a black-colored pencil. Ensure that the lines of the pattern can still be seen through the pencil marks. Color in the next deepest areas with a brown-colored pencil. Shade the entire pattern, using a lighter color for each progressive step into the foreground.
- 9). Note areas that logically necessitate a specific detail -- e.g., the vine of a plant is round, so a tapered and undercut style might be appropriate in a realistic carving. Write down the desired cutting styles and techniques on the pattern so that you do not have to remember them.
