Carve a Simple Garden Gnome - Beginner Friendly - One Knife

In this video, I'll show you how to carve a simple garden gnome out of basswood using only a knife!
Beavercraft Detail Knife: amzn.to/421hOiV
Beavercraft Wood: amzn.to/48VKpZe

[@carinapetersenschmidt1854]

Great video 👏 I'm definately going to start my own gnome tomorrow

[@halflingcarvings]

Thanks! Hope you have fun carving him 😁

[@kcrowe559]

I like this little guy. I mostly whittle animals because I’m not great with whittling people. 😀 this guy will work out for me

[@halflingcarvings]

Thanks! I’m glad you like him! I’m working on some more tutorials, so stay tuned!

[@indianatone218]

Thanks for showing us your take on these gnomes ,i followed along with yo and im pretty pleased with it , i kept stopping the vid and then catch up with you ,you are pretty quick and i love my digits where they are lol but i got there, who knows i may even try summat on my channel ,thanks again ive liked and subd you .Greetings from Wales UK .

[@halflingcarvings]

Awesome! Glad you enjoyed the video and gave it a shot!

[@SewWhittle]

New subscriber and beginner carver. More simple projects would be great!

[@halflingcarvings]

Working on one now! 😁 I’ve had some big projects to work on the last couple of weeks, but I’m back in the swing of things. Thanks for subscribing and for the feedback!

[@butnarasuluca7660]

Check out Doug Linker's channel!

[@halflingcarvings]

Absolutely! Check out, Carvingisfun also.

[@SewWhittle]

@@butnarasuluca7660 I’ve been watching Doug for quite awhile now. He’s great!

[@SewWhittle]

@@butnarasuluca7660 yep, follow them also. ☺️

[@micahdavis214]

I've just subbed been carving a few days thanks for vid any tips or just patience practice

[@halflingcarvings]

Awesome! Just stick with it and get your knife in the wood as much as you can! Check out Doug Linker and Carving is Fun youtube channels for lots of great beginner videos!

[@micahdavis214]

@@halflingcarvings thankyou for the reply appreciated I've been at it q few weeks now and I really can't put my knife down and I seem to be improving every carve. I think it don't matter what you carve at first just keep doing it

[@stateniland]

lighting could be brighter :)

[@halflingcarvings]

Yeah, it was one of my first videos, and I’m still trying to figure out lighting 😂🤦‍♂️

[@paraflightjoe1053]

Go Reds....

[@halflingcarvings]

Absolutely!

[@bradtate158]

What would you carve with a piece of bass that 2 inches x 4 inches?

[@halflingcarvings]

I’m guessing you mean a 2x2x4 block? With bigger pieces, you can either scale up the carving, so that you are carving a larger version, or you can us a handsaw or bandsaw to cut the block into smaller pieces. Hope this helps!

[@bradtate158]

@@halflingcarvings yes sorry I have lot of 1x1x4 blocks to

[@douglasolsen6861]

Not all wood is good for carving. Suggestions?

[@halflingcarvings]

Basswood is by far my first recommendation for most people. It's great for beginners, and for people that want to carve faster, and with more predicability. It is soft and has a uniform and predictable grain pattern. Basswood is best when it is harvested during the winter. Heinecke Wood is said to be the best in the game. I haven't gotten around to trying their wood, because they don't have a great online interface. Because of that, I have mostly bought wood from sellers on Amazon. Some of that wood is great, and some is less than desirable, but usable. Woodcraft basswood is pretty good, but comes in a big block, so you have to cut it down. Rockler basswood comes in random sizes in a big box. It's cheap, but I have a lot of it sitting around, and I don't ever use it because it isn't worth fighting with. Poplar is also a good wood, but a bit harder and less predictable. Poplar is my favorite so far, but I wouldn't recommend it over basswood for a beginner. Harder woods are better for holding detail, but take more time, skill, and effort to carve. I've also carved soft maple, African mahogany, black walnut, and cherry, and have enjoyed carving them all. Hope this helps.

[@nancyfolks8551]

really enjoy working along with you but......your video is very dark and its hard to see well what you are doing.

[@halflingcarvings]

Yes, I’m very sorry about that! I’ve recently changed my lighting and filming setup to hopefully address this issue! Check out my latest painting tutorial and let me know if I’ve addressed your concerns! Thanks for the feedback and for watching the video 😁