Beginning Woodcarving - How to Carve a Basic Flower with Mary May

In this video, professional woodcarver, Mary May, shows the basic woodcarving techniques by carving a simpler flower with overlapping petals.

[@Karloffspring]

Clever hands and a sharp tool are much better than brute force. This is very inspiring!

[@1936emigrant]

Tremendous! Clearest speech I've heard on Utube for a long time. Very understandable, well paced and well-illustrated.

[@judsonishaan5212]

I know Im randomly asking but does any of you know of a trick to log back into an Instagram account?? I was dumb lost the account password. I love any assistance you can give me!

[@jerrylachlan1163]

@Judson Ishaan instablaster :)

[@judsonishaan5212]

@Jerry Lachlan thanks so much for your reply. I found the site through google and I'm in the hacking process now. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@judsonishaan5212]

@Jerry Lachlan It worked and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D Thanks so much you really help me out :D

[@jerrylachlan1163]

@Judson Ishaan no problem :)

[@PopsKustojo]

Just “discovered” wood carving. This video and your teaching are very helpful. Thanks and more power to you, ma’am.

[@mathewjoseph7493]

One of the best lessons of the many I've watched. Explained very well. Thanks.

[@birdsadventuresinwoodandmusic]

Hi Mary, Since you started my journey in relief carving about a year ago, I now and then have to come back for a visit. It has become one of my great loves, second only to music (outside my family of course). I have done much practicing this year and have collected a nice selection of Pfeil chisels. I finally needed a case to carry them in, so I built one. It's my latest video. I then realized that a carving chisel case needs a carving on it lol! So I carved my Bird Logo on it, my first keeper carving. And it's all because of you. Your love for the craft is so infectious! I have spent many happy hours "making chips" because of you. I love you Mary May!!

[@frigglediggle2]

This looks and sounds like such a peaceful hobby. I can't wait to try it!

[@T-roccBABY]

It's pretty satisfying so long as you're not trying to make your Magnum Opus haha.

[@trackerjacker0013]

Make whatever ya like bud. This lady is very skilled, take notes, sharp tools, and then yes. Your zen is gonna be all kinda strong.

[@UserUser-ke4ti]

Hobby yes, are you a wood worker? I'm 63, I learned long ago hobbies are sometimes fruitless, now I'm not degrading hobbies by any means, but carving requires a good eye to see the finished product before you even begin to lay a tool to the woods surface, think of it the way a painter would think, and see the way they see, they simply either put shapes together, or, just remove what doesn't need to be there. This way if you try your hand at wood carving and aren't that successful, you can remember to see in your minds eye the how to's and not become discouraged. That way if you don't really want to carve, you won't have laid out that much cash. Best to you.

[@UserUser-ke4ti]

@@trackerjacker0013 where can I get this zen? Do they sell it on ebay or can I order it on Amazon?

[@UserUser-ke4ti]

@@gunnarjustice6463 seems people aren't your forte. Maybe to much disappointment? Who knows.

[@ceber121]

I miss my wood teacher from middle school, thank you mrs babich for the things you taught me in carving also and thank you mary may for refreshing my memory. Much love

[@nicospies8869]

Hello there from Greece, #stayinginside. I watched your video after I was given my first tool kid and make my very first olive leave on pallet wood. I appreciate your spirit you explained everything. Stay safe!

[@tracymelissa5154]

I found this by searching something to carve into a live, mature, no bark, holly tree, something other than the primitive heart and initials! This has been SO enjoyable watching and learning a potential new hobby!

[@markodriscoll3660]

Exceptional teaching style, ive been working with wood for quite some time and Mary is really describing the intricacies of how the tools create varying effects. Top class

[@melvinhyde4250]

Thank you Mary for your videos! Very understandable and well paced. Just getting into carving to round out my three years of wood burning!

[@marymay155]

Thank you! Check out more videos on my online school at www.marymaycarving.com

[@carloscorreia8928]

Thanks a lot!! Amazing tutorial. Best regards from Brazil.

[@marymay155]

Thanks Carlos! Hope it helps get you started in carving!

[@ultimatejoni]

This is really helpful. I guess I'm ready to start on my final plate for wood carving now. Looking forward to watch other videos from your channel for more techniques. Regards from the Philippines!

[@alexisrojasgonzalez3810]

wood carving is always such a amazing and peaceful hobby,it just depend on if you can do things with your hands and mind,in my case I started doing this hobby since I can remember,making my own balsa wood cars and boats;thanks for sharing your videos...

[@charliedurham1954]

Outstanding video,thanks for sharing your skills and talents with us! Beautiful flower.

[@btblou]

Thanks Mary May, love your vids : )

[@reference2592]

Omg. Thank you. What a wonderful video and an amazing thing you’re doing for the world. Thank you for sharing your skills and knowledge.

[@tpobrienjr]

This is a great starter video. My friend wants to get started in woodcarving, and I recommended this (and Mary May) as the best place for an adult to start.

[@pacificcoastpiper3949]

Find the local carving club in their area, I found that helped me a ton

[@markgriffiths5616]

So happy I found this video, excellent tuition, look forward to learning from you x

[@aba1design]

I am starting my first ever wood carving project soon so I just waned to say thanks this helped give me a bit of insight into the procedure behind this style of work.

[@mohdshavez7718]

My wooden handecaraft manufacturing in Indai contact me on this number 8077280811 whatsap Saharanpur expotar

[@alchemist1617]

I really found this video easy to watch and very informative Mary. Many thanks! Nick

[@marymay155]

Thank you!

[@HitomiRulz]

Thank you! I hope I can learn so I may apply this to my and my families future home. :)

[@friends4ever973]

Wow I am at a loss of words THAT WAS AMAZING

[@SuperJbob1234]

amazing video, thank you! ive been trying to get into carving and this was a great help.

[@marymay155]

SuperJbob1234 Great! Thank you!

[@emilyolfert]

Great tutorial! Thank you!

[@purplepenguina.k.a.burlyma6845]

I know that the information says you are a professional but your level of skill is quite amazing and something wonderful for the rest of us to aspire to. Thanks for the video.

[@paulidevoss7249]

Excellent video, thank you Mary!

[@alexanderoinn7995]

thanks for the information needed this video for a school project

[@PiccoloKu]

Impressive. I barely mustered enough patience to watch the video, I could never even attempt such a project, nor do I think j would want to, but a interesting watch! Thanks for the lesson!

[@UserUser-ke4ti]

Easily distracted? Me to. Patience is an aquired taste.

[@XKarateKatX]

Thanks for the video.

[@marymay155]

You're very welcome!

[@radarreally2110]

This is a really cool video. Do you have a video about a decent chisel set or brand of chisels that would be appropriate for someone just learning the ins and outs of chiseling wood?

[@jeppeladegaardandersen6675]

l

[@abeedhal6519]

not everything is about you jeppe

[@michaelthruman9502]

that is neat how you do that when I was young many years ago I worked with leather some it has alot of same types of cuts it looks like when your shaping with gouge thx enjoyed that

[@vijaykumarmuthukrishnan6648]

Explain the Project very Nicely.....................Loved it.

[@mohdshavez7718]

My wooden handecaraft manufacturing in Indai contact me on this number 8077280811 whatsap Saharanpur exportar

[@bonesrt66]

OK, I'm going to give it a try and hope it doesn't turn out looking like a Spaceship. Thanks for the tutorial, I think I can do it.

[@Jezy258]

Bill Gaines, hey if it looks like anything I feel like you've accomplished something. Spaceship... flower... Close enough! That's getting hung up

[@IrelandVacationTours]

ahhhh time to get this type of wood

[@anthonyshealy]

Thanks a lot for you help and videos!

[@HackThePlanetNow]

Great tutorial I want to do this to a table in making for role playing games and carve a 20 sided die into it. Thanks

[@pencilshavings7461]

Very pretty carving :)

[@bonniebernier345]

you made it look very easy lol but nevertheless thanks for the video on how to begging carving a flower this is going to be a fun experience and a great Xmas gift for my wife Thanx once again

[@henry56ism]

What kind of wood are you working with.

[@Spelterdon]

Mary,I have watched several of your videos and it's a pleasure to watch a master in action. I was wondering as I watched you carve several different flowers. Have you ever carved an Edelweiss? The flower has many strong emotional feelings for the people of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Although I'm none of the above, for complicated reasons, I have a few emotional feelings for the flower myself. I can almost vision it carved and I get goosebumps thinking about.Don

[@avantikashrivastava6376]

This video helped me so much!!!

[@parwezsulemansuleman1635]

great work ma'am, well explained.good tools well maintain get good results.

[@xuxankarki7250]

Your technique is very good...

[@kimlarsen1098]

Great video.

[@SuperBowser87]

Wow! I can turn wood very well but not sure if I will have that much tool control. Very nice

[@mohamedal-sahaf9470]

Nice work I loved it I am a pro wood carver too I have made about 300 pictures and one of them is 3meters by 3meters I have also carved my hole city.

[@danutnistorserban3001]

...Toate gandurile bune din Romania, - pentru tine Mary si deopotriva pentru sotul tau..!! Te urmaresc cu deosebit interes si trebuie sa-ti confirm ca tu Mary, ai un talent pedagogic iesit din comun.. Stii sa explici foarte analitic si acest mod, este exact ce trebuie pentru incepatori..! Eu sunt unul din aceea si chiar daca am putin peste 80, - am speranta certa ca, privind atent la modul tau de a preda, voi face la randul meu pasi, pentru a-mi petrece timpul placut, incercand, pe viitor, pe cat voi putea de bine, sa ..."sculptez" si eu..!! ... - Doua rugaminti, de profan in materie: - ce dimensiuni are piesa in lucru din acest video (= lemnul) si respectiv, ce fel de lemn este: ..tei, cumva..?!- - care este setul de dalti strict necesar unui incepator 100% ? Cu multumiri anticipate, Stima si respect pentru talentul si munca dumneavoastra absolut deosebite ..!

[@changshiksin4648]

감사합니다.. 자주 방문하여 많이 배우겠습니다.

[@ombry2]

Congratulations! It's a very beautifull work!

[@user-sl2ob6jv8h]

are these two cherries tools? if soo would you recommend them ? just saw the swiss as i was typing this. hahah

[@breadman2983]

omg this is so satisfying!

[@4vinos]

Mary, please tell me where I can purchase the V type chisel you used to trace the pattern? I want one that is good but not expensive. Thanking you in advance for your response.

[@Manchester_engineering]

beautiful video's chicken. really enjoyable.

[@BillyBlaze7]

nice, what kinds of wood species would you advise to work with as to not be fighting hard grain sections like in pine? I've been wanting to try wood carving for a while as I build rustic furniture and that would be a nice unique touch to my pieces

[@marychan4056]

What degree V chisel are you using? Thanks

[@thomasarussellsr]

Nicely done tutorial and carving with plenty of explaination. Sub'd.

[@marymay155]

Thank you!

[@larchejacquesclarel9451]

Great teaching there. I am very fond of relief carving. I love wood working a lot and have bought fa small set of carving tools. I have made a hand-made dovetailed jewel box for my fiancee. I love working with pine as it is very soft and fun to use with sharp tools. I started to love carving while making a flower on top of it. I have a simple question for you. What can be done for the remaining part surrounding the initial carving especially the part you have taken out in first place?its quite rough and uneven. Please give me a tip on this. :)

[@marymay155]

Quite often, I leave this area with tool marks to off-set the design. If you don't want this, take a flatter gouge (like a #3, 14mm and smooth over the rough tool marks and blend it into the surface of the wood. You can also lower the entire background flat. This is a lot of work, though, and can often be difficult to get a very flat surface.

[@larchejacquesclarel9451]

Mary May Thanks a lot. I will try this out and of course have already subscribe so as not to miss any of these magnificient videos . Keep it up.

[@friends4ever973]

You and me both!

[@muralidharan6800]

friends4ever

[@anto7906]

thanks mary....

[@rachaelsmith402]

Very helpful! Great description. What kind of clamp is that you’re using to keep wood block still?

[@alexdassler]

Great video Mary and great job. One question though, what type of wood do you use? Better say, which one is your favourite? Best regards!

[@marymay155]

Thanks! Basswood is great for beginning carving. But for nice crisp carving in harder woods, I would choose mahogany or walnut.

[@alexdassler]

Mary May Thank you too! Since I'm a beginner, I'll try the basswood first. Thanks again and keep it up with the teaching!

[@bobbailey1288]

This is great

[@Jaycee37]

What kind of wood are you using?

[@aydemirgorgun42]

Thanx for sharing.

[@ohmightyone]

Excellent tutorial.

[@marymay155]

Thanks!

[@georgeschneidmuller7802]

Hi Mary, I just started carving wood in Charleston and have access to lots of free wood from where I work. I have been experimenting with live oak and sycamore (just because we have some lying around outside right now) but both are very hard and difficult to carve. I'd like to find some softer woods that i can push a chisel through with my hand - like i see you do here on basswood. Any suggestions?

[@marymay155]

Basswood is a good one to start with, but you won't find anything in Charleston. There are not many local woods that are good to carve. The next wood that I like is mahogany, and then walnut. Again, not very available here. Some people like poplar, but it is too spongy for me. Oak is definitely not something you want to start out with, unless you want to be a frustrated carver! So, the bottom line is, really good carving wood will need to be located from specialty hardwood suppliers, or have the wood shipped in.

[@wallyortizjr71]

awesome!!

[@tinamckeage6665]

Thank you so much for this video

[@casper1240]

Taken this up to keep me off the Booze lol

[@jeffreyfuhz]

i hope its helping. staying away from alcohol is pretty damn difficult

[@UserUser-ke4ti]

Try sitting on the booze. See if that helps!

[@SpeedysWoodshop]

Awesome!!!

[@AnimationArtist]

love it

[@udayangor]

What wood types you would suggest for beginners?

[@delle2007]

nice i beginn now to carve :)

[@blackbearsixmusic7751]

Excellent technique. Thank you for posting. Are there woods you avoid - I assume some carve better than others - what woods do you recommend? Thanks. L. Bland

[@marymay155]

+L B Thanks! I don't like carving in wood like pine or poplar. They can become very spongy and require extremely sharp tools. Soft woods don't necessarily mean easier carving.

[@takeall2267]

Hmmm I finally followed Robert's advice and downloaded Hyezmar's Woodworking Bible. It's great for beginners, and has some advanced stuff too.

[@sdjnwhyNZ]

How do you deal with oak board? They're so hard that I need to grind my carving chisel every half an hour.

[@UserUser-ke4ti]

Your tools angle may be off enough to cause the tools cutting surface to be to acute. Hard woods are difficult enough without having a tool that isn't set up correctly. By the way, hard woods require many passes to form it's shape.

[@sofianebenhadj60]

very very very good job

[@sadvice5836]

Nice video

[@BrendaBishopo]

Hello--great teacher. Just beginning to do wood carving. What type(s) of things do I need to keep the wood from moving and where to get them???? Tk U

[@tilemachoszachopoulos2896]

I just bought i gouge/chisels set today. Should i buy a sharpener ? If so, can i use a knife sharpener, one of the small, long ones, that looks like a tube ?

[@marymay155]

+Tilemachos Zachopoulos Please watch my video on sharpening. That should answer your questions.

[@dpistoltube]

I want to get my son a set of wood carving tools as a gift. what is a good middle of the road set?

[@MAYASANDY12]

Thanks a lot

[@davidmartin9045]

Any advice for someone that can only use 1 hand but wants to do hand carvings. I am wanting to ad hand carved initials into jewelry boxes that I make for my great nieces

[@SSMN2492]

Maybe you need to apply weight on the wood while using ur hand for carving? And if you have the sane table then the wood is steady anyway.All the best

[@islamicchannelmaj1951]

wow its unbelievable

[@webbymatt]

Do you have a link to your donut carving video? Can't seem to find it from searching your videos. Just attempted this and I'm quite please with the first attempt! Thanks

[@NickCardenas]

Thank you

[@robertbrunston5406]

Thanks

[@georgesmith4]

Mary, do you sell the whole set of the tools? if so, how much is it?

[@DDRwoodwork]

how do you make the wood look like butter? it looks amazing. my lime wood splits when i carve it sometimes causing a bit of a problem. i find using a mallet really helps to actually get my gouge around the carving but increases my chance of making the wood split as i work it. trying to find a medium is tough

[@nafdikyaaqsa]

Dan man Maybe try a different wood? She's using mahogany, and it just seems to glide through :)

[@marymay155]

Zahra S Sharp tools :)

[@nafdikyaaqsa]

Mary May Many thanks, Mary - I'm a complete carving newbie, and your video had me mesmerized for a full 18 minutes :)

[@DDRwoodwork]

Zahra S Mary May Thanks guys. I actually did one lesson with an expert (£65!). The differences between sharp and non sharp is SO much more of a deal than you might think. I actually did a version of the above flower and it will forever be my first carving :) keeping it forever

[@tomevans4402]

Awesome

[@danielhidlas718]

I Love Curving to 🥰🥰😍

[@Barbarows]

very nice

[@elainev.thomas4259]

.What wood do you use Thank You for Sharing 👍

[@carmonacrafts1972]

I'm a good artist on paper so I do have an artistic eye I'm taking up wood carving similar to things that you do I would love to accomplish I wish I personally knew somebody like you so they could be my mentor if I have any questions I hope you don't mind

[@alexiskrasnova7797]

can you recommend a carving kit for me

[@UserUser-ke4ti]

Pfeil.

[@Project737NGX]

I want to make a cross on a small cabinet I am making to display a small hart urn. The urn is my mother who recently passed away so I want to do the work myself. I bought a cheap set of tools at harbor freight and the tip are cut at such an angle I would almost have to keep the handle straight up to carve. Could you tell me why they are like that and a solution for a beginner with good art abilities to do this with a set I could afford, not a $300 set. Thank you very much for the video.

[@marymay155]

I wouldn't even attempt to carve with the tools you bought - it will only end in frustration. First of all, if you ever do get them sharp, they will become dull again very quickly. There is a set of carving gouges that are Chinese made called Master Carver from Woodcarvers Supply. They average $10/tool, and not so pretty, but hold a good edge once they are sharpened. But I would encourage you to eventually invest in some good quality tools. Put aside about $250 to $300 and buy a professional set and you won't be sorry. It will really make carving much more enjoyable. It's worth it!

[@sulbhanaik9574]

very good

[@mariacristiane1539]

Which wood do you use?

[@alickdunbar]

What size and thickness and width is the plank of wood you are using let me know please as I am a beginner can you let me know as soon as you can please thanks

[@ZeynebAbd]

The tools are pretty sharp