What Should You Whittle? Whittling Tips for Beginners

[@CarvingisFun]

If you want to give me a gift as a thank you, you can send me some Pokemon cards! I've been collecting them since they came out and always enjoy getting new cards! You can use my Amazon Wish List to send me a booster pack or two :) www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1ZTOOLYLZ7C48

[@lenap4956]

For my first sculpture, I wanted to carve a dragon and ended up with a tadpol hahahaha

[@CarvingisFun]

Ha! That's hiw it goes sometimes :)

[@denasouthern70]

That's adorable 🤣🤣

[@goshdarnitman]

Mine was a 3 piece wand lol I want going for a Narwhal tusk and ended up making a wand with some torch to follow the spiral with a lil crescent moon attached to the base

[@mikearchibald744]

My first sculpture ended up as kindling so dont be too hard on yourself.

[@susannneu2376]

😂😂😂

[@star7communicator]

You're like the Bob Ross of whittling. Love your videos and your art.

[@Nessiechomp]

I have been interested in whittling for a couple weeks now, but I finally actuallly decided to do it. I live by a hiking trail, so I went looking for sticks, found a nice spot by the creek, and made one of those little wizard guys. Gotta say, I am shocked at just how proud I am of it. Thank you for introducing me to this hobby! Now I just need to get some basswood :)

[@m0ood]

Nice!

[@szakacselod8452]

Hey, amateur whittler here! You don't aleays need basswood, you can use many types. My favourite is poplar, really easy to carve, beautyful pinkish hue, does not split like pine. But i also have easily carved many other woods just from the forest, but also cherry, apple, plum, walnut... just about everything i saw around or split up as firewood by people. Just look around, cut into it to see if it is okay with you. Because you know, woods like beexh or acacia might be hard, but if you have the right texhnique, the sharp knife, and find it enjoyable or even challenging in a positive way, you might just feel you have to give it a go. Once i carved a little person out of pine, just to spite my fears of splitting it and ruining it. I was not able to make it as fine and derailed as bass, but it was okay, and one kid was very happy with it (okay, two, my inner child was also euphoristic).

[@szakacselod8452]

Okay, my stocky thumbs don't always tap on the right spot for the small keys of the smartphone, but maybe it is still understandable that i did not meant derailed :)

[@ShrpBld78]

Great video. Very encouraging especially for beginners. Just starting out here and sometimes it is hard to remember that not everything is going to be a masterpiece and that is ok.

[@CarvingisFun]

Indeed!! There are quite a few pieces that I have designated as "practice blocks" either from testing out tools or from a less than ideal outcome. I will gladly admthat I'm not the best carver, but I know enough to make it an enjoyable hobby for me.

[@TheSnoopindaweb]

Ditto. Yup,! G-G 😀

[@fossilimprint2954]

You are so correct, the journey is more important than the destination.

[@CarvingisFun]

Indeed it is :)

[@Richard.357]

Today, I managed to whittle out your fox from your tourtial, and it came out pretty good. I'm going to do some more as a neighbour loved it so much , I couldn't say no. And gave it away. I think if I do a few more, my cutting technique will become better. Thanks again for your excellent videos

[@David-bc4rh]

I have a very old cedar tree that I've been harvesting branches of any length and diameter it offers. Just been whittling the entire surface to remove rot and beetle poop and smoothing out the knots. The cedar makes wonderful patterns of purple lines on white wood. And the chatoyance of that purple heart wood. My god. It's gorgeous. I have no idea what I'm going to make, but the pile of branches in my living room makes the house smell nice and is pretty.

[@RGHoly]

You just enlightened me about not focusing on perfection, but just crave what makes me happy when I look back to it.

[@kiciacoldspring1621]

I just joined a whittling club and I'm going for the first time today. Thanks for your tips. New sub.

[@COEYRN]

I like your comments about doing it to relax, and having fun. Plus making it your own style. Empathizing it doesn't Have to be perfect. Definitely words to live by. Sometimes just telling somebody it's,"OK to do what feels right", allows the person their artistic freedom. Worked on my son like a charm. Sorry I'm no poet

[@TheJacker199]

Yesterday i wanted to carve a ball, just a ball - now it‘s a Walnut 😂 But thats war i Love on carving! You‘re Great! Greetings from Germany!

[@Alresu]

The "if it ends up, like, all you do is sharpening a stick, so be it" line resonated: I never really whittled anything, but when I was at my grandparents I made stakes all the time. Inspired by the Buffy tv show.^^

[@randallgervell7663]

I am just beginning to get into carving/ whittling! I just bought the tools needed to start! I am an artsy kind of guy but to make that art come alive on wood seems unimaginable! So thank you for your advice! It doesn’t have to be perfect! Make it fun! So that is the approach I will be using when I begin!

[@unitytira4954]

This video breaks my apprehension and give me solid acceptance/welcome on what I am carving. Thank you so much for your kind help in building in me confidence in my carving style. Carving is indeed fun 😊

[@bugsharks]

Happy Holidays, I just found your channel after getting a wood carving kit for Christmas. Just wanted to say from first glance I really love your channel and your energy so so much. 2:15 this is exactly what I am excited for I love your outlook so much. Just wanted to say how much I appreciate you and I am very excited to get started!!

[@CarvingisFun]

Howdy and welcome to the channe!! I hope you have a great time and enjoy a new craft! This is such a lovely hobby and a great way to express your creativity. And like I said in the video, perfection isn't needed and it doesn't even have to look "correct" to be something to be proud of. Reach out if you have any questions!

[@martins.5977]

Love it. Being creativ is something that can happen without samples. Nevertheless, getting started is more easy with step by step instructions.

[@CarvingisFun]

Very true, step by step instructions help build confidence and proper handling skills.

[@unitytira4954]

Thank you so much for your encouragement and insights it is such an inspiration to make an action to be in harmony with the wood + myself (the carver) + my knife (tools) = fun (joy and fulfillment). Thank you so much 😊

[@OldMeanGeezer]

Great advise! I have used some idea's I have found in various places, but I end up making things to my own liking. I admire some of the work I see others do; but that doesn't mean I want to copy there work. Thanks for the video!

[@CarvingisFun]

You're welcome! I absolutely love the work that others make as well, but lack the time or desire to create something similar myself.

[@StKnightis64]

Great channel. I just recently got interested in “trying” this hobby. As a kid, I enjoyed “whittling”, with my greatest creations being sharp sticks and sliced fingers. When I saw you drag out your sketch book, I went dang. I can’t draw that well. Not even close. How does drawing and carving correlate? I’d imagine if you can draw well, it’s going to help in your carving. If you can’t draw well, do I have a prayer at this, lol? Thanks

[@CarvingisFun]

Fun fact, I'm an engineer and cant draw. What you saw on each page probably took me an entire day to draw. However, I do have an unfair advantage that my wife is a professional graphic artist, so I have slowly been getting tips over thelast 20 years. My drawings ar to allow for better visualize the concept, not the finished piece but just the concept. You can also use pictures from the internet as references in a pinch as well.

[@StKnightis64]

@@CarvingisFun Thanks. That is encouraging. Guess I’ll be shopping for a knife!

[@poodn4559]

Here's a viewpoint from the clay model world. Drawing can help you visualize the more complex shapes that you may be having trouble wrapping your head around. It's generally a good idea to do a small sketch, even if all you're doing is warming the creative juices.

[@legotull1290]

man you have sucked me into another art hobby, dang drawing, sculpting, animation

[@CarvingisFun]

Ha! At least they are enjoyable hobbies :)

[@legotull1290]

@@CarvingisFun very true

[@joeyb9910]

This is what I needed to hear, thank you

[@darlenemorrison]

Love this video! Love your carefree approach!

[@coniferouss]

personally if I have no ideas I like to just take a walk with a knife and some wood (or pick up wood I find) and just carve something I see. like an animal or some cool shape I see. sometimes they turn out good and sometimes I just kinda laugh at them. but its just a no pressure fun thing

[@CarvingisFun]

That is an excellent way yo get inspiration! Its all about having fun :)

[@tomevans4402]

I love finding pieces of wood to carve wood spirits in. Some of them turn out great others not so good😂😂 Still fun

[@CarvingisFun]

Sometimes the not so great ones make me the happiest as they look silly! Even then, I dont consider them a failure, just learned how not to do something :)

[@TheMellowGrenade]

@@CarvingisFun you sound like I do when I’m justifying a bad acid trip 😂. thank you so much for This video, I’ve just got into this hobby recently and am having the same experience as Tom, and that’s actually really good advice, it’s a great way to look at it!

[@Yeethound]

These shapes make me happy too

[@AndreaC910]

Like your sketches! you've given me a great idea on how to design my craft.

[@Tinatime532]

Love your channel... great to listen and watch... and Yeap will certainly get going on the bits of branches I found the other day... I loved whittling with my dad once when I was little.. and always wanted to try it again, lol! A lifetime went by!!! But heyyy... never to late ehhh! 😉🌟😎🌟🖖❤️ 🥳 love n hugs... thanks so much for sharing, have fun all 🌟🙌🙌🙌🌺🌸🐝🤗😘

[@pierre-lucbastien3879]

I JUST started whittling! With your fox actually! :) the tail broke, I shortened the nose and it became a bear ^^ I redid it a bit bigger. I then did a small hedgehog. I was thinking about what will be carving number 4 and got a bit stuck. Not interested in wood spirits or chess set, and my goal of doing a moose will need a lot more practice. All that to say, your video got me out of my funk! I'm going to get out and carve a fish-looking piece of wood, then a better looking one and another one and so on.

[@AnneAndersonFoxiepaws]

Any of the very few and far between times I have tried to carve something, its been because a piece of wood suggested something to me lol!. Not verbally, you know in the shape, you can almost see something, like shapes in clouds.

[@thatpockyperson9115]

Cool! I am very interested in whittling, specifically whittling dolls cuz I be like that? This is very cool.

[@cohutta]

I'd love to see you do an egg like you have in the background of this video.

[@CarvingisFun]

That was actually purchaed from treeline usa :) they sell basswood eggs for carving.

[@ThePenny-Wise]

Hi can you do a tutorial on the carving off the egg in this one and the bunny standing up

[@CarvingisFun]

I have plans on doing the bunny, but havent thought about the egg. Did you want the egg shape itself?

[@ThePenny-Wise]

@@CarvingisFun awe nice for the bunny that looks really cool and whittling it would be amazing and if possible like the details inside off the Ed’s with the cracks and details your work is amazing keep it up.

[@CarvingisFun]

Probably going to hold off on the egg for now, it would require someone to purchase the premade egg and I used some gouges and v-gouges to make it. Pluss, I just winging it :)

[@andrewgward7]

My first sculpture was supposed to be a gnome, it turned out as a monkey😅😂😂😂. I was just wondering how you would go about carving a sloth? My mom love sloths, the house is full to the brim with sloth stuffed animals😂. Her birthday is coming up and I wanted to carve her one, but don't know where to start.

[@goose3691]

Could you make a video on how to make that particular rabbit?

[@CarvingisFun]

I have plans on doing so, just needs some simplification to eliminate awkward cuts.

[@brianedwards7142]

Why does your "alligator" remind me of the grilled salamander from Spirited Away? I like to make art in all sorts of media. When I am trying something new where I want a reasonable result without trying I always do a fish because the anatomy is fairly simple and the shapes are smooth. It's basically a dressed up s or c curve. Right now I am carving a dolphin but that's because the timber suggested that. Sadly it must have been a bit damp because when i bought it inside it split a little near the beak. It's just a bit of firewood I liked the look of.

[@CarvingisFun]

Ha! It does look like a grilled salamander:) Fish are fun and relaxing to carve while still having plenty of possibilities with shapes.

[@denasouthern70]

Do you have a snail carving tutorial?

[@CarvingisFun]

Not at the moment, but I do plan on carving one in the future.

[@kelceylatham9604]

What are the gloves you are wearing? Do they have a name or a certain type thats best for whittling and carving? Totally new and clueless

[@CarvingisFun]

Howdy! The gloves I am using are DexFit level 5 cut resistant gloves. So far they are my favorite ones I have found :)

[@randallhackworth421]

My entire fascination of wood carving just recently started because the neighbor asked me if I could make her friend an wooden owl. Saw a carving of one and I thought sure, I got plenty of different knives I can do this. Started the owl, ended up trying to make a bear, finally ended on a obtuse Tiki kinda. Now realize I have no idea what I’m doing and need a new style of knife😅

[@CarvingisFun]

Everyone develops their own style in the end but a good tool makes a world of difference

[@randallhackworth421]

@@CarvingisFun Well, I’m pretty broke for right now. So I’m making my own carving knife out of an old high carbon blade I had broken years ago in the bottom of the table leg. Wish me luck😂

[@tampajimmie11]

Hey man! You aren't by chance in Florida are you?

[@CarvingisFun]

Yeppers!! Lived here most my life :)

[@3nertia]

What are those wraps that you wear on your thumbs/fingers?

[@CarvingisFun]

Those are self adhering ace wraps. They are a great and cheap option to having a finger guard to prevent blisters from pushing on the back of the blade and preventing accidental cuts.

[@3nertia]

@@CarvingisFun Thanks!

[@TheSnoopindaweb]

Thank's again. G-G Yup,! 😀

[@TheSnoopindaweb]

👉 9/8/2023 😃👀❕

[@srcworm]

Is that just a branch from outside?

[@CarvingisFun]

Yep!

[@tammymilda2169]

I have a technical question. Is it ever possible to carve a small, narrow deep hollow or gap in a whittling project? It seems like every indented area is created by ‘sloping into’ it, and never by inserting the blade in straight down - ie. At a 90 degree angle from the wood. So presumably theres a minimum diameter that any indented area/hollow/gap can be. Unless there’s some technique for digging deeply into small sections? Thanks

[@CarvingisFun]

With just a knife, not really. The best and most efficient option would to use a narrow chisel and/or gouge.

[@marykirwan1506]

I love your videos :') so far I have made a bird. Then I went to the forest and got sticks that I intended to make into wands :') but they were too narrow so I'm making chopsticks :p I'd love to make a cat next but I think I need more knives - I only have a sloyd knife. What type of knife would you recommend for animal figurines?

[@CarvingisFun]

Howdy!! Knife recommendations can be limited from country to country but for the most part the flexcut kn12 and kn14 are good choices to get started :)

[@kjgukibau412]

What is the tape you are using on your thumbs please?

[@CarvingisFun]

Thats self adhering ace wrap

[@kjgukibau412]

@@CarvingisFun thank you

[@woodandcreativity.r9132]

👍👍

[@timlist4173]

Did you have links?

[@CarvingisFun]

Just now saw this, looken for links to tools, supplies, woods?

[@aishazant2443]

What type of wood is this

[@CarvingisFun]

Im using Basswood

[@alickdunbar]

Can you carve a turtle 🐢

[@CarvingisFun]

I have plans on doing a gopher tortoise some time in the future :)

[@mustamuri]

✨🧸✨ 🙂👍

[@CarvingisFun]

😀