Whittling Little Folk: 20 Delightful Characters to Carve and Paint (Fox Chapel Publishing) Scandinavian Style Flat-Plane Carving with 4-Perspective Photos Providing 360-Degree Views of Each Project

First, I want to tackle the elephant in the room - you do NOT need a band saw to carve these Little Folk. You can carve any of them from a block using either a rough out knife or coping saw to rough out. There is no doubt a band saw makes things faster - but since when is whittling supposed to be fast? Now for the book - absolutely delightful! There are many very flexible caricatures that can be easily modified and adapted. The carving itself is flat plane, which lends itself well to beginner carvers. I would highly recommend this book to any first time or experienced carver. Harley Refsal captures the spirit of what carving for pleasure should in my mind be - strop a knife, get a block of wood and make some hours disappear. These are low pressure carvings with simplified features and lots of options, and each tell a story. I enjoyed it very much.

This is a solid book I would recommend to anyone. Very good forward which explains the history of this style of carving in Norway. There are two step by step projects to get you going. The photography through out the book is very good. After that there are number of variations you can experiment with. These include 3-4 Santas which I will definitely be carving. If you want to carve these bigger simply enlarge the very good patterns. Also you do not need a bandsaw as someone suggested in an another review. Simply saw out the patterns by hand with a coping saw!....Jack Hackle

When I decided to pick up a caricature carving book I was thrilled by the number of titles available. This excitement soon turned to confusion as I tried to decide which books to add to my cart and which to leave on the Amazon.com shelf. A large part of the problem was that most of the books within the field of caricature carving seemed to carry a 4 or 5 star rating which prevented me from enacting Rule No.1 of my AMAZON RULE OF PURCHASE which states: All things being equal, purchase the item with the highest customer rating. So with Rule No.1 nullified I found myself pouring over page after page of LOOK INSIDE in an attempt to narrow down my choices. Unfortunately, that wasn't much help either so I took the unprecedented step of just buying EVERY caricature carving book I could find that carried a 4 or 5 star rating. 10 days and 5 titles later I'm ready to offer you my feedback, based on a few essential criteria, in the hopes that I'll save you both the time and the money I invested. Before I get to my ratings, let me run down the criteria I used to make my assessments: 1) Larger books with good color photography trump smaller books with black & white photography. 2) Books that provide step-by-step instruction are far superior than photographic collections of finished projects. 3) Books that provide complete instruction, from wood selection to painting techniques, are better than books offering scant or piecemeal instruction. 4) Because individual carvers have unique styles, I found that the books that contained the works of numerous carvers were far more instructional than those containing the works of just one carver. With those 4 criteria in mind, my top 5 caricature carving books are: 1) Caricature Carving: Expert Techniques & 30 All-Time Favorite Projects ~ The BEST of the bunch. Wonderful photographs outlining the steps required to carve the works of numerous different artists. Instructions run from wood selection all the way to paint selection with everything in between including which tools to use. If you have a limited budget or you just want to own one caricature carving book then this is the one for you. 5 STARS 2) Caricature Carvers Showcase ~ Unlike the #1 selection, this title does not include ANY step-by-step instructions on carving so if you're looking for an instructional guide, this ISN'T it. So why do I rate it so highly? Because it contains wonderful color photographs of the work of 50 different carvers; and while it's a mystery HOW the artists created their work, you can't help but shake your head in amazement at the finished product. 4½ STARS 3) Whittling Little Folk ~ A smaller text from a single artist. The work here is more basic than most caricature carvers which is not necessarily a bad thing for the novice carvers among us. Good step-by-step color photography. The first 2 projects are covered in detail from wood selection to final coat of paint. The final 15 or so projects are described in far less detail. Not as flashy as some of the other titles, but this one grew on me and was actually the source book for my very first carving effort. 4 STARS 4) Caricature Carving from Head to Toe ~ A decent text that contains thorough, step-by-step instructions and photographs leading to the creation of an elderly gentleman caricature. The book contains the work of just one artist so you'll garner just one perspective which I think is a major limitation. A gallery of the artists work rounds out the text, and while his work is of the highest quality it's not as varied as that of a collection of artists. 3 STARS 5) Carving the Little Guys ~ With just 31 pages this is more of a pamphlet than a book. The text is again the work of a single artist who's forte appears to be basic caricatures. Good photographs instruct the reader in the production of just a single, basic caricature (is the black thing under his nose a tongue or a moustache?). Overall, rather disappointing. 2 STARS So there you have it, I hope that saves you the time I lost as well as the money I spent!

It is very well done. It has photographs and instructions of step by step, and very good patterns I am just learning how to carve and this book was a good choice..

The book gave great methods for starting out in carving. Good details to begin with and then plenty of options to build on as you got more comfortable with the techniques.

This book has a great back story as well as the "how to" hands-on carving instructions and patterns that you can copy. Very well written and illustrated. Thank you, Mr. Refsal.

This little paperback will get you started on the Scandinavian flat plan carving tradition.

This is a nice book. It has good instructions and cute designs.

finde das Buch persönlich sehr gut und nehme es immer wieder gerne zur Hand

Easy to follow instructions although writer cheats by using a band saw to get basic shape which took me about a week to arrive at using a Mora Erik Frost 106 wood carving knife bought at the same time as book. Book shows you in step by step photos how to carve a man and a woman character and then gives patterns for a dozen or so other little folk. It's just a matter of carving your block of wood, try to get soft wood I chose a bit of old Leylandii I had and it seemed harder to carve than the writer of book used, to fit the pattern of your choice. Carve a bit, compare it to the two pattern views given , carve a bit more until your effort matches pattern then follow the photos and Bob's your Uncle little folk made. With a bit of imagination and selecting an appropriate pattern I don't see why an unlimited number of characters can't be made. Author uses bits of wire and other wooden made accessories to make specific characters. One tip though photocopy pattern being used, as constant opening book and offering up carving to pattern picture is damaging my book. Expect to get orders for little folk, everybody who saw the book on my table asked if I would carve them a figure. The trees in my garden tremble with fright when I go out there with a saw in my hand.

Good Book!

Esta obra está escrita en inglés.Me han gustado dos cosas: - los diversos proyectos de los personajes vienen con los patrones para poder fotocopiarlos y recortando la silueta,copiar en el taco de madera la y poder empezar a trabajarla. -Todos los proyectos vienen con fotos paso a paso hasta su finalización.

Il libro spiega nel dettaglio come intagliare un personaggio maschile e uno femminile - creando una base comune per gli altri, di cui fornisce il modello disegnato e le foto di sbozzatura. È dunque utilissimo per imparare l'autonomia nell'intaglio, meno per iniziare da zero