Part 3

It will be very much to the advantage of the pupil, so soon as he can cut confidently and correctly with the gouge or chisel, to practise with the _left_ hand as well as the right. The younger he is the easier will it be to form this habit. A carving tool is sharpened from both sides because the edge, so made, enables the artist to cut from many positions without turning the wood, and when he can use both hands he has the same advantage to a greater degree. Try, therefore, to acquire a perfect command of the tools, so as to cut with both hands, and in many directions and ways, the greatest care being always taken, however, that you do not turn the point towards yourself, lest an unwary slip should produce a wound. When you can _cut_ with confidence, and do not rely under any circumstance on splitting, digging, prizing up, "wriggling," or rocking with the gouge to remove wood, then you can tell beforehand what you are about to do. To attain this skill you must frequently practise cutting on waste wood, and not spend all your time on perfectly finished work.

The pupil has been instructed in Lesson IV. how to cut out the ground from a flat panel, leaving the pattern in relief. Very beautiful patterns may be executed with very little finish; and a vast proportion of beautiful old Gothic wood-carving depended far more on outline than on modelling for its effect. Modelling is the rounding or shaping a pattern to give it form. Now _leaves_, in one shape or another, more or less natural, form a great proportion of all decorative design. When they are simplified from the original type, and made merely ornamental, yet still preserving so much of the original shape that we can plainly see what that type was, they are said to be "conventionalized." It is, therefore, very important that the wood-carver should know how to carve leaves well. He has already learned how to make the simple outline or groove of one or many with a gouge, and how to remove the wood surrounding them. He may now go a step further and cut with great care the elementary pattern, Fig. 38. Use a flat gouge for gradually rounding and carving the surface, beginning with the outer or lower edge, and working up to the stem. The pupil will do this as well again, and with far greater confidence and ease, should he begin firstly by making a shaded copy of a leaf in pencil, then modelling it in clay, and then copying this in wood. The time thus spent will be gained in the end many times over by the skill and dexterity and eye-training acquired.

The first step in rounding a leaf is effected simply by "wasting" or chipping away little by little by straightforward cutting. This is the same for convexities and hollows. Such rounding and undulation is performed by skilled artists with very few tools, including gouges, skew-chisels, rasps, files, and the double-bent gouge.

The student may, in the beginning, round and scoop his leaves with any tools which seem fit, if he will only cut with the utmost caution, and keep the implements well sharpened. A very important and rather difficult part of this work is the cutting the ribs or stems which run through the leaf. One implement for this purpose is the so-called "macaroni tool," but at present it is really very little used, owing to the great difficulty of keeping it sharp, and its liability to break. Nearly all veining can be executed with the fluter or large veiner, the hollow gouge, the V tool, or the flat gouge, according to circumstances.

"The wood," as Eleanor Rowe remarks, "should be taken off in short, sharp touches, and not by deep and long cuts, and no attempt should be made to obtain a smooth surface until the form and general modelling of the leaf is done." The edge of the leaf may be a little under-cut to give relief; this effect should be given by a V tool or small veiner. When the leaf is correct in form, proceed with flat gouges to remove the tool marks, holding the tool very firmly, and inclining it to an angle of about 45°.

It is advisable for the beginner to cut several simple leaves with great care, Fig. 39, and, if possible, let him draw, shade carefully, and model them all in clay before carving them. He will be astonished to find how much easier the latter process is, and with what confidence it can be carried out, after the two former have been executed. Having for several years had under my supervision large classes in wood-carving, both with and without modelling in clay, I speak from experience on this subject.

It is to be observed that, as leaves and sprays involve every possible curve, he who can design, model, and carve them well, will find no difficulty in executing birds, animals, or the human face or figure. In their simplest forms, or in flat work, these are all extremely easy. Then they may be a little rounded, or modelled, and so going on, step by step, the carver may come to full relief. Oak leaves are, perhaps, the most graceful of all objects, and lend themselves to as many forms as the acanthus, but they are also very difficult in their more advanced developments. Therefore they form an admirable subject for study.

SIXTH LESSON.

CUTTING WITH THE GRAIN--TURNING THE TOOL--THE DRILL--BOLD CARVING--AND LARGE WORK.

In both large and small carving there is one common difficulty, the frequent resistance of the grain of the wood and defects incidental to it. This question has already been touched upon in the Fourth Lesson, where the pupil has been told that he will usually find the wood cut more readily from the one side towards the other. To this may be added, that as he progresses and carves in higher relief he will not only find the same thing in working leaves and other ornament, but he will also find that some portions about these will always cut better, more smoothly, and without splintering, when the tool cuts downwards, that is, from the surface towards the background, but with other and quite adjacent portions when the tool is made to cut the reverse way or upwards. As a first rule, therefore, so soon as there is the smallest sign of splintering, try the cut from an opposite direction to remove it, and it should cease.

Further, if the edge of the gouge or firmer cut in certain directions _against_ the grain of the wood, it will "catch," or tear, or splinter. As another precaution against this, the carver may shift the position of the wood by unscrewing it, if it is held by a clamp or holdfast. This is more easily effected if he have, in the French fashion, only three or four nails driven into the table, in which case he has only to pick his work up and put it into a different position; or he may shift his own position. But it is best of all to be able to carve with both hands, a feat which, after all, is not difficult to acquire, and which comes very soon with a little practice; and to master the art of _turning the tool about and cutting in any position_, which also comes with practice to an incredible extent. He who can do this, can manage to cut with the grain in most cases without shifting the block.

Wood should _never_ be torn or ripped; everything should be done by clean, smooth cutting. To make sure of this you must first of all keep every tool as sharp as a razor all the time, and always cut with the grain. Cutting diagonally, or partly across, is still cutting with the grain, and is easier and surer than going parallel with it.

Mark out the pattern, Figs. 40 or 41, and outline it. The Greek and Roman workmen, and very often those of later but early times, with a gimlet, or drill, or centre-bit, bored out holes here and there, both in wood-carving and in stone, and worked up to, or around these. They formed beginnings, as it were, to guide the gouge or chisel. These were often of great practical utility wherever a small round cavity occurred, but their chief use in wood was to aid and direct the tool in certain places where there were difficulties of grain to contend with, or sharp points or corners of ornaments likely to be broken off. I was once puzzled to know why the drill was so much more used in ancient than in modern carving, but reflection convinced me that where decorative work must be done expeditiously or cheaply, and a little coarseness of execution did not signify, it was a very great aid.

In the pattern, Fig. 38, the leaf is easy to cut; that is to say, one single leaf. Cutting it once more, or repeating it, is only doing the same work over again; yet if this same leaf, or another not a bit more difficult, be repeated twenty-five or thirty times in a wreath, it will seem to be a very difficult piece of work. Now, it is a matter of importance to understand that if you can do a very small, simple piece of wood-carving really well, you can also by mere patience and repetition execute a piece of work which would seem to be very remarkable, or quite beyond your power. The illustration to this lesson, Fig. 40, shows what I mean. Almost any one with care could cut out a leaf, and he who has done one can _repeat_ it in any other arrangement. Now a vast proportion of all decorative patterns in flat or ribbon-work, and even in higher relief, are formed on this principle of repetition, or of so-called "lobes," so that he who can carve even a little neatly may be confident almost from the beginning of being able to execute even valuable work.

Such a panel as Fig. 41, when once carved, may serve for the lid or sides of a box, the cover of an album, or any object with a smooth, flat surface. But I cannot repeat too often this injunction, to constantly practise cutting on waste wood, so as to acquire facility of hand, before attempting anything which is to be shown or sold. It is unfortunately true that, left to himself or herself, there is not a pupil in a thousand who would not devote all the time or work to producing show-pieces, even at the first cutting, instead of practising so as to learn how to produce them.

When pupils have teachers who are practical and workmanlike, it is probable that as soon as they can handle the tools they will be set at _bold, large work_. This is fortunate for them, since it is the greatest advantage one can have, be it in Design, Modelling, Wood-carving, or any other art of the kind, to be made familiar with free-hand, large, and vigorous execution.

SEVENTH LESSON.

THE SWEEP-CUT OR FREE-HAND CARVING--CUTTING NOTCHES IN LEAVES--THE ROUND-CUT.

Boldness in cutting is a matter of very great importance, since no one can carve really well till he gets beyond chipping or "wasting." To carve boldly we must use the sweep-cut. It may be observed that in modelling in clay there are certain methods of shaping the material, which are quite peculiar; as, for instance, when we press the modelling tool down or up, and at the same time turn it to the left or right. This makes an inclination upwards or a depression downwards, yet sloping to one side or the other. It is made by two movements in one; so in cutting with a sword or long knife, if we chop, yet at the same instant _draw_ the blade, the result is a much deeper incision. This is called the draw-cut, and by means of it a man may cut a sheep in two, or sever a handkerchief or lace veil thrown into the air.

Very much like this is the double motion of the hand in the _sweep-cut_, which must be acquired by all who would learn to carve leaves well. It is not quite true that all work must go through the three stages of blocking out, bosting, and finishing; for when leaves are carved with the sweep-cut they are generally finished at one operation. With this cut, which is usually performed with a flat gouge, the wood is removed so as to give a peculiar form or curve--as when a leaf slopes down and sideways--by a single but compound movement; that is, we must, while pressing the edge, also move it or give it a slight lateral motion. This sweep or side-cut is developed more fully in sloping larger and especially rounded surfaces, like whole leaves, which rise and fall, or undulate, Figs. 41, 42. This cut, by means of which one can carve with confidence the most brittle and difficult wood, requires a tool of very good quality, which must be kept scrupulously sharp. It must be practised on waste wood till the pupil is a master of it, but when it is once acquired, wood-carving, as regards all large and effective work, may be said to really have no further difficulties. With some it seems to come all at once, by inspiration.

The simplest or first form of the sweep-cut occurs in making leaves. Every one who has tried this knows that the cutting the notches or making lobes in the wood, but especially the shaping the points, is a difficult matter, for if we simply shove or press the edge of the cutter, as in ordinary or _plane_ work, the leaf will probably break, especially if the wood be "splitty," uneven, or brittle. Having marked out a circle to include the lobes of the leaf, we cut a notch half way between the proposed points, and by shaving first from one side and then the other, bring the leaf or its lobes into shape, Fig. 43. Of course, in doing this we cut _from_ the point to the corners.

For the present it will suffice to apply it in its simplest and easiest form to cutting groups of leaves. In the previous lesson the pupil has been told how to cut out a single plain leaf in relief by simply "wasting" or chipping away the wood little by little with a flat gouge. In like manner it might be filed, or rasped, or scraped like metal, into shape. Let the pupil now sketch Fig. 43, and then bost it out, by cutting round and clearing away as already described.

The dotted lines indicate the original shape or circles in which the leaves are cut. When it is "all done but the finishing," or bosted, then cut the notches backwards in the manner already described. And, as I have said, if the pupil has practised the sweep-cut, and keeps his flat gouge perfectly sharp, he may cut the finest notches in the smallest leaves in the splittiest wood without once breaking away a piece.

The sweep-cut gives perfect confidence, and he who has acquired it, and knows how to apply it so as to make any curve or boss or involution which he pleases, may be said to have passed from the amateur stage to that of the artist, or at least of the clever workman. By means of it one can model the most refractory wood into any shape, and to any one who is expert at it oak is as easy to carve as pine. Therefore the pupil should spare no pains to acquire it; and it will come sooner perhaps than he expects if he first of all takes all pains to understand what it really is, and secondly to practise it for a few hours on waste wood. There are, however, many carvers who pass months or years in "wasting" away wood by simple straight cutting or chipping before they get any idea of what a sweep-cut is--if indeed they ever learn it. But if the pupil has previously acquired skill, that is to say, ease and confidence in running gouge lines and hollow cutting and shaping simple leaves by straight cutting, he will without doubt find that the free-hand sweep-cut comes as by inspiration.

EIGHTH LESSON.

FURTHER APPLICATION OF THE SWEEP-CUT TO HIGHER RELIEF.

When a leaf is in its ordinary natural condition it is generally flat, but while growing or fading it often curls and twists into remarkable and graceful shapes, which are extensively employed in decoration. Before going further I would impress it on the intelligent student that the mere literal imitation of any kind of leaf, so that it would look exactly like a _real_ leaf if it were only coloured, should seldom or never enter within the province of wood-carving as a general decorative art.

What the pupil should do in copying leaves and flowers, etc., or in modelling them for carving, is to observe their characteristic shape and contour, to follow all their graceful lines and bends, depressions and swellings, and give the general expression and spirit of these without striving _too_ accurately to make a mere leaf. He should not make it so thin that it would break with a slight blow. A great deal of the most admired work of the present day is of this kind, which will hardly bear dusting. A leaf may always be cut, as we see it done in classical and in ancient work, so solidly and firmly as to resist the wear and tear of centuries. As nobody is expected to believe that it is a real leaf when it is palpably cut out of wood or stone, we may as well conventionalize it (that is, keep only a general likeness to a leaf), and make it attractive by grace and skilful combination. And this can be done if we only cut out the leaf in its _general_ form and leave a strong base for it to rest on, so that it may be safely dusted or rubbed against. The student should try to understand this, for it will enable him to make all effects necessary in decorative work, and save him much needless petty labour.

If the pupil has practised the sweep-cut, and can with confidence work in any direction, with both hands, he may now attempt oak-leaves in which there are varied slopes, cavities, and swellings, Figs. 44 and 45. These seem to have been the favourite subjects of the old modellers and carvers. Perhaps the best designing of the kind in existence is that by Adam Kraft, in Nuremberg. I repeat here, that the more difficult and varied a leaf is the more necessity is there for the pupil to model it in clay, or at least to draw and shade it carefully, before beginning. The reason is this, that, having its principal points in the memory, it is much easier to reproduce them when cutting in wood; we know then when and where to turn the hand or the tool. And it is well to bear in mind that this practical and necessarily accurate, though often hasty, sketching and shading of the workshop grows very rapidly on the pupil, so that, being driven to it, he learns to do such drawing more promptly and vigorously than he would in a school or class.

In making the sweep-cut it is necessary _to get the bend_ or movement, which is directing the gouge in the proper route. In ordinary cutting we only push the blade forward; in the sweep-cut there is a "draw" or side movement as well as a push. But the _bend_ or direction constitutes, so to speak, a third movement, and this is the most difficult to determine. To get a certain symmetrical turn or curve we cut _without seeing_, whereas in ordinary cutting or "wasting" we see clearly just what we are going to slice off, and take it away with confidence. But with a little practice on waste wood, the sweep or draw-cut will become so familiar that one can execute the most difficult curves, not by chipping away, but by a bold sweep. Amateurs who have taught themselves can generally cut or chip only straightforwards; they cannot turn or curve a leaf with a sweep. The combined movement given to the tool in making the sweep-cut may be thus analyzed, and if the three distinct forces applied to the tool be first understood and then kept in mind in making such cuts, success will soon and easily result. Suppose we are engaged upon the surface of a leaf which slopes generally downwards and off to one side, but also has a rise or mound somewhere in the course of the slope, and most leaves have one or more such undulations. With the gouge, straight or bent, grasped firmly in the right hand, and the two fingers of the left hand pressed on the surface _and side_ of the blade about an inch from the cutting edge--the position already described: the tool is pushed straight forward for the entire length of the cut by the right hand; at the same time the blade is pushed to the right or pulled to the left by the two fingers of the left hand to the extent, and as the slope may travel to the right or the left; and thirdly, the right wrist is raised or lowered to cause the tool to travel over the intended mounds or undulations on the leaf. Now these three distinct movements or forces exerted on the tool merge into one another, and may be said to be used simultaneously, and are really one continuous movement, which gives the sweep-cut; but the extent to which any one preponderates of course depends upon the particular shape of the leaf or scroll being carved, and is soon found out by but little practice upon different forms.

In commencing or bosting out this pattern, Fig. 44, and all others in high relief, the pupil will do well to observe that he should select a gouge whose sweep will fit the curve of the leaf in the part it is intended to begin upon, and placing the edge of the gouge outside, but quite close to the line, and holding the tool at a slope so as to cut away from it outwards, give it a moderate blow with the mallet. Take care not to drive the gouge in too deeply. This is the _blocking out_ of the leaf, or outlining in the solid. And in doing this, begin by making or cutting the general outline only. Leave the second-sized interstices or hollows for a second cutting, and the smaller notches of the leaves and fine corners for a final finishing. In this pattern, Fig. 44, also Figs. 42 and 45, the leaves should be of the natural size, or from three to five inches in length.

Most beginners cut too closely under the leaf, so as to get at once to relief, which looks like finish. As a rule it is better, whatever the pattern be, in flat ribbon-work or high relief, to always rather slant outwards. For in the first place, when we come to finish in ribbon-work, the pupil may find it necessary to cut so much away to bevel or round or undercut the pattern, that (especially when it is in narrow lines) the _thinning_ away will quite destroy their proportions. But it is well on yet another account to be very sparing of this paring away and undercutting. There are far too many wood-carvers who cut away under in order to make leaves thin and natural, till they are like paper, and much more fragile. This is greatly admired as indicating "skill," and it certainly demands skill of a common order to effect. But it requires a much higher and nobler kind of _art_ and will to make the leaves strong and firm, even if we conventionalize them--so that their curves are really beautiful. And this may be done, and at the same time all the most beautiful and characteristic features of leaves be preserved.

In ribbon or flat carving, a strong shadow or relief may be got as follows. In cutting, slant the chisel or gouge outwards at an angle of 45°, thus ⁄. When the grounding is finished, cut under the slope, half way up. The outline will then be like a ❮. This sharp edge may be cut away a very little, such as ⦗, or even into a rounded （, in which case there will be a marked line of shadow all round the edge.