Woodcarving

Pictures of woodworking and boat building projects for this blog are usually made in the workshop and show a well used workbench and other shop environs in the background. Those are suitable to the subjects. However, these backgrounds make small woodcarvings look like they’re lost in the slums. Need better!

When I was a youngster, our “dining room” doubled as Dad’s portrait studio. He was a professional photographer, professional sign artist, and a “graphic artist” highly skilled with many different media. He did his work with serious photographic equipment and real art tools long before computers brought some of these things within our reach. Dad supported a family of 6 with his art work. While I learned a tremendous amount from him, I did not pursue those professions. Yet, I do remember the backgrounds and lighting arrangements that made his portraiture work excel.

Diffused light from several sources and careful management of shadows and highlights are keys to success. Today, one can easily find lightboxes that help even us amateurs produce reasonable pictures. A lightbox is what I wanted as I started photographing carvings.

Following an ingrained do-it-yourself streak, I made my own. I had all of the components already on hand, some seeing only occassional use. So, this turned out to be a no cost lightbox. It can be easily duplicated for quite a low cost, depending on what you have around the house or shop.

The box itself is a plastic storage box that is about 22 inches by 15 inches by 12 inches deep. Wallmart calls these “56 quart storage containers,” and sells them for about 6 dollars each. The clamp lamps are the 8 inch size and are available in home centers for 6-8 dollars apiece. I used a piece of watercolor paper for the background. It is simply curled within the box, not folded, and held in place by the two little black clips.  A couple of squeeze clamps and some scrap lumber hold the clamp lamps in place. It’s all very simple. The plastic has enough milky tinting to eliminate the need for any cloth to diffuse the light. Regular (pre-ban 100w) incandescent bulbs provide more than enough light.

The box is easy to use. Set up the object within the box. Use a tripod for the camera, and be sure to set the camera’s white balance to display the colors you actually see. I sometimes use three lights, placing one in front to gain the balance of highlights and shadows that I want.

Now, I can produce pictures that let one pay attention to the woodcarving itself, and not the dings, dents, and stains of a well used workbench.

Go raid the storage closet, or head off to Wallmart, to get the stuff needed for a low cost / no cost lightbox.

A predominant legend has it that the doodle originated with James J. Kilroy, a shipyard inspector who worked at the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. The story says he used this mark to indicate rivets he inspected on the hulls of ships under construction. Not all of his markings were covered by paint during the hurried construction of the warships, and servicemen of all kinds found and copied the doodle everywhere.

Nearly everywhere our servicemen went during World War II, a colleague had preceeded them and left the Kilroy doodle. Of course, it showed up everywhere at home back in the states too.

It’s an easy doodle to draw, and a whimsical little character. I’ve made my own version as a shelf sitter … or better yet, as an LCD sitter that peers over the top of the computer screen.

Want one? Sometimes available on ETSY.

Update – May 2019:  All of the Kilroys have left home and I don’t currently have plans to carve more of them.  Maybe some other day.  Til then, THANKS for all who have been interested in them.

Read more about the Kilroy legends at:
http://www.kilroywashere.org/001-Pages/01-0KilroyLegends.html
http://delontin1.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/kilroy-was-here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilroy_was_here
Kilroy drawing image courtesy of Patrick Tillery, KilroyWasHere.org.

When I showed that stack of basswood back in September, I had a very good idea of what it would become: wood carvings. There was a problem however with revealing very much or showing you progress along the way. Most of the carvings were intended as gifts for this Christmas season. So, I wrote about other aspects of wood carving, just enough to keep the blog barely alive, and maybe not all that interesting.

In the mean time, I was having a fine time at the carving bench. It is my great fortune to have arrived at a stage of life where I can pursue making things that interest me. I almost said … “in making beautiful things,” but that presumes too much. So, I’ll just make things. And a lot of them will be whimsical. Caricatures are drawing my attention these days, so these Santa characters are the result. My start was the work of a particular carver, but I veered off in my own direction after only a few in his style. Every character that now emerges from a block of wood is different, and all are fun to create.

All of the carvings have been delivered to their intended recipients, so now I can show some of them here. Some went to family members, some to friends, one to a NY Yankees fan, and some to an Etsy shop. No more commentary. Just the pictures. (As always, click on a picture to see a larger view.)

Merry Christmas everyone!