Wood Carving Supplies
When jumping into the exciting and complicated world of wood carving, there are two simple words that help to ease the mind of the wood carving novice. Those words are "don't panic". Anyone not familiar with wood carving may express confusion upon hearing such a term applied to carving wood, but anybody who has tried to dip their toe into wood carving certainly knows that those words apply wholeheartedly to the pursuit of wood carving.
The vast depth and widespread variances in wood carving are evident in the sheer amount of wood carving supplies available to wood carvers of all kinds. Anyone new to wood carving likely has no idea which wood carving supplies are necessary to the niche that he is trying to become a part of. Again, somebody wholly unfamiliar with wood carving will probably express confusion as to the necessity of certain wood carving supplies when, evidently, all one needs to carve wood is a couple of knives.
This couldn't be further from the truth. While, factually, knives are the most important among wood carving supplies, there are so many different kinds of knives that, again, the novice wood carver is left in a sea of confusion and necessity. There are so many various ways to carve wood that any old set of wood carving supplies simply don't do. For the intricate art of tiki wood carving, longer and narrower knives will be needed. If one wishes to recreate the sublime beauty and unique craftsmanship of the maori wood carvings, one will need specific whittling tools.
Perhaps the best option for a wood carving novice is to simply buy the most basic set of beginner's wood carving tools. These should be more than enough to start making basic wood art and to help instill a sense of understanding in the often confused mind of the amateur wood carver. Another good idea for the novice is to, at least for now, forego the extremely detailed and difficult are of some of the more respected wood carving niches, like tiki and oaxacan, and to instead pick up an introductory wood carving instructional booklet. While the end result from such a guide may not be as bold or awe-inspiring as some of the finer wood art from different cultures, there will still be much to challenge the beginner.
Wood carving is difficult work and anybody who thinks that they will become a pro or an expert at it right away is simply kidding themselves. Like any art, one must grasp the fundamentals before one can hope to have any real talent or skill.
