Blocking out. This is a simple technique used to define the main body masses of a sculpture.
This technique is particularly helpful when carving irregular shaped pieces of timber. Once you have your design ready you mark out on the timber the shape of your Dragon. You then draw blocks around the various body parts, say for instance the leg; leave a generous margin of timber around the limb, do this for the main parts on your dragon, these will be its head, legs, and possibly the tail. Or to put it another way, any bit that will be sticking out from the body.
Tip
Cut out the shape with a bandsaw removing the waste in this manner will save time and you may get some useable off cuts.
If you can not find a block of timber the size you require you can cut blocks to the shapes you need and glue them onto the body just remember to cut the blocks so that the grain runs all in the same direction.
Do not throw away any off cuts these can be used to repair any mistakes you make or to fill any holes / splits etc that you may come across as you work the sculpture
A word on design
I have had a few folks make the same mistake. You draw your design put in all the detail, then you trace and transfer the design onto the wood. When you start carving you find your sculpture has a lot less wood than you wished for and this is coursing problems.
You must remember some important rules when designing your projects Keep it simple You have to leave room to get your chisels into the design Remember your sculpture is three dimensional, so if you have to, draw a top view a left side view and a right side view even a view from the front or make a model out of clay any thing that will help you to visualize the whole thing.
Cut off the waste wood, remember when you come to the body to leave some extra depth of timber to allow for shaping. You will now have a piece of timber that looks like a piece of demented Cubism. If that's your scene man, then hey!, you have finished. The rest of us though who prefer the traditional approach will now pick one of these cubes and start to round and shape the block in. Remember, be bold, shape the leg in but on the large size, then after you have the basic shape you can thin it down and add whatever detail you intend to put on it. You can work on one point until it is finished, but I think you would be better off bringing all the legs down to the same oversized state before you go on to finish.
A few tips.
Stop often, step back from your sculpture and take a good look at it. Have a look at the body of a snake, it is not round by any means, so why give your Dragon the body shape of a drainpipe. The sides of a snake are quite flat unless of course it has had lunch, but thats another matter. How a Dragon is made up is quite well documented, so look at the animal parts that make up your beast, have some pictures handy. Pictures of the ears of a Bull are not too hard to come by, except if you go for the real thing, then hey!,if you are willing to argue with a two tonne Hereford Bull about its ears, be my guest, just do not expect me to send flowers. No, really have a look at some traditional dragon sculptures or pictures pay close attention to how they are formed and you will not go to far wrong.
The most important lesson you can learn is to have faith in your self and to learn techniques from what others have done so that you can create your own works of art , enjoy yourself use your imagination have fun!!
