How to carve a bear out of wood?

It is not easy to create three-dimensional wooden sculptures. Before such work, you need to study various techniques of wood carving. Figures depicting a bear are especially popular. Consider how to do it right cut a bear or bear cub out of woodwhat tools are needed for this, in what order it is necessary to act.

The bear is a character that is often found in Russian folk tales.

That is why he is so often depicted by woodcarvers.

Any work should always begin with the preparation of the necessary tools. All craftsmen have individual sets, but there are options that can be called universal.

Let's list it.

• Rasps, sanding materials, grinding machine... You will need it at the end of creating wooden products.
• Chisels... Needed in order to work out various details. They serve for sampling the background, rough notches. Chisels are oblique, flat, bent, and so on. They differ from each other in the width of the cutting edge.
• Adze... Used to process small elements of a shape.
• Bogorodsky knife... Its blade is short and straight. It is almost impossible to do without this tool when creating wood products.
• Jamb knives... Using such tools, you can successfully solve a variety of small tasks.
• Cutters... The blades of these knives are short and chamfered.
• Hatchet, hacksaw... If the size of the sculpture is planned to be large, chainsaws are often used. These devices are necessary to carry out the primary (rough) processing of the figure.
• Drill... This tool is needed in cases where it is necessary to make through holes.

Bear shapes should be created from softwood trees.

Among the most suitable wood species for carving are the following.

• Aspen. It will be convenient to cut from it even for a beginner. Such a tree is resistant to light, moisture, cold and even acid. Aspen is highly prized by carvers because it can be cut in any direction. Such wood does not wrinkle or chip.
• Willow. Quite elastic and light wood species. This material is very convenient to polish, grind and cut. Willow works well for creating a large three-dimensional bear shape.
• Linden. This material is considered the most suitable for creating wooden figures. It is very convenient to handle it. Linden is well cut, does not crack or dry out. Such wood is soft and light.

Before work, you need to make sure that all tools are serviceable and well sharpened. Their handles should be as comfortable as possible. Then you should create a sketch of the future figure on paper. It is advisable to make several projections: from the side, from the back, from the front.

Then, step by step, you need to create a bear shape according to the following algorithm.

1. Transferring to the sketch stock. This is easier if the bar is rectangular. Several projections can be applied to such a workpiece at once.
2. Creation of a molded figure. This stage is very important, it should not be skipped in any case. Create a model of a bear out of clay or plasticine. It will be necessary to repeat the contour of the volumetric figure on the wood.
3. Rough felling. All excess remaining outside the contour will need to be removed using a saw or a small ax. Teslo will be needed in order to cut down various small elements of the figure.
4. Smoothing out sharp corners. To do this, use chisels and cutters. After such work, you will already begin to see the silhouette, but it is too early to round off the figure.
5. Elaboration of details. At this stage, the cutter is working with wool. To do this, you can use the Bogorodsky knife, jamb, chisel.
6. Shape grinding. A sander or sandpaper should be used.

At the end on the figure of a bear you will need to apply a product that will protect it from negative external influences... You will learn more about such formulations below.

Many craftsmen agree that the most difficult thing is to create the bear paws and head. It is especially difficult to make the head. Recommended first make a stencil for different projections: in profile, front and back. Then you will need choose a bar which fits the head best, and on it transfer the contours of the part without detailing.

Chop off excess woodbut leave the bottom alone. The base at the bottom should not be chopped off because it should be convenient for the cutter to hold the workpiece. You will need to work with the bottom last.

Apply to the angular head of the bear with eyebrows, forehead, nose and ears... Then grind it with the help of jambs, semicircular chisels. At the end work out small details and make the head more rounded using the Bogorodsky knife.

You will need to treat a wooden bear with products if you are going to put it in an aggressive environment (for example, in a garden). The figure is usually processed with several compositions.

• To protect the tree from fungus and woody parasites, a solution of sodium chloride is used.
• For toning, you should use tea and tobacco infusions.
• The finishing is performed as follows: they take a woolen rag and use it to rub the wax composition dissolved in linseed oil into the surface of the figure.

Some masters mix linseed oil with beeswax. Such a tool makes the wooden surface more resistant to various atmospheric influences. It will also be possible to make the tree more weather-resistant with the help of synthetic means.

The video presented tells you how to make a sculpture of a little bear cub out of wood.