Sunday, October 14, 2018

Carve a Wooden Mask for Halloween!

Looking around my shop for an idea about a carving project for the month of October, I noticed an old Mexican made mask hanging on the wall behind my rarely used hand miter saw.  It was probably purchased with a few quarters by my mother at a rummage sale.  I wondered, what could be a better wood carving project for October than carving a Halloween mask?  Or maybe a Celtic or native ceremonial mask?
The following pictures show how I prepared a chunk of basswood for carving a Raven Mask.  Hopefully a picture of the finished work will appear in the near future.


Cutting split basswood to length


Attaching a base
Paring the Bark
Shaping and planing the front

Grooving Back with King Arthur Squire 18 tooth
Hollowing the back with curved edge of Adze




Finsh hollowing back with King Arthur
















Tracing my own Raven Pattern




















There is always another way of doing things:Carving a Mask