Wood carving a Saint on basswood - Agios Porphyrios

 

Tools and materials I propose:

Flexcut starter carving set

PFEIL Carving Set

BeaverCraft big bent  carving gouge

I begun by cutting two grooves on the back of the image. Then I glued two supports in place. Hopefully this would prevent the wood from warping over time.

I carved the image in three levels regarding their depth. The deepest level was the background with the aura. Then comes the body of the saint and finally the hands and the face. 

I used transfer paper to trace my design on the wood. Then I used the V chisel to cut away from the line. With a gouge I removed much material. 

To cut on the line I used gouges that matched the lines to do my stop cuts. Then I removed the material following the grain. 

I then sanded the piece and started painting. I wanted the lights to be on the back. Then I lightly sanded the high spots to reveal the light color underneath. 

I painted the typography and I finished the piece with clear water based varnish.

And my image was ready. I hope you liked it because that was it. See you soon with a new project video. 

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