Beginners Wood Spirit

This is a beginners wood carving, I made this project to show that wood carving and whittling is more than carving a pointy stick. I really enjoy carving as a hobby and I hope that by following these instructions you too can enjoy the hobby just as much.

For this project all you need is the following supplies

1. Knife of your choosing
2. A stick
3. A pencil
4. (Optional) Cut resistant glove

1. Scrape off around 3 inches of bark on one side of the stick
2. Rotate the stick 90 degrees and take off the 3 inches on that side
3. Try to make it flat on both faces

Come up about 1 - 1-1/2 inches from the bottom of the bark and draw a line to mark the bottom of your nose.

1. Create stop cuts by sticking your blade into your pencil mark. BE CAREFUL OF KNIFE SLIPS!
2. Stop cuts are clean-edged barrier cuts that prevent the knife or chisel from splitting wood beyond a desired point. It is executed by pushing a knife vertically (90°) into the wood, followed by a second cut that meets the first cut, allowing a wood chip to be released safely.
3. Cut up towards your stop cut
4. Repeat until you get your desired depth
5. REMEMBER THESE ARE ALL ROUGH CUTS

Draw a line from the bottom of the nose down to the bark on both sides to mark the top of your mustache.

1. Create stop cuts by sticking your blade into your pencil mark. BE CAREFUL OF KNIFE SLIPS!
2. Stop cuts are clean-edged barrier cuts that prevent the knife or chisel from splitting wood beyond a desired point. It is executed by pushing a knife vertically (90°) into the wood, followed by a second cut that meets the first cut, allowing a wood chip to be released safely.
3. Cut down towards your stop cut
4. Repeat until you get your desired depth on both sides
5. REMEMBER THESE ARE ALL ROUGH CUTS

Draw a line above the nose to mark out your hat, just like in the photo.

1. Create stop cuts by sticking your blade into your pencil mark. BE CAREFUL OF KNIFE SLIPS!
2. Stop cuts are clean-edged barrier cuts that prevent the knife or chisel from splitting wood beyond a desired point. It is executed by pushing a knife vertically (90°) into the wood, followed by a second cut that meets the first cut, allowing a wood chip to be released safely.
3. Cut up towards your stop cuts
4. Repeat until you get your desired depth on both sides
5. REMEMBER THESE ARE ALL ROUGH CUTS

Draw lines on each side of the nose to give it the curvature or straightness you desire.

1. Create stop cuts by sticking your blade into your pencil mark. BE CAREFUL OF KNIFE SLIPS!
2. Stop cuts are clean-edged barrier cuts that prevent the knife or chisel from splitting wood beyond a desired point. It is executed by pushing a knife vertically (90°) into the wood, followed by a second cut that meets the first cut, allowing a wood chip to be released safely.
3. Cut up towards the brim of the hat
4. Repeat until you get your desired depth on both sides
5. REMEMBER THESE ARE ALL ROUGH CUTS

At this point you can go back and make your cuts a little smoother

1. Fix up the edge of your mustache
2. Fix up the brim of the hat
3. Smooth and round up the nose

NOTICE THE CHEEKS (OPTIONAL)

1. You can create the desired effect by leaving the center of the cheek alone and carving down the sides, bottom and top

Come down from the bottom of your nose however much you desire, mark out the bottom of the mustache as seen in the photo.

1. Create stop cuts by sticking your blade into your pencil mark. BE CAREFUL OF KNIFE SLIPS!
2. Stop cuts are clean-edged barrier cuts that prevent the knife or chisel from splitting wood beyond a desired point. It is executed by pushing a knife vertically (90°) into the wood, followed by a second cut that meets the first cut, allowing a wood chip to be released safely.
3. Cut up towards the your stop cuts as seen in the photos
4. Repeat until you get your desired depth on both sides
5. REMEMBER KEEP THE MIDDLE HIGH SO YOU CAN STILL MAKE A MOUTH (OPTIONAL)

Draw curved lines across the bottom of the mustache, as seen in the photos, to mark out the mouth.

For the Bottom

1. Create stop cuts by sticking your blade into your pencil mark. BE CAREFUL OF KNIFE SLIPS!
2. Stop cuts are clean-edged barrier cuts that prevent the knife or chisel from splitting wood beyond a desired point. It is executed by pushing a knife vertically (90°) into the wood, followed by a second cut that meets the first cut, allowing a wood chip to be released safely.
3. Cut up towards your stop cut
4. Repeat until you get your desired depth.

For the Top

1. Create stop cuts by sticking your blade into your pencil mark. BE CAREFUL OF KNIFE SLIPS!
2. Cut up towards the top of your mustache
3. Repeat until you get your desired depth.

Draw and design the shape of the top of your hat similar to the photo

1. Create stop cuts by sticking your blade into your pencil mark. BE CAREFUL OF KNIFE SLIPS!
2. Stop cuts are clean-edged barrier cuts that prevent the knife or chisel from splitting wood beyond a desired point. It is executed by pushing a knife vertically (90°) into the wood, followed by a second cut that meets the first cut, allowing a wood chip to be released safely.
3. Cut towards your stop cuts on from the outskirts
4. Repeat until you get your desired depth on all sides

At this point you can go back and make your cuts a little smoother

1. Fix up and smooth the edge of your mustache
2. Fix up and smooth the brim of the hat
3. Smooth and round up the nose
4. Smooth and round the hat
5. Fix up the mouth

FINISH AND SMOOTH EVERYTHING

Congrats on Completing your first Wood Spirit!