Blog
The craft from the inside: the wood, the gesture, and where to begin. Short notes from a Cuban sculptor who has spent more than thirty years taking away what doesn't belong.
What you need, what to practice on, and your first piece — the clear guide to making your first cut, with just a few tools.
The four tools you actually need, which to buy first, and what to skip for now.
The five cuts that carve almost everything: the V-cut, stop cut, hollowing, the sweep and paring.
No grain, cheap, and a result worth showing from day one: the edge of foam for learning to see.
The finish step by step: gesso, paint in layers and varnish so your piece lasts and shines.
The white shadow box that turns your relief into a gallery piece.
What it is, the types (low and high relief), and why it's the best project to start carving.
The rules that actually prevent accidents — technique, not fear.
Clamps, a bench hook and cheap tricks to carve with control and safety.
Relief, in-the-round, chip carving, whittling and more — what each is, and which to start with.
Read the grain, carve downhill and use the stop cut so the wood never tears out on you.
What to choose to start, where to find it cheap (or free), and what to avoid.
Basswood, white pine, aspen — and the ones to avoid while you're learning. With the Janka scale explained in short.
Control, quiet, and cost vs. speed and heavy roughing-out — which to choose and where to start.
How to hold and push the V-gouge, the U-gouge and the knife, and how to sand.
The difference between sharpening and stropping, the right angle for each profile, and the routine that actually keeps an edge.
The ovoid, the pebble, the form with a void, the seed, the totem — the fundamental shapes before the figure.
A quick 4-question quiz: find which carving fits you and where to start.
