Gnome wood carving patterns: step-by-step instructions

Wood gnomes are in high demand. After all, they are not only beautiful but also performed quite quickly and easily. You can find detailed instructions for gnome wood carving patterns and hand-carved Christmas ornaments in this article.

Tools and materials

Before you start to make hand-carved Christmas ornaments, you should allocate a separate room for this or at least a corner. Indeed, during the wood carving, quite a lot of garbage appears.

In addition, you need a lot of space not only for direct carving wood but also for storing tools and materials.

Carving wooden Santas is impossible without special tools. Among them are the main ones that are simply necessary to work with wood. They are suitable for simple work, and delicate ones:

1. The knife cutter is a knife with a shortened and beveled blade. It can carve both small and large parts.
2. A joint is a knife with a shortened blade. It is used for hand-carved Christmas ornaments.
3. Chisels are used for carving indentations on the piece. At the same time, flat, curved, and semicircular types of chisels are distinguished.
4. Chisels with spear-shaped blades are called rivets. As a rule, they are used to carve various small elements.

To make a gnome according to the instructions that are described below, prepare the following tools and materials:

1. Linden block. The optimal size is 1x1x3 inches. You can increase or decrease the size of the block, depending on the desired size of the finished product.
2. Wood carving knife.
3. A small V-shaped tool that allows you to quickly carve the beard.
4. Pencil for drawing the lines along which you move.
5. Acrylic paints and brushes for them.
6. What oil do you use for wood carvings? It must be a heated flaxseed oil.
7. Work gloves to protect your hands from cuts.

Gnome wood carving patterns: instructions for carving wooden Santas

How do you carve a gnome? For you to get a beautiful gnome, with the study of all the details, you should follow the basic rules.

A line should be drawn from the bottom of the log, stepping back ¼ inch. It shows where the gnome’s coat ends.

At a distance of 2.5 inches from the bottom, a line should be drawn to mark the place where the bottom of the hat is. At the top of the log, draw an X.

Tapering of the top of the wood blank. Carve the gnome’s shoes

Each corner of the top of the log should be rounded 1/3. This allows you to start carving out the hat. After, you need to make persistent incisions to separate the lower part of the hat in a circle.

Then proceed to round the corners, which are located slightly lower than the guide. Make stop cuts to separate the pile around the perimeter. After you stop cutting, you need to mark the places where cuts for shoes are formed.

Shaping the Gnome’s shoes

Then make a V-neckline to separate the shoes. They have to be given the desired shape. Using the same incision, you have to make notches on all sides, which allows you to form heels.

Adding details. Carve the hat of the gnome

The torso of the gnome, on the sides, needs to be slightly rounded. You also need to make a bottleneck for the cap. Take care of drawing the nose and beard because these details help make the gnome more natural.

After you need to draw the hands. It is best if they grapple behind the back of a fairy-tale character.

Next, you need to arm yourself with a knife and proceed to tilt the wood to the horizontal line that is on the drawn letter X. This allows you to give the hat the desired shape.

On the reverse side, a drawing of the places where the brush is required. With the help of a stop cut, which is made at an angle on each side of the brush, you need to remove the wood at the bottom.

Carve out more details of the gnome

Use a knife to carve out the nose, and remove the extra wood to make the nose more textured. A deep carve can be made along the contour of the nose, and some wood can be removed from it. Get the desired depth of the nose.

Continue carving excess wood from the other side to form a tassel. Engage in carving out the tip of the nose. The brush must be held wide so that it does not break.

Shaping the brim of the hat and beard. Separation of hands

Next, with a knife, you need to make small incisions until it stops forming a beard. After, you need to remove the wood that is around the cuts.

Create a stop cut under each lever. After you stop cut then remove the excess wood from the bottom. Then you must carve mittens.

Drawing a beard of the gnome

Draw curly stripes on the beard to make it look more realistic. With a small V-shaped tool, lines are much easier to draw. With the same tool, you can carve lines that allow you to build an edge with a ribbed surface.

If you do not have such a tool, you can use a regular sharp knife designed for small parts. You need to work carefully, and slowly so that chips do not form.

Filling in the details of the gnome

Next, you need to carve the gnome’s mittens more accurately. Then proceed to the design of the back and shoulder blades. On the hat, you can increase the number of folds. Make hands, and clean up all the formed cuts.

Start drawing

To make the gnome look realistic, you need to paint it. First, lower the figurine into a glass filled with boiled linseed oil. To make it easier to handle the gnome, install the feint in the dowel. This protects your hands and carvings from staining.

The first coat on the beard should be done with titanium white paint, to which you can add a little steel gray paint. Once the surface is completely dry, you can pick up steel-gray paint on a dry brush.

In the remaining gray-white paint, add a little dark green. To make the application easier, it is recommended to add a little more water. For gloves and a hat, diluted yellow paint is required. 20 drops of water are added to 5 drops of paint.

To dye shoes, mix 3 drops of black paint and 1 drop of gray steel paint. Add 20 drops of water to the solution. Use a round-bottomed toothpick to make polka dots on the hat and gloves. It needs to be soaked in red paint.

Apply titanium white paint with the pointed tip of a toothpick. Once the compounds are dry, add some yellow paint. Apply it to the center of the red dots. The brim of the hat must be processed with a dry brush dipped in red paint. For smooth shading, go around the edges with a damp brush.

What wood is best for wood carving? Gnome carving patterns free:

For the manufacture of carving wooden Santas, you should choose a certain type of wood.

1. The easiest way to carve is from basswood, the structure of which does not have a pronounced pattern. This allows you to apply an image to the workpiece without any extra effort. In addition, cracks practically do not appear on the material.
2. Similar characteristics are observed in alder. It is also easy to work with.
3. Aspen wood is the best material for making large sculptures, as it is easily chipped. It is worth noting that if the aspen is not varnished, then after a while it becomes silvery. The soft structure does not cause difficulties in work.
4. Solid birch is not that easy to work with, but it makes excellent fine details. Also, its wood is valued for its special relief.
5. From walnut material, you can create interesting compositions in which there are a lot of fine carvings. In addition, the walnut is easy to process, since it does not form chips. This wood is perfect for various decorative details.
6. Large sculptures are often made from oak. This wood is difficult to work with due to its susceptibility to chipping and its hardness.

Any canvas for wood carving must be thoroughly dried. Otherwise, cracks may appear on the finished products. It is necessary to dry the wood in a warm place, after wrapping it in polyethylene.

Masters with experience work equally well with any wood. However, for beginners, it is better to choose soft canvas for wood carving. As a rule, these include linden, poplar, chestnut, cedar, aspen, and alder.

It is better not to use coniferous wood, since it should be dried properly to get a good product.

You can find the right material for hand-carved Christmas ornaments right while walking through the park, forest, or garden. For example, you can create excellent figures from stumps, roots, and snags.

Many consider it garbage, but, by using imagination, you can make something beautiful and original out of everything. Also, suitable materials for wooden sculptures can be ordered from professional workshops.

Results

As you can see, carving wooden Santas is not difficult. If you have patience and take your time when cutting out the details, the super cute gnome turns out to be very realistic and will decorate your landscape area.

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