Carving Flower Out of Wood? Whittling Project for Beginners

My name is Michael. I started carving a few months ago. And I thought that it would be a good idea to share some of my knowledge with you. But then I thought that if I’m a beginner what can I share with others? As I need to learn a lot myself. My wife kept encouraging me to share some of the wood carving projects I made, I kept refusing to this “lovely” opportunity to help others. Then Instructables opened this First Time Author Contest. And here I am, doing my first steps. I’d love to share with you some tips on carving a flower out of wood.

It’s really simple, I made it fully myself with not many tools, just TWO (can you imagine?) and not much experience behind.

Step 1: STEP 1 a Circle on the Wood

First I draw a circle on the wood I took basswood, you can take any other wood of any size you want your flower be. Draw not a big circle. But there is no particular size, again consider the size of the flower itself you’d want to have.

Step 2: STEP 2 With the Help of Chisel I Worked on the Patels

Easy and slight movements get you to the right contours. As for the chisel I prefer working with BeaverCraft ones. Those are quite cheap. And as usual I was tight on budget. So BeaverCraft came on time on the screen. They are based in Ukraine, but it didn’t bring me any kind of inconvenience though. Good thing those are nice quality.

Step 3: Step3 Deeper Work on the Patels.

All we need here is deeper shaping of the patels. Again chisel is helping here.

Step 4: Step 4. Then I Managed to Go With the Flower Leaves

Basically every flower has some leaves. I didn’t follow any patterns, just my imagination and a pencil, that’s all I got. Wood carving can be done both ways, when you strictly follow the patterns and rules and when you let your mind and heart guide you.

At first I thought that first steps in whittling should be done with the help of others, some tutorials, some patterns and wooden blanks. But in some time all I got is a serious urge to create my own designs. This is where I ended and where I am now. While it’s not that easy in the matter of chip carving :D

Step 5: Step 5. I Took the ​same Chisel and Went Working on It

After leaves ready to be carved out, I took the same chisel and went working on it

I kept imagining, this time I was getting the leaves shape as it was a fortress. Hope my pictures help you though. Nothing difficult at this stage. Actually nothing difficult here at all.

Step 6: Step 6. Then I Decided to Add Some Textures to the Leaves

Lovely job here. This way the leaves come to life much better. This time I needed some whittling knife, again BeaverCraft did a good job. The one that is designed for geometric wood carving. I was really glad that I found this company through the blog of Steve Jefferson. There are some useful tips on carving as well. Will leave it here as well, maybe it would help somebody.

Step 7: Step 7. Finally We Got the Flower Done

Really easy whittling project. As I mentioned above I enjoy wood carving a lot, this brings happiness and relaxation into my life.

I’m planning on doing more easy tutorials here.

So if you enjoyed the instructable of carving flower please let me know in the comments.

If you have any suggestions, please share those as well. If you never tried carving before, then make sure to try it. This is a whole new world open for everybody.