Category Archives: sketch

Venus-and-the-Moon Bowl

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Dave Fisher

A friend alerted me to an old fruit-bearing pear tree that had fallen in a windstorm, just a couple minutes down the road. When I went to check it out, I wasn’t optimistic about its prospects. Most of the tree … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, figure, finding wood, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Apple Wood Bowl and Leaf Patterns

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Dave Fisher

I roughed this bowl out of a green apple log almost a year ago. It’s just under 5″ end-to-end; you can cradle it in one hand. Next time, I’ll make a bigger one. It will be a lot easier! This … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, carving, layout, nature, patterns, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Bird in the Crotch

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Dave Fisher

A couple years ago, I experimented for the first time with carving a bird from the crotch of a tree. I carved a little bird and it worked out, even though the grain was a bear to deal with and there … Continue reading →

Posted in bird bowls, cherry, finding wood, green woodworking, holding, sketch, trees, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

September Trees and Flowers

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Dave Fisher

Everybody should own a tree at this time of year. Or a valley full of trees, or a whole hillside. Not legally, in the formal way of “Know all men . . .” and “heirs and assigns” written on a … Continue reading →

Posted in nature, sketch, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Drawknife Fun With a New Bowl

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Dave Fisher

I began sketching an idea on this page of my notebook last September, then added a bit here and there since then. Nothing revolutionary, just some thoughts on a design with rising ends and an underside that goes from convex … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, sketch, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Q-R-S-Tree-U-V

Posted on October 9, 2022 by Dave Fisher

I had wanted to carve an alphabet board for a long time, and I finally got around to it. The process began long before I took a knife to the basswood board above. I first put my thoughts onto paper … Continue reading →

Posted in Lettering, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 22 Comments

Chip Layout

Posted on April 10, 2022 by Dave Fisher

I was finishing up a small walnut bowl and decided to define the narrow side-panel with a graduated row of chip cuts. I have a slide show and description of the cutting of these on a similar bowl in this … Continue reading →

Posted in carving, layout, patterns, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 8 Comments

New Walnut Bowl

Posted on January 13, 2022 by Dave Fisher

This bowl started with a black walnut log about 13″ in diameter but only 13″ long. I split it into quarters and was able to get this bowl out of one of those sections. Bark up orientation, so the flow … Continue reading →

Posted in bowls, carving, layout, patterns, proportions, sketch, Uncategorized, walnut | Tagged | 21 Comments

Winter Whittled Bird

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Dave Fisher

On a “cold, cold, wet day” this past weekend, I sat warm and dry in the shop by the window and whittled a little bird from a pine branch. Winter birds bring a special joy. It’s magical to be in … Continue reading →

Posted in bird bowls, carving, finding wood, nature, patterns, sketch, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 26 Comments

Since You Gotta Brush Your Teeth Anyway

Posted on August 17, 2021 by Dave Fisher

All of the used toothbrushes in the house make their way to the workshop where I use them for all sorts of odd jobs from cleaning, to gluing, to finishing. The one above, made by Mable, was handed down to … Continue reading →

Posted in sharpening, sketch, tools, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments