by Moses Moses

Created on: February 08, 2007   Last Updated: April 12, 2007

You want to know how to create art without knowing how to draw? It's actually much more simple than people think. The only requirement to do such work is simply immagination. When you can imagine a result of something, the task itself becomes relatively hassle-free.
I have been a carver of wood for some years now, and i make quality products and I happen to draw very badly. Now I mainly carve things like people, the people I see in real life, for example. I simply make what I see.

If I see someone who is doing a particular act, I just get a block of wood and I begin to carve. You do not need any talent really, it just takes practice. If one can imagine it, one can do it, such is my belief anyway. Below I'm going to explain the process to you step by step and hopefully guide you to creating a successful work of art with little to no artistic foretalent.
Step one: you get a block of wood, usually rectangular in shape, but in many cases squares work just as well. Beforehand you must decide the scale in which you are making youre new piece of art. It's simple: if you wish to make a small person, then use a small block of wood. For a medium sized person, a medium sized block, and so on so forth.
Step two: imagine the person or object you wish to carve in your head. Once you imagine it, you can begin to pick up a saw. Now when people who CAN draw do such a project, they draw images on the block of the object they want to come out of it. They use side view and top view and frontal view etc., but if you cannot draw, or simply do not want to, then you keep these images in youre head, leave the block for later.
Step three: Get a saw, a woodsaw, the kind with medium teeth. The tooth size of the saw is relative to the kind of wood you use. NOTE: the medium toothed saw will not do a great job if you are cutting into heavy woods, so I would suggest using a wood similar to poplar or maybe beachwood. Once you get youre saw, begin to cut into the block to get a rough shape of your person (or thing). First, you need to cut out the shape of the legs as you imagined them in your head. Then move onto the torso, head, arms etc. until you have a rough shape of a person.
Step four: Now you are readiy for the carving stage. Now just so you understand, the shape you have in your hands should resemble a person. It should be from here, only a little detail carving time, and it becomes a full member of the wood people society. Take a blade (the sharpness depending on how soft the wood is) and begin to make the legs more round, the body more curvey, and the arms more real. The head should also be round-ish sometimes you can pass it off as an oval. Even though you may not want to right away for your first carving, you may want to even include breasts (meaning the chest- both male and female). Expert carvers use special tools for special parts of the wooden bodies, but since this is most likely your first person you will carve, don't worry about such things. One blade should do just fine for all parts of the job.
Step five: Enjoy your new carved man or woman or child, because the job is finished, and maybe you may see fit to make a little additional carving here and there on him/her, just to make it look a little better in your eyes.
The point is that making quality art forms is not all too complicated- even if you cannot draw stick figures on paper. All you need is an imagination, and with some experience, you can become a master carver and who knows? you may even become famous with this very advice!

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