Carving Classic Female Figures in Wood: A How-To Reference for Carvers and Sculptors

I sculpt the figure mainly in clay, but I have been thinking about trying woodcarving, so I bought this book to get a look at what was possible in wood. It is a very good presentation of how to create a figure in a carved medium.The book illustrates the construction of two figures from start to finish - from making reference photos of the model, to roughing, to detailing, to finishing. The photos are clear, copious, in color, and are large enough to be easy to see when propped up on the workbench. The text is concise, but adequate. Also included are a number of excellent photos of Mr. Norbury's figure sculpture.Most of the techniques shown are not really specific to wood, and there is no discussion of tools and technique, which is a bit of a disappointment with respect to my goal of learning about woodcarving. However, that is not really the fault of the author, since this is not intended as book for beginners.On the plus side, I work mainly constructively in clay, and I hope the technique of working by carving will help me add some new approaches to my sculpture. I think many of the ideas and techniques illustrated will also be applicable to stone.I'll give the best recommendation I can: based on this book, I plan on buying as many of Mr. Norbury's other books as I can.

great illustrations and photos, easy conversational writing style. thoughtful tips and observations.without being overly tied to particular tools or methods. would recommend this book to anyone wanting to carve realistic nude figures.

Beautiful art, love this book, I am happy to have it!

Beautiful book.

I ordered this book for a sculptor friend and he's very happy with it. I'm not a sculptor but the photographs are excellent and they depict very clearly the steps involved in creating these wonderful sculptures.

Fantastic book, excellent instruction on how to achieve a great carving.

great book

For years, I struggled with sculpting the human form. Occasionally I got lucky and produced something that was "acceptable" but most of the time my carvings could be considered a contemporary distortion of the form-definitely not, what I started out to do. To say the least, my efforts were frustrating. The frustration ended when I purchased two of Mr. Norbury's books, "Carving Classic Female Figures in Wood" and "Carving Classic Female Faces in Wood"In "Carving Classic Female Figures in Wood" Mr. Norbury explains sculpting the human torso from model to finished work. I was most impressed with his concept of holding things in the square while defining size, points of reference and protrusions before any rounded forming should begin. This helped me to easily maintain proportion.Also very helpful was Mr. Norbury's plan of attack or sequence of events. This taught me that trying to work the whole project at once was futile. He defines a well-planed method that works. In the final stages, the anatomical drawings with simple explanations were very helpful. I can now go back to my anatomy books with greater understanding.Finally, the gallery section was most inspirational. Seeing what another can do and armed with basic knowledge, I now have an attainable goal. Thank you Mr. Norbury.

Useful if not formally trained in 3-D artwork and needed some idea about recreating a solid body from a piece of wood (at least with clay it can be remodelled if it goes wrong!).

Helpful book

As described - good delivery time.

An excellent well written book. I found the book very useful, for this is a different type of carving for me.

Haben es einem Motorsägen-Säger geschenkt der nicht unbedingt viel bewandert in der englischen Sprache ist. Trotzdem hat er sich sehr gefreut, denn die Bilder machen letztlich das Buch aus und die sind sehr detailgetreu und unterstützen nun beim Sägen. Für den Säger ein tolles und nützliches Buch, besonder weil die Proportionen sehr gut abgebildet werden

Das ist ein extrem gutes Buch für Leute die in Holz machen wollen. z.B. größere Skulpturen bauen wollen.Viele möglche Fehler können durch das Lesen vermieder werden = 5 Sterne.

trés bien

This is a great book showing muscle and body proportions.Very good work by Ian Norbury.Have ordered a DVD as well.

sehr gut beschrieben, und sehr schöne bilder , man kann super danach arbeiten , werde es sicher weiter , empfehlen

pareil très livre acheté en même tempsCarving Classic Female Faces in Wood: A How-To...très expliqué belle photo j'adore c'est livre de sculpture sans doute les meilleurs pour ma par

まずモデルさんの多方向からのポーズ写真がありそれを木材にて削りだし立体とする工程が一工程ごとに写真で載っています。写真もキレイで英語が読めなくても非常にわかりやすいです。２ポーズ分収録されています。

顔の本とペアです。写真が豊富で解説は丁寧。フィギュア製作本はくさるほどありますが、彫刻はほぼ皆無。ひたすら削るだけの彫刻は、彫塑系であるフィギュアとは製作方法が異なり、数少ない参考書として貴重です。ただ、前面、側面の型紙を元に取り敢えず切断、それから修正していくというやり方は個人的に好きではないのですが、仕方ありませんね。ちなみに、顔の方も同じやり方ですので、ご注意下さい。