Wood carving is the art to shape and form the wood and creating three-dimensional shapes on the wood. The wood carving has existed since long time ago, and still exists until today. The carving process is still done today to create the special looked and decoration on various kinds of wooden products such as: furniture, frames, doors, pillars, walls, etc. The carving is special process that actually is quite complicated but it will increase the value of the wooden product. Instead of the decorative value, the wood carving is also often related with symbolic of spiritual and philosophical life. The carving art usually is also linked with cultural aspect beside the aesthetic value.
The history of wood carving
The wood carving has a long history and become an important part of cultural heritage. The reliefs and ornaments have different shapes and patterns in every area. In Asia, which is home to many forests and green plants, the art of carving is dominated by ornaments depicting various kinds of beautiful flora and fauna. The carving in Africa is closely related to the ritual practices and spiritual beliefs that exist in this area. In Europe, the art of wood carving developed rapidly in the Middle Ages, especially when the kingdoms and churches become the centers of civilization. Many carvings were made as part of the decoration of the royal buildings or church interiors. Wood carvings were also widely used to make religious statues and mythological figures who were considered important in life at that time.
Behind its visual beauty, wood carvings also have deep philosophical meaning. For some peoples, the wood carving is not only performed as aesthetic decoration but also as symbol of the relationship between humans and life. Every detail in the carving has its own meaning according to the culture of the user.
Carving in the wood product
Today, the carvings for wooden product are mostly used as a tool to add the aesthetic value. Carvings are still quite commonly found on various kinds of wooden products such as: furniture, walls or partitions, doors, pillars and other architectural products. Carving is usually used to give an artistic touch to furniture products with classic or antique models. Complex and full carvings may still be found on furniture products today to build luxurious and expensive classic furniture, but mostly the carving parts are installed as accents to highlight or touch of art to furniture products with simple models.
The process to make the carved wood
In the past, the process of making wood carvings was done by hand using carving knives or chisels. The carving process is an artistic work that can only be done by skillful artist. The carver needs to have good art sense and the same time skillful to handle the chisel and knife to make the good carved product. Nowadays, although the carving process is still considered, but it is done with industrial approach by utilizing the modern systems and technology.
This manual carving process is still widely used in the wood industry to make furniture products that require carvings but with mass production. The manual carving process means that it still uses human power, but the process is controlled by organized system. The artist is the one who create the ornament, and then the skilled persons are doing the process. The control system is created to make sure product resulted are consistent and uniform.
The shapes and patterns of ornaments are created in the form of the printed drawing. The drawing then is attached to the wood or component. The carver does the carving work according to the patterns and images from the drawer. The resulting ornament shapes will be more uniform and same for each piece. There is slight variation from one piece to another, but in general the products produced is uniform and similar.
Today the carving processes can be done with CNC machines, the modern machine that replace the skilled carpenter. The shape and pattern of the ornament is created by computer and then used to run the engraving machine. The machine will carry out the carving process on the wood according to the drawing image. This machine will produce neat and consistent engraving results for all products or components.
The carving process with the CNC machine can do the carving process very well, the product resulted is very precise, consistent and uniform in shape. Each piece of component can be expected to be the same in size and shape. However, the resulting carving will be monotonous and loss its impression of handwork as is the manual carvings.
Apart from the sculpting process, ornaments and carved shapes can also be made using the casting process. A mold is made for a specific ornament, then a casting material is pouring to make ornamental component products. With this casting system, carved components can be produced with uniform shapes quickly and consistently. The material for casting must be strong and tough, such as resin, vinyl or epoxy.
As the machine carving, the casting process will kill the impression of a human touch, therefore it is often used to make accents or highlights for the wooden product.
The things to be considered in the carving product
- Determine the ornament models and shapes
The ornament creation is first step that will determine the artistic taste and spirit of the product. There are several factors that need to be considered when determining the shape of an ornament, the tow important things are the decorative idea and the shape factor of the item. The decorative idea is basic idea to determine the ornament. It based to the art sense of the designer that will be affected by the culture, sense of the market. While the shape is the size and dimension of the product and component, both factors must be combined in the harmony to make the good product.
Selection of raw materials is one of the important things to produce good carving products. The wood for carving should has sufficient density and hardness. The soft and low dense wood is not suitable since it will difficult to be cut with the knife and make the shape is not perfect. Some hard wood such as: teak, oak, mahogany, are quite popular to be used. Beautiful grain is not really needed because they will be covered by the shape and model of the carving ornament. Wood with a dense texture and fine grain is preferred because it is easier to shape and produces smooth carvings, while the big pore and grain may disrupt the ornamental shapes.
Good sanding is needed to produce a smooth shape and high-quality carving product. The carving that is done on hard wood with sharp knife or chisel actually can produce a good shape with a smooth surface. However, there are often parts of wood with rough and uneven grain which makes the imperfect carving results. The sanding process is needed to take care the imperfect shapes resulting from imperfect carving or rough wood grain.
Sanding for the carved product mostly has to be done manually by using flexible sandpaper. There is some special sanding machine has been created to help sanding the complex shape, but the manually sanding is still needed to sand the carved product. The sanding process must be done carefully because sanding that is too aggressive can damage the pattern and ornament of the carving.
The finishing process is the final touch to maximize the carved products. All the finishing aspects from the color and the looked must be selected to enhance the wood carving product. There are many color and looked can be chosen, but in principle the finishing must work to enhance the shapes of the ornaments. Finishing with wood color is good option if you want to display the natural impression of the wood. On the other hand, if the finishing wants to emphasize the shape of ornament, then the painted colors can be chosen. Finishing in gold or silver can also be used to bring the luxurious and expensive impression.
The glaze is very important to enhance the aesthetics of carved form. With the proper application, glaze can fill up the inside of the ornaments and highlighting it to be more life looked. Glaze in a dark brown color that matches the finishing color will make the carved product look graceful and elegant. White glaze can also be used to produce wash colors that bring the attractive simple looked. Glaze with contrasts color can also be sued to produce a dramatic appearance with to create more dynamic impression. You can read more in :
finishing for wood carved product Carved products require proper care. Their complex shape tends to hold dust and get dirty easily. The cleaning manually with cloth is not easy to do since of its complex shape. Therefore, it must be cleaned with the right methods. Dust or dirt that gets into the wood gaps should be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner. A brush can be used to help with the cleaning process in certain parts that are difficult to be vacuumed.
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