Wood Carving Styles

The topic of wood carving encompasses several different types of carving, called styles.  Each style is unique to itself and may require specific tools that other styles do not, and visa versa.  For the purposes of this website, we deal with 5 main wood carving styles:

• Chip Carving

Chip carving is a form of wood carving that deals with removing small chips of wood to create very detailed designs that are most commonly geometrically exact.  Wooden plates and small blocks are most often used in this style of wood carving.

• Relief Carving

Relief carving is a form of wood carving that makes scenes and objects gain dimension and stand out from other parts of the carving.  This style of wood carving essentially creates a textured scene on a flat piece of wood.

• Caricature Carving

Caricature carving is form of wood carving that is characterized by creating lifelike figures out of wood that have some features exaggerated.  Many times a caricature carver will carve a figure out of wood that is part of an entire carved scene or theme.

• Whittling

Whittling is a form of wood carving that encompasses general carving of small pieces with a knife only.  Whittling has been around for many, many years and is often times thought of as being a style of wood carving that many can remember their grandfathers doing on the front porch.  It is characterized by using small blades on a knife to remove small amounts of wood to create chains, small figures, trinkets and other fun projects.

• Scandinavian Flat-Plane

Scandinavian Flat-Plane carving is a form of wood carving that is created by making flat cuts when removing excess wood to leave the desired figure.  The figures are recognizable by their long flat cuts that create slight angles that are not sanded out when completed.