Blog Tag

acanthus

Every blog article tagged acanthus.

August 10, 2026

How to carve an acanthus over a molding

A running acanthus over a molding is a repeating carved leaf that follows a molded profile instead of a flat panel. The order of work, the sweeps, and the undercut that makes the leaf read as applied.

August 1, 2026

Greek vs Roman Acanthus Leaf. How to Tell Styles Apart

An 1871 journal mapped every acanthus style a carver meets. I walk through its plates, Greek to Baroque, and show what your gouge should do about each one.

August 7, 2024

Wood carving pictures, and how to read one before you carve it

A photograph gives you the outline and the proportion honestly, then lies about depth every time. Here is how I read a picture on paid work, the paper and glue transfer that has not changed in twenty years, and why your leaf keeps coming out flat.

August 5, 2024

How to make money from wood carving, and how much

No dollar figure, because anyone who hands you one is guessing. What you get instead is how the money behaves in this trade, taken from forty years of paid work, a cabinet shop I ran, and one order for fifteen rosettes that taught me more about pricing than any book.

June 30, 2024

Wood carving tips that matter, and what really makes a master carver

Tips are worth very little on their own. What separates a carver who keeps improving from one who stalls is understanding why each move is made. Here are the reasons behind the moves, the layer trick that makes relief read deep, and the two places practice actually pays.

June 27, 2024

Why wood carving is so popular, and what keeps people at the bench

People watch carving videos for months before they touch a board. Here is what actually pulls them in, what stops about half of them by week three, and the one thing that keeps the rest at the bench for thirty years.

December 7, 2023

From Russia to America, and What I Carve Now

Alexander Grabovetskiy is a master wood carver, born in 1973 in Dimitrovgrad in the Russian part of the Soviet Union. His great-grandfather built mahogany furniture in the Chippendale style. He ruined his own grandfather's chisel on a brick at six, became the only student of the carver Vladimir Tokarev at sixteen, and reached the United States as a refugee on 15 March 1996 with almost no English. He built the woodworking firm Aalmark in Indiana, hired other refugee woodworkers, then sold every machine to carve full time. In 2012 a panel called Wall Decoration took first place and made him International Woodcarver of the Year.

February 22, 2023

Carving wood wall art that reads from across the room

A carved panel is a size and light problem before it is a carving problem. Here is how big to make it, which wall it belongs on, how deep it has to go, and the two places I would never hang one.

January 9, 2023

Mathematics for woodcarving, and who this book is really for

A 576 page cultural history at $74, weighed honestly against what a carver actually needs. Good for your eye, no help at your bench, and here is the geometry it leaves out.

November 16, 2022

Will wood carving lessons online teach how to carve wood, honestly

A camera set six inches from the blade shows a rotation nobody can see from four feet back. What it cannot do is put a hand on your wrist when you press too hard. Here is the honest split, and the five habits that close the gap.

November 8, 2022

How do I learn to carve wood, and the order that actually works

There is no shortcut, but there is an order, and the order matters more than talent. One knife for a month, sharpening in week two, drawing in month three, and one shape repeated until your hands stop thinking about it.