For years, the thought of carving a portrait left me cold. Somehow it seemed to
be one of the most difficult things to carve. But, after many experiments, I've
now realised it's just like any other carving, it's just a mindset that I
needed to get over.
There are three methods for carving a portrait - the first is simple, draw the
portrait, transfer it to an eraser, and carve :) The other two methods require
a bit of equipment, and this is what we'll be focusing on here. One method
requires access to a scanner, computer, good photo manipulation software and a
printer, the other, access to a photocopier. Both require a camera.
If you have a digital camera, then you're very lucky, as you'll be able to start
carving your portrait very quickly - you won't have to go through the time
needed to process your photograph, and then scan it in. For this method,
there's no need to worry if the original photo is in colour, as it can be
easily changed to black and white or greyscale in your photo manipulation
software. Of course, there are many of these photo manipulation software
programs on the market, so please refer to your manual or help section for
details on how your particular program works.
The first step is to upload your photo to the photo manipulation software,
either by scanning it in, or uploading from a digital camera.
Next, turn the photo into a greyscale or black and white picture. The examples
shown here are of a self-portrait.
Now it's time to play around with the contrast and the brightness of the picture, again, please refer to your manual on how to do this. You'll want to play around with both of these for a while until you get the desired black and white image.
Once you have this image, print it out and then transfer it to your carving block, and carve as normal (instructions on transfering and carving are given in Carving - The Basics). Don't be afraid to change your carving slightly from the outline you have made for yourself. Once you've traced the outline onto tracing paper, stop, look carefully and think for a moment; does the outline you have here truely convey the spirit of the person you're carving? If you need to add an extra line here, or remove a shadow there, so that the representation is an accurate one, then do so.
The finished carving
It's probably best to start out with a black and white photo if you're using this method - although you can experiment with colour and see how things turn out. It's best to find a photocopier in a local store that isn't often busy, as you might be there for a while playing around :) As with the digital version, play around with the contrast, brightness and the light and dark settings on the photocopier, until you have a clear black and white image that you're happy to work with. Transfer to your carving block and carve (see Carving - The Basics). Don't discard those copies that didn't turn out quite right, you can always use them in collage later.
Once you've got the hang of portraits, experiment a little more. The carvings of the medieval couple below were taken from original pictures of my husband and I - we weren't wearing the medieval clothing at the time ;) (Click on the image for a larger version.) I drew it in after I'd manipulated the photos into black and white and had transfered the outline to tracing paper. Experiment with your own scenes and styles of clothing.
