Choosing the right material

Usually with each project, there are several choices of appropriate material.  Outdoors the clear choice is stone.  Indoors, almost any of the materials discussed below are suitable.  Things to consider early on are: placement, durability and lighting.

 Before the carving starts though, it's almost always worth the effort to do a clay model first. Clay helps both to work out the form beforehand and give the customer a clear idea of just how the final carving will look. This is an incredibly valuable step that benefits everyone. 

   High quality hardwoods are usually the best choice for carvings.  Some of the hardest like Black Cherry or Maple are great for shallow relief where you need lots of detail    in a relatively small carving.

Highly figured woods like Curly Maple or Ribbon Mahogany work well with smooth surfaces and broad forms. The strong grain figure sometimes competes with the details and texture of the carving overwhelming the piece.

   Basswood is also the choice for larger carvings due to its consistancy while being glued up into big blocks and with its light color can easily have color stains added for accent.

Butternut is a beautiful wood with a rich warm golden color and excellent carving characteristics.  For certain carvings that need a dark rich color, consider Black Walnut or Mahogany

   Often with these jobs the specific wood is determined by its application.  Some of my past projects have come with very specific needs such as mahogany (for insect resistence) in the tropics, 100 year old oak to match a restoration in a church and walnut capitals for an office project.  On jobs that don't have a specific wood or in the case of painted moldings or carvings, Basswood works great and carves fast.  Sometimes, when many multiples of a certain design are needed and are to be painted, I carve the original then reproduce copies in resin.  A very cost effective solution.

   With the consistancy of stone even in massive sizes, Large sculptures in stone have none of the limits of wood in strength and durability.  Marble is really great for carving, especially for figures.  Marble has a skin-like translucent quality and can take a high polish.  For large outdoor sculpture, nothing can beat the durability and consistancy of Granite.  Granite can end up with a great variety of surface textures; rough smooth or polished.