Carving Horses - part 2

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If you are working on a single block, and the animal is standing on three legs, you have the advantage that the single leg can be drawn fairly and squarely in the mid-line. Now draw in the legs on the ends of the block, and saw them out as well as you can, though the front and rear legs do get in each other's way, so that you will find yourself finishing the removal of the pieces of leg not required, with the gouge, or by drilling a row of small holes to weaken the parts which you need to break off. A flat or bevel-edged, 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch chisel is useful for cutting off the ridges left by the gouge, and some finishing work with files will trim the silhouette into shape except for the head. This should now be tackled, making sure that its symmetry is in line with the direction in which it is supposed to be looking. Most of the cutting can be done with the saw, including the taper of the neck, which in plan view is not as great in heavy horses as most people imagine.

Now hold up the horse against the light, and check that all is well, so far. It is still possible to hold the model in the vice until it loses all its flat surfaces, and in this manner, the rough contours can be cut down with the gouge, once again working across the grain, and with TWO HANDS ON THE CHISEL. During this time, concentrate on the chest barrel, which is not round, and make the chest a little narrower behind the forelegs, with a slightly exaggerated swell to the belly. Don't attempt to finish any one part, but move onto the withers and neck, the hips and buttocks, all the time attempting to delineate the major muscle blocks. This means that you should refer constantly to my anatomy drawings and photographs of the actual animal you are carving.

Whittling the horse

By now, it should be clear that the model looks like a horse, though it is still very clumsy with square legs. Mount the horse upside-down in the vice and mark out the underside of each hoof. Turn it slightly outwards, and make the front ones broader and rounder than the rear ones. You are ready now to begin whittling with the knife. Start with each hoof and coronet, and work up the legs, making sure that they join the body naturally, part way up, and do not look as if they have been stuck on underneath it. It is unlikely that you have come this far from the sawing out in one session, but in any case, now is the time to put the model away, and to come back to it after at least 24 hours have elapsed. Then you are in a position to give it a long, critical scrutiny, holding it up in every direction, with the light in front of it, but especially behind it. It is remarkable how easy it is then to see the faults, which is the time to correct them and then put the model away again.

Stages in modelling

We now have the essence of a horse, which needs refining to finish it. Start with the head; I use Dentists' burrs mounted in a pin-vice so that I can scrape out grooves for the eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth. (I can't get on with the burrs mounted and turning in a flexible shaft). When I think I have got the shape right I finish off with little rat-tail files. Manes and tails and feather over the fetlocks, are easily carved in with a "V" gouge, and a little waviness in the long hair doesn't come amiss. All the time, you will be holding up the model to the light and turning it round and round. People will think that you are admiring it, but actually, the reverse is the case, and you must learn to criticise your own work. However, it must be constructive criticism, for nobody carves a horse which is as good as the real thing, and you should never, never give up because you cannot achieve perfection. Never claim to be a perfectionist.

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