How to make it
- Design the Pattern — Make the design so the patterns fit close together, or are separated only by lines. As a rule the work is little more than lines, though now and then a small corner or larger space may be removed with a touch of the tool.
- Ink the Wood — The easiest way to prepare this work is to draw the pattern on the wood in Indian ink.
- Cut Away the Black — Simply cut away all the black. Run the fine lines carefully with the V tool or the smallest gouge, cut the larger hollows with a gouge, and use a small firmer, the flat carver's chisel, for good practice if you like, though that is not usual.
- Keep It Simple — Keep the outlines broad and bold, and take great care not to make too many lines, especially fine ones. Make the design as simple as you can, and stop as soon as you have shown what it is meant to be with as few lines as possible.
- Colour the Lines — The lines and cavities may be filled in with colour, and look best when painted or dyed.
Transcript
[WIDOWMAKER] Hello, my dears, and welcome back to Crafternoon! It is I, Widow Maker, your resident craft spider, a mere fortnight old and still getting used to having six arms and no hands whatsoever. Today we are making flat patterns with cuts and lines, so settle in with your carving wood and let us begin.
[WIDOWMAKER] This lovely technique suits cabinets, chests and chair panels beautifully, gives the poor neglected firmer chisel some proper exercise, and builds just the confidence you need before venturing into free-hand carving. Ink it black, cut it clean, keep the lines few, and you shall have a pattern to be proud of.
[WIDOWMAKER] Now, today's plates show no lettered steps, my dears, simply four finished designs to study whole. One is a slim panel with a fan-shaped flower flanked by two rosettes, stalks fanning below. Another sets a sleeping hare inside a plain round medallion, ringed by curling acanthus scrollwork. A third shows a hare leaping across an open centre, scrollwork tucked either side. And the last has a boar walking through cracked, rocky ground. In every case you design it, ink it onto the wood in Indian ink, then simply cut away all the black, fine lines with your V tool, hollows with a gouge. Ink it black, cut it clean, keep the lines few — and do fasten your work down before you cut, hands behind the edge always, and keep that tool sharp, for a blunt one is the one that slips.
[WIDOWMAKER] Whatever emerged from under your gouge today, hare, boar, or something charmingly in between, I am terribly proud of you. I'll see you next Crafternoon. Bye-bye for now, my dears!
Scenes
