Profusely illustrated guide to carving realistic and stylized birds: fantail birds, comic caricatures, bird totems, fetishes, dance masks, many more. Over 300 drawings and photos. Tips on tools, woods, pitfalls, finishing techniques.

A comprehensive look at American miniature bird carvings and the artists who made them

Soar to new heights with this helpful how-to on power-carving a variety of wooden birds. Featuring internationally known woodcarver Frank Russell, this guide offers expert instruction on a wide range of carving techniques and ways to improve your skills. Original patterns for a number of different types of birds are provided, along with detailed sketches to offer guidance for woodcarvers of all skill levels. The patterns can even be used for other types of three-dimensional or flatwork art if wood isn't your preferred material of choice. Each bird design includes textural facts, sketched details, linear top-view patterns, and colored side-view patterns. Regardless of your experience in power carving, with this guide you too can make a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece all on your own!

Carvers with some experience will be able to create any of these extraordinarily realistic birds, and two projects are especially for beginners. Detailed instructions, 26 diagrams, 85 photographs, and a wealth of ornithological information aid in carving 15 species, including: Wilson's plover, downy woodpecker, bobwhite, sparrow hawk, laughing gull, 10 more.

This is the second comprehensive wood carving manual by the successful team of Roz Daisey and Pat Kurman. Through a detailed yet concise series of carving and painting instructions, beautifully drawn illustrations and careful photography, novice as well as expert carvers are given all the information they need to complete realistic wood carvings of five different songbirds. The instructions for creating wooden replicas of the male and female Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow, Blue Jay, and American Robin provide five home seminars at your fingertips. Roz and Pat are experienced carvers and teachers who have developed systems that work for everybody every time. Their own carving achievements, abilities to illustrate and communicate, and their devotion to the bird carving art forms they create all combine here to inspire a new generation of wildfowl artist.

A world champion carver of raptors (as well as a master falconer), serves as your coach for carving your own fabulous birds. Greg Woodard shows how to create models that are painted, partially-painted, or all-natural. Sequenced photos illustrate every technique of every project. Where to start? How about a Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Barn Owl, or Red-Tailed Hawk. An expert's tips take you through the delicate steps of inserting eyes and the details of lifelike feathering. A gallery of Woodward's own champion carvings lets you see prizes like "Cactus Flower," a preening American kestrel on a cactus, and "Hunting the Adobe," his natural wood sculpture of a prairie falcon chasing several swallows across a cliff colony.

Full-sized patterns, step-by-step instructions for robins, jays, cardinals, finches, etc. 97 illus.