Topsy-Turvy Carving - Biden or Trump Next? You Decide.

So I was walking around town and there was a garage sale. I meandered over to a table with a bunch of old looking books and one caught my eye about the civil war. (Not the current one, the one with Abe Lincoln and Jeff Davis). So I decided to get it ($0.50 can't beat that).

When I got home, I found the image of Jefferson (Jeff) Davis who was the President of the Confederate States of America. But this one was a sort of political cartoon called a topsy-turvy where it's one image one way and another, usually the opposite, the other way. (see examples)

Anyway back to Jeff Davis topsy-turvy, I thought it would be cool to carve.

Maybe I should do one of Biden or Trump. If I get 1000 views and 100 hearts I make one that has the highest votes. :-)

We can make history together.

Basically just needs some carving tools. Get good ones so they last forever.

A sketch or an image that you copy on paper for want you want to carve.

Carbon paper to trace the image on to wood.

Oil point and turpentine.

Oh yes some wood too - i used 8"x8" pine.

I make a copy of the image and placed the carbon paper underneath and drew over the outline of the image so I had a guide for carving. No need to be perfect - just get the main parts that you want to focus on.

Next I use the skew chisel to score the outline parts of the drawing. Go over the lines several times to make a deep cut so it's easier and cleaner to carve away the wood with the gouge chisel. The nice thing about carving is that you don't have to be a great drawer or painter since you just carve away until you get something you like. If you take small chunks there's less a chance to make a mistake and you have a better chance to fix if you do.

Now have some fun adding color to make you carving come alive. I like to apply oil paint on a small cotton rag with a little turpentine on it so the paint is a bit diluted then I test on some wood to see if I like the color. If all good, I start rubbing the paint onto the wood. You can control the depth of color easier that way. After I'm all done with paint, I let it dry for a few days then add wax on top to shine it up.

Now pick a key spot in your house to mount your amazing work of art (preferably one that you wife won't take down the minute you have up) and as visitors drop by, watch and hear their amazement as you spin your art around to expose the truvy part of the image.

So what's it going to be - Topsy-Turvy Biden or Trump? Add in comments