• Basswood, 1 1/2" (3.8cm) square: 3 1/2" (8.9cm) long
• Pencil
• Pen: fine
• Paperboard materials & tools
• Paper towels
• Finishing wax, such as FolkArt® TOOLS
• Knives: rough out, detail
• #3 gouge: 1/8" (3mm)
• White paper
• Glue: cyanoacrylate (CA)
• Boiled linseed oil
• Acrylic paints, such as FolkArt®: cardinal red, daffodil yellow, French gray, licorice, real brown, titanium white, true green
• Paper towels
• Finishing wax, such as FolkArt®
• Mod Podge®: matte
Tools
Knives: rough out, detail
#3 gouge: 1/8" (3mm)
#7 gouge: 1/2" (13mm)
#9 gouge: 1/4" (6mm)
Micro V-tool: 1/16" (2mm)
Paintbrushes: assorted
Getting Started
Prepare the blank. With a pencil, draw centerlines down each side and a teardropshaped circle on the top to mark the location of the head. On the sides of the blank, draw the ears. You can draw reference lines around the entire block where the tops and bottoms of the ears will be to keep them symmetrical.
Note: Always wear a carving glove and thumb guard. The photos were taken without them to clearly show hand and knife positions.
Roughing Out the Elf
Rough out the ears. Using a rough out knife, make the ear lines into deep stop cuts. Then, using a 1/2" (13mm) #7 gouge, carve up to the ear stop cuts to make them stand out from the head. The more you carve in, the more the ears will stick out, and the smaller the head will be.
Round the head. Use the rough out knife, going by the teardrop circle you drew in Getting Started. Carve a peak evenly on the front for the face.
Round the head by paring back the top edge in small slices until all flat areas from the ears up have been removed.
Rough out the face.
Draw the beard, nose, and hairline onto the front of the head, and turn the nose and eye lines into stop cuts (make sure to redraw the beard and hairline as they get carved away). Carve up to the stop cut at the bottom of the nose.
The more you carve here, the bigger the nose will be. Carve along either side of the nose up to the eyebrow line to establish the rough shape of the nose and eyes.
Define the hair and beard. Use the knife to turn the lines into stop cuts. In the same way that you carved along the side of the nose, carve along the side of the sideburns, and down from the cheeks into the beard to establish the facial hair stand out from the face.
Carve up to the hairline to make the forehead. The more you carve here, the more the face will sink into the facial hair. Draw a side part on the hair, and then follow that line with a V-cut.
Refine the ear. Draw a line from the top front corner of the ear to the bottom front corner.
Follow the line with a stop cut, and shave off wood on the front of the ear to sink it gradually into the beard line.
Make a stop cut along the bottom of the beard, and then carve up to it to separate the beard from the body. Repeat on the other side.
Rough out the body.
To block out the shape of the body, draw a horizontal line on the bottom of the blank, 1/4" to 1/2" (6mm to 1.3cm) up from the bottom. Make the line into a stop cut, and then carve down to this line from above to establish the feet.
Turn the blank around and carve the corners off the back. Draw the arms and hands on either side, giving them a slight bend at the elbow.
On the back of the blank, draw a line below the elbow landmark for the elf’s bottom. Make this a stop cut, and carve up to it. Then round the bottom over slightly.
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Rough out the arms. Make the arm lines into stop cuts and carve along those cuts to pull the arms away from the body.
This is a crucial step, so remove wood gradually and be aware of where the tip of your knife is at all times.
Adding Details to Your Elf
Refine the ears.
With a detail knife, thin the backs of the ears. If your ears aren’t that thick, don’t worry about this step. Use a 1/4" (6mm) #9 gouge to hollow the insides of the ears, starting from near the top and carving down into the hairline.
The ears should look like little bowls when you’re done.
Define the mustache. Draw it onto the face, and then make that line into a stop cut. Using either a knife of your choice or a 1/8" (3mm) #3 gouge, carve up to the line to separate the mustache from the beard.
Draw a line for the bottom lip and turn it into a stop cut. Using the same tool, carve up to the bottom of the lip.
Then, using either your knife or a 1/16" (2mm) micro V-tool, add texture to the beard, mustache, and hair.
Break up the bottom profile of the beard to make it look more realistic.
Add the clothing details. Draw the overalls and shirt cuffs onto the blank, and then turn these lines into stop cuts. Carve up to the clothing lines to separate the overalls from the shirt, creating layers of clothing.
Carve the mittened hands up to the stop cut for the cuff, shaping the mittens as you go. Add a thumb to each mitten.
Draw a line for the bottom lip and turn it into a stop cut. Using the same tool, carve up to the bottom of the lip.
Then, using either your knife or a 1/16" (2mm) micro V-tool, add texture to the beard, mustache, and hair.
Break up the bottom profile of the beard to make it look more realistic.
Add clothing creases. Use the detail knife to create a series of V-cuts at the elbows. Then carve a round shirt button and add creases around that, too.
Separate the feet with a large V-cut, and round the toes. Separate the legs with another V-cut. Carve the feet up to the pant cuffs, add a horizontal stop cut just above the bottoms of the feet, and carve down to these cuts to create shoe soles.
Carve a small slit in one of the mittens; the clipboard will go here later.
Make the clipboard. I cut mine from a small piece of brown paper board, and glued a smaller sheet of white paper to it. Allow it to dry and write your to-do list and clipboard details. Coat with matte Mod Podge® for extra strength and to protect the paper.
Prepare the carving for paint.
Brush it all over with boiled linseed oil, or an oil of your choice, and let sit for at least a few hours.
Wipe away the excess with paper towels, disposing of them safely per the manufacturer’s instructions.
Lightly draw the stripes of the overalls to ensure even spaces, and plan the stripe pattern; I used cardinal red and titanium white.
Add the finishing touches.
Heavily drybrush the beard and hair with titanium white. Then lightly drybrush the rest of the carving with the same color to highlight the carving facets and give the elf a frosty look.
Add a finish, if desired; I prefer FolkArt® craft wax.
Paint the remaining details.
Paint the beard and hair with lightly diluted French gray and a touch of licorice. Paint the mittens and shoes with licorice. Paint the shirt with diluted true green. Mix a tiny amount of licorice to the true green, and then use a thin brush to apply this to creases to create a shadow effect.
Keep a dry brush on hand to help blend the darker green paint into the lighter for a smoother gradient.
Then paint the skin, diluting a tiny bit of real brown, cardinal red and daffodil yellow with water until you reach the desired tone. You can test the color on the bottom of the feet, or a scrap piece of basswood.
If painting a lighter skin tone, go back in afterward with heavily diluted cardinal red to add blush accents to the nose, ears, and cheeks.
