And yet more Acanthus leaves….

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, These Things Are Popular! If I couldn’t design/carve Acanthus I’d be out of work.

These are headed for a kitchen where they’ll be over a range hood and a tall cabinet. I did them in Basswood, 3/4″thick as they’ll be painted and glazed. You can see the drawing the designer sent, my sketch of at least the small piece and a general ‘in the process’ shot of the progression of some of the carving.

The general design of the kitchen where the carvings will go. This is not the same kitchen where I just recently did the Acanthus leaf legs.

One of the two smaller carvings ( 6″ X 24″)  with my sketch.

The large center carving showing half carved . I think it’s interesting to see the before and after of where a carving originates. Here it’s just a mirror image but you get the idea.

In the process of being carved you can see half of the center piece. No sanding has been done at this point. I save all that fun for last. Plus, this is just roughed in carving. Before sanding I’ll refine the surface much more that what you see here. I’d rather carve than sand and besides, a nicely carved surface could look great on it’s own without sanding,, or,, it just makes sanding that much easier when you can start with a high grit and do it just once over.

Completed small carvings. These , like the large piece become mirror images of each other.

Most carving is complete but not sanded. I still need to straighten out some lines and crisp up some others as you can see some glitches here. That drives me nuts. I wait until all roughing in is done, as it is here, then go back and finess the piece.

A side shot of the large piece.

All the pieces together. No, they won’t be arranged like this in the kitchen.

Side view. Some sanding has been done at this stage just to get a better view of the pieces and see just how well it flows. Some adjustments are still necessary. Don’t depend on sanding to salvage,, or improve a carving. It won’t. Bad lines are bad lines and sanding just makes bad lines smooth not corrected.

A closer shot of the center showing what is commonly referred to as the “Cobra Hood” where an Acanthus leaf traditionally folds over on itself appearing as a Cobras Hood.  There are several styles of doing this as well as Acanthus leaves themselves. The differences generally lay in how the leaves are terminated. All the styles are fun to carve and very versatile in so many situations. As you can see you can twist them ,turn them and make them fit into most any space to provide an interesting design. Onlays, relief, whatever,, they are just a good design element.