Entry #6: Extra Help

http://www.instructables.com/id/Wood-Whittling-101/

While looking for projects to start doing or future projects to start, I stumbled upon this website and started to browse it. While looking into it i found a lot of projects that came with instructions. It pretty much acts as an instruction manual and idea giver for me. Looking deeper into the website, i found ideas that help make my projects better and more creative.

http://whiteeaglestudios.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/the-truth-about-whittling-knives/

In my pursuit to finding the perfect knife for me to use, i found this article about what knives i should use and knives that are perfect for whittling. Using this guide , i was able to find a good knife to use and it provided me a good sense of how i should pick certain knives in the future. Of course, the knife i have now isn't very comfortable but it sure gets the job done and in the end that's all i want to do is get a knife that does its job.

Entry #5: The Challenge

Seriously, the only one problem that i am having at the moment is the knife that i am using, a dull box cutter. I found out about this when i made a cut and it came out really, really messed up. When i saw it i was so very, very upset because i was work on smoothing it for 2 hours and when i realized that my attempts of smoothing it was only making it worst. At least i somewhat got it to be smooth but it bothered me so much when it came out the way it did. I really, really want it to be smooth. Of course, my problem could be easily solved if i just find/buy a new knife but i haven't really found a knife that  fits comfortably in my hand so i can whittle for hours. Recently tried to fix this problem but really hard to find the perfect knife. I guess i'm just going to just order a beginner's whittling kit and pray that it's comfortable when i use it. o
Chipped, nasty cuts, ugly, ew, On the Floor of the Office Room. Personal photograph by author. 2014.

Entry #4: Update

What I have pretty much done since the beginning of all this was work on whittling projects and trying to work my way up to bigger projects. I was hoping that by the end of this project ( picture below ) that i would be able to start the final product. However, It pretty much depends on how well this project turns out. If it doesn't turn out clean then i will probably work on some more projects before i start on the final product. Some of the things i had finished was a sphere, a pyramid, and a snowman.

In the picture is a new project i started to work on, i was hoping to turn it into a wooden chain or an Indian head but its still a work in progress. The measurement on the side was suppose act as a guideline and tell me how deep i can cut into but i have been ignoring it. I need to start following it otherwise when i attempt cut again it'll look messy and gross. 

A Project in Progress, Whittling, In My Room. Personal photograph by author. 2014.

Entry #3: My Thoughts

Now that a month has past, I have to say that whittling is actually really hard to do because there have been so many times that i almost accidentally cut myself. The gloves help somewhat to protect you but, man, it is a pain when you try to carve a deeper cut because if your knife isn't sharp enough it pops out and it is unpredictable where the knife will go. Since the first entry, I've decided to make a totem pole as a final product and try to have people incorporate some of their ideas into it, like having them try to carve their favorite animal onto it. The hard part is finding a big enough log of tree to do this with. From my pitch i discovered that whittling is a stress reliever and it also helps take your mind off of other things. There have been many times i whittled for hours when i was upset and even if it seemed like i wasn't getting anywhere it was still fun. Hearing the other pitches didn't really give me much ideas but they were still very interesting and got me motivated to keep working on my project.

Hopefully my totem pole comes out this well.













"Haida Totem Pole." Flickr. Yahoo!, 7 May 2009. Web. 04 Feb. 2014.

Entry #2: The Pitch

To have people turn negative emotions into a work of art through whittling.

http://www.youtube.com/
For looking up tutorials on beginning to whittle and projects to begin doing. Plus, the many different ways i can do cuts.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Whittling-Projects/
For looking up projects to maybe start or come up with ideas.


My 20% project is going to be whittling, and i'm going to create a totem pole. You should care about this project because it means that you'll be able to turn negative emotions into something artistic. I care about this project because i want to see how people change their negative emotions into something through whittling. The only main concern is the amount of resources i will mention in the pitch presentation because as of now, i don't really have that many but who knows, maybe ill find some resources along the way. Also, i wasn't to sure on how i would word out what i wanted to say but, hopefully, it works itself out and somebody understands what i am trying to say. My confidence in my pitch presentation is the idea that you can turn your negative emotions into something artistic. I've already began working on my project when i was down or upset and i have to say, looks pretty good.

Entry #1: The beginning

In the beginning i was really excited for this project because it gave me an excuse to spend my time trying something new and it's still there. However, I never realized that whittling would be so hard because I've hurt my thumb several times already in the past week. Importantly, I really want to use this project as way for people to relieve stress or anything else negative and bring out their artistic side. Whenever I was stressed, sad, or anything I started to whittle and it felt like each stroke was slowly relaxing me. I didn't have a goal when i started to whittle because at the time i was to sad to care. Eventually as time went by and i calmed down from whittling i knew that i wanted to make ball because it seemed cool. That's what i want others to feel when whittling, a slow transition from the negative emotion to interest in creating something amazing.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2011/12/12/a-beginners-guide-to-whittling/

I pretty much found this website by goggling "Whittling Guide". This website taught me the safety guidelines and different ways of cutting the wood. It also informed me on which wood would be appropriate for different projects. For my case it was best for me to use Basswood because it's suitable for beginners and the softness of it makes it easier to cut.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=whittling%20projects%20for%20beginners&sm=3

In searching for a visual aid in whittling i thought what better than youtube. I searched it for beginner projects that i could practice doing so that when time came to do my final project i was ready. Although im starting with a sphere, i want to be able to shape that sphere into something with more description and artistic.