I was really inspired recently by a great whittling project. So much so I’ve been making these all week!
I have to pass thanks to Carolin and Deni of birds in the woods. Carolin showed me this lovely whittling project and the foxes made by her young daughter. Apparently Deni learned it from someone else and showed them. That’s how ideas are, they wander.
It starts with a short log, two or three inches long and about an inch across, you could scale it right up if you wanted as long as the proportions worked. This log is split vertically into six pieces, tying a bit of string around the log first means the log is easier to split. Each piece will become a fox. You can number or mark the bottoms to make it easier to know what order they go back together or leave it as a challenge.
I’ve tried to show each step in the whittling process but this isn’t the only way to do it.
The starting shape
Whittle the top corner to make the top of the nose
On the top of the piece of wood whittle a V shape to create the ears
I marked out the lines for the neck all the way round, pressing down with the knife on the piece of wood and then whittling up to it to shape the neck
Then the refining of the shape, basically at this point I carve away any hard edge to make the whole shape more flowing
.. and decorate, using pens or pyrography
In fact you can make any animals once you have the basic idea
My favourite thing about them is the way they stand together like they are having a conference. The collective noun for a group of foxes is a skulk.
I’d love to see your animals if you have a go.
