Wood carving Savoir-faire

On the occasion of our new “Tactile Objects” Selection, we are highlighting wood sculpture, and more specifically that which makes texture visible. This artistic and artisanal practice is not limited to the simple creation of shapes; it also explores touch.

Wood carving begins long before the tool touches the material. A work can be born from a sketch, a model or even from the inspiration provided by the wood. Each type of wood has its own characteristics and therefore imposes its own requirements. Its hardness and the arrangement of its fibers will influence the gestures and tools to be used. For optimal carving, it will be essential, for example, to carve with the grain rising, that is to say in the direction of the fiber growth.

The woodcarver has a range of specific tools, each adapted to a particular step or technique. Here is an overview of the main tools and their role in creation:

• Saws – hand, band, circular: for roughing out a piece of wood, also called trimming
• Gouges: ideal for precisely sculpting curved surfaces. Its movement, whether parallel or perpendicular to the wood, determines the depth and finesse of the notch. There are different types of gouges: straight gouge (for simple shapes), cambered gouge (for working concave curves), angled gouge (ideal for reaching difficult areas, such as the bottom of cavities), counter-angled gouge (for convex volumes inaccessible with other gouges) or the spatula or fishtail gouge (which excels in finishing and tight places)
• The wood chisel: its rectangular blade is often used to smooth surfaces or refine details
• Rasps, rifflers, scrapers or sandpaper: to even out a surface or to reduce the marks of the sculpture

Each type of texture will capture light differently, giving an additional depth to the piece. But texture is not just a visual effect but also an invitation to touch. It is this duality between the hand and the eye that is at the heart of our Tactile Objects selection, to be found in our online store.

Photos Nobuaki Tsuchiya, Blandine Barthélemy, Jeremy Aymard