Carving the Nose, Forehead, Mustache, Mouth and Beard

A) Carving the Nose and Forehead:

Model #3 - Photo

1. Lower the brow line and forehead a bit. Slope the forehead back from the brow line to the hair line.
• It is now time to lower the bridge of the nose from the point of the nose to the brow line. Invert a # 7/14 or a # 7/10 gouge (depending upon the size of the face), and place the points of the gouge on each side of the purple lines.
• Keeping the gouge straight and using the mid line as a guide, push the gouge up the nose bridge to the brow line.
• Take more wood off as you go down toward the brow line in order to establish the profile of the nose. Do not remove any wood or the mid line from the tip of the nose. Take a little wood off at a time as the bark is very fragile.
2. If your gouge is digging deeply into the sides of the nose remove it and remove more wood from the sides of the nose using a # 7 gouge. Leave enough wood for the nostrils. Keep the wings of your tool on the outside of the purple lines when you move up the sides of the nose. You may need to repeat this procedure several times until you have the desired nose profile. Remove the wood at the eyebrow line by coming down between the brows with the # 7/10 gouge.
• As you remove wood along the side of the nose and come level with the eye sockets, you will need to deepen the eye sockets. Stay under the brow line. Deepen the sockets by going down along the side of the nose bridge with a # 9/20.
• As you slope the face from the mustache edge and up the side of the nose bridge, you may need to push back the outside edge of the face toward the back of the piece of wood. You can use a # 9 sweep to push the face back into the wood. Be sure to leave some wood along side the face for hair.
• You are now starting to develop a profile. Check how deep it is by turning the face sideways.
3. When you have removed wood from the bridge of the nose take a small # 8, 9 or 11 gouge and remove wood from between the eye brows. I prefer to start with a # 6 or 7 and remove more wood later if I want to. Go down from the forehead, and carve a furrow between the 2 brows till you meet the nose bridge cut.
• Clean up this area by cutting across the bridge with a # 9 or 11 gouge. Only take off a little wood when doing this.
• Continue with the same gouge down into the eye sockets and deepen the hollow a bit between the eye socket and the nose bridge.
• The furrow size between the brows will change the expression of the face. A more narrow furrow creates a more stern appearance.
4. Continue removing wood along the bridge line until you have the desired nose profile. On average, the angle from the tip of the nose to the forehead is about 45 degrees. This can vary depending upon the kind of nose you want to carve.
• Draw your hairline in prior to carving the forehead. Allow about the same space for the forehead that you allowed for the length of the nose. Run along the hair line area with the V tool.
• Remove wood from the forehead and brow area. As your slope the forehead back you will need to remark the hairline with a V tool. The forehead should slope gently back from the tip of the nose. The brow area has 3 planes – the front area is a bit curved as it follows the head above the eye brows. It then slopes down toward the outside of the face on each side.
• Using a # 5 gouge, push back the forehead taking some wood off the brow area and sloping back to the hairline grove you made with the V tool.
• With a small # 9 gouge, carve out a shallow groove just above the spot where you want your eye brows. This groove will help form your eye brows.
• The eye brows will sit just above and just below the green line of Diagram A in the hand out. - Don’t carve out any wood from the hair area above the forehead at this time.
• Using a small # 11 gouge carve some grooves across the forehead that will contain wrinkles. Three grooves are usually sufficient. Take a small V tool and make light marks within the three grooves.
5. When you have the desired profile of the nose use the # 6 or 7 gouge (depending upon the size of the face), to carve the tip of the nose. Invert the gouge and work it down around the tip of the nose and straight into the wood at the bottom of the nose.
6. Next turn the gouge around so that it is positioned a bit to the side of the center line under the nose. The space left on each side of the center line will give you the septum. Cut into the wood by rotating the gouge back to form the bottom part of the nostrils. Your gouge will be going down and away from the nose and into the face a bit.
• Clean up the wood under the nose and nostrils.
7. Draw in the shape of the nostrils to provide a guide for cutting. Use dividers to ensure that the distance out from the center line and from the bottom of the nose is the same for both nostrils. This will help prevent one nostril being larger or higher than the other. Refer to Diagram A in the hand out for positioning.
• Using a # 5 or 7/10 or 14 mm gouge, form the outside of the nostrils. The size and shape of your gouge will determine the size and shape of the nostril.
• Turn the gouge upside down and slide it along the tip of the nose downward toward the face and into the face.
• Bring the tip of the gouge that is at the bottom of the nose around the corner of the nostril a bit. This will round the outside corner of the nostril. Carefully remove wood along the outside of the nostril with a # 7 gouge or bench knife.
• Use a # 8 or 9 gouge to trim the hollow along the nostril and up the side of the nose. Do not cut in behind the nostril.
• Return the center line.

(I used Carving the Nose & Mouth by J Phares as reference material when describing the details of carving the nose)

B) Carving the Mustache and Beard (refer to Models #3 and #5):

Model #3 - Photo

Keep all hair lines flowing by using C and S curves. Draw in your mustache.

Trim and taper the wood under the nose that will be shaped into the mustache. Leave the area under the nose fairly flat and work the wood down along the sides of the face. Be certain to leave yourself enough wood for the mustache.

The area under the nose is called the mouth barrel. The mouth barrel has 3 areas to it. It is quite flat under the nose area and then it is rounded toward the outside of the face on each side of the face.

Take off wood under the nose using a #5 gouge. Do this gradually while working both sides of the face until the wood is lowered to meet the bottom of the nose. Leave quite a bit of wood for the mustache and beard. The mouth barrel will help develop the profile of the nose. Round the beard area around the sides of the face.

Replace your center line.

1. Draw in the outside and inside line of the mustache as it fits at the corners of the nose. Put short stop cuts where the nostril meets the mustache. Outline the mustache with a V tool.
• Put a stop cut, angling into the face, along the outside of the nostril and make it about 1 inch long along the outside of the mustache. Do not undercut the nostril.
2. Using a # 7 gouge or bench knife remove the wood on the outside of the nostrils and along the stop cut on the outside of the mustache. You have now carved out the smile line. Work carefully as the wood along the nostrils may be quite fragile. Lower the cheek behind the mustache.
• Mustache, beard and head hair flows. Use S and C curves to carve any hair. Carve the flow of hair by carving graceful furrows with a # 9 or 11 sweep and add hair lines with a V tool. Work the beard and mustache at the same time. You can add greater depth and definition to the folds of hair by carving deep grooves in the hair with your bench knife as a final finish.
3. Remove some wood from the beard that lies under and between the 2 sides of the mustache. This will lower the beard under your mustache. With a bench knife, cut in between the beard and the mustache so that the beard seems to fold under the mustache. Keep reshaping the mustache as you shape the beard.

C) Carving the Mouth:

Remember that the bottom of the bottom lip was 1/2 way between the bottom of the nose and the chin.

The mouth is a hollow just below where the mustache meets the nose. Undercut the mustache at the corners of the mouth to make the lower lip fit under it. Define the inner edge of the lip and hollow out a bit of wood under the lower lip. An 11/10 sweep works well for hollowing out a furrow under the lip.

Replace the center line from the tip of the nose and up through the forehead.

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