Tiny Carved Gnome Stumps and Logs

Carving

For the log, round the sides and corners with the knife. Draw the holes with a pencil and then add stop cuts along the lines. Carefully carve toward the stop cuts at an angle from the inside of the holes, and then smooth the edges created along the lines with the tip of the knife. Use a 1/4” (6mm) 60° V-tool to carve the texture lines for the bark. For the stump, first shape the block into a cylinder by removing hard corners on each vertical side. Then taper the slope of the sides of the block to make the top smaller than the base, referring to the pattern. Follow the same process as above to carve the holes, opening toward the bottom of the stump, and use the same V-tool to create the bark texture lines.

Painting and Finishing 

Paint the entire log/stump with camel. Do not oil the carvings first and do not water down the paint. Next, paint the holes with a mixture of pure black and a drop or two of vintage white. When dry, cover the entire carving with undiluted antiquing solution and wipe off with a paper towel or soft rag, being careful to leave plenty of antiquing solution in the crevices. Finally, paint the eyes in the holes, using vintage white for the eye whites and pure black for the eyeballs. A toothpick or a small embossing tool tip works well for this part.

• Basswood, 1 3/16″ (3cm) thick: log, 5/8″ x 4″ (1.6cm x 10.2cm)

• Basswood, 1 3/8″ (3.5cm) square: stump, 1 7/16″ (3.7cm) long

• Pencil or pen

• Clean rags

• Acrylic paints, such as FolkArt®: camel, pure black, vintage white 

• Antiquing medium, such as FolkArt®

• Carving knife

• V-tool: 1/4″ (6mm) 60°

• Small toothpick or embossing tool 

David Young has been woodcarving since 2019. He lives in Holt, Michigan with his wife and three kids. You can find more of his work on Instagram where he goes by @dywoodcarving.