Leaping Fox Carving Study

Earlier this summer I completed a small carving as a study for a larger project I hope to work on sometime over the winter – a red fox captured mid-leap, about to pounce on its prey.  I created this smaller version as a way to test the idea I had for the painted finish – one that would utilize the natural beauty and color of the mahogany wood combined with only a minimal amount of black and white oil paint. I documented the process on the @ninthwavedesigns Instagram feed, and have gathered the images together in the slideshow below.

One element of this project that I especially enjoyed was discovering the versatility that the Pfeil Abeggelen detail knives offer.  I was originally intimidated by the super sharp double edges on this tool, but after just a few minutes of practice I felt comfortable using the knife for both pushing and pulling cuts. After completing this project using the medium size knife I added both the smaller and larger versions of these to my carving tool collection. I am certain I will be putting these to use on a regular basis going forward.

I have included descriptions of the stages of the project with each image below:

This is the original inspiration for the carving – a painting I completed in 1995 done in acrylic inks on paper.

Carving the back of the fox using the Abegglen detail knife.

Here is the rough carving with the Abegglen knife – the short handle on this tool means it is held similar to palm tools when carving.,

The finished carving in beautiful mahogany wood.

Sealing the wood to prepare it for painting.

The applicaiton of the black paint.

The final carved and painted piece.

Update: See more information about this project in the Leaping Fox Carving Study Demonstration Videos blog post.