Woodcarving the Country Bear & His Friends: 12 Simple Projects for Woodcarvers
This issue's book is another one of Fox Chapel Publishing's new ones. It covers 12 projects dealing with bears and a few other animals. I have acquired a few of Mike Shipley's carvings over the years but these are the first animals I have seen him do. Usually he deals with Santas, snowmen and hillbillies. These animals are a great departure for and for we carvers. In Part One, the author deals with his selection of tools and their sharpening, a few tips on carving pointers and how he chooses his wood and transfers the patterns to the books.  Part Two is a very complete step-by-step demonstration of how Mike carves Barry the Bear. It includes photos of Barry and all of the steps necessary to complete the carving. The next section is on painting Barry in more detail than one normally sees in these step-by-step books. He concludes the painting section with the details of his antiquing methods. He included four views of the finished Barry. Part Three is the concluding section of the book and includes patterns  and "go-by" photos of 11 more projects to supplement Barry; a Christmas Bear, a Patriotic Bear, Pa Bear, Ma Bear, Cub in a Stump, Double Trouble (2 cubs in a stump), a Well-Dressed Moose, Do Nothin' Rabbit, Busy Beaver, and some Forest Trees.  The designs are quite simple and will work out well for beginners and the advanced carvers wanting to sharpen their skills in carving caricature animals.