
Learn to sketch, cut, and carve a cute wood owl and turn it into a pendant, gaining beginner-friendly skills for future carving projects.
Learn to start a beginner owl carving by selecting a carving knife and hardwood (black walnut preferred), size the wood, sharpen, sand, fit an eyelet, and seal with linseed oil.
Sketch an owl on wood for a beginner carving with pencil, pen, and ruler. Set a central line for symmetry, outline inverted heart head with v-shaped feathers, eyes, and beak.
Learn wood carving techniques with v cuts, stop cuts, pull cuts, and push cuts, practicing on a spare piece with safe, controlled movements.
Carve the owl head using v cuts and stop cuts to define the outline, feathers, and eyes, while maintaining safety, knife control, and visualizing a 3d finished form.
Rough out the owl's body, define cheeks and beak with stop cuts and controlled push cuts, and round all surfaces for a lifelike resemblance.
Carve the wings around the body, define with the knife tip, and build thickness for a rounded silhouette. Shape the feet and beak, add feathers, and refine symmetry with hardwood.
Make tweaks to deepen eye sockets, define the feet, add feather tips, soften outlines, and widen the belly while narrowing the wings for ornaments; carve to avoid snapping wood.
Smooth the owl with sandpaper, preparing the surface for decorative belly feathers. Draw 4–5 wavy lines, outline them with a pen, then carve to create layered feathers and simple feet.
Finish the owl by applying linseed oil to preserve the wood, darken the color, and highlight the grain, then wipe away excess; you can also make it a pendant.
Easy wood carving project - a whittling tutorial on carving an owl.
In this class I will teach you how to make a wooden owl that can be left as a figurine or turned into a lovely wearable pendant. You will need some hard wood - I am using black walnut. You can also use mahogany, maple, oak, cherry, apple, elm, yew wood or whatever else you can find. All done by hand using one knife.
Beginners are welcome! More seasoned carvers might also enjoy this tutorial and learn something new. I will teach you step by step starting from sketching your owl on the piece of wood, carving, oiling it and then turning it into a lovely piece of jewellery. It would be an amazing gift for someone special or a start of your new career as a woodcarver!
To participate, you will need a piece of wood (and a saw to cut it to a required size), a carving/whittling knife, and something to sharpen your knife with (I use a leather strop with some stropping compound). Some sandpaper would be beneficial too.
If you want to make a pendant, you will also need:
A small eye screw (if you want to make it a pendant) with a length of approx. 8mm
A necklace rope
An awl tool or a simple sewing needle
Some oil for the finish (you can use linseed or walnut oil)
Pliers
Also, don't forget to protect your hands with cut-resistant gloves. Join me for this fun adventure!