Carving faces

I'm currently carving female figures in relief. However, my critics state that my carvings features are too 'hard' like a male's rather that 'soft' like a woman's. I use a light stain for flesh color rather than flesh colored paint.

All carving are painted, but I still use stain. Is there anything I can do to soften the look of the face?

Thanks...

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

can't tell without seeing yours, and I am not an expert in the first place, but with my woodspirits, I use a 'stick' sander and go over it and it softens everything....if you are talking about carving and not wood texture, maybe you just have the face to wide for a woman, or maybe the cheek bones to high, the hair line too high etc?? Now that I am through rambling, go to Ol' Don's picturetrail site, he has a bit of a study there on human faces....in fact, a google search will bring up a lot of in formation for you...hope this helps.

A great refernce book is: Drawing the head and figure by Jack Hamm. I doubt if there is a better book on the market, on faces, hands, legs, etc. Ikeep a copy at hand at all times to refer to.If interested, contact me for particulars. Big Al

[Bandaid]

You might want to check out 'Notes from the Net' in the Jan/Feb 2000 back issue of the online Woodcarver's Magazine at http://carverscompanion.com. There is an article there by Ivan Whillock on carving the female face.
Lots of other good info. on that site as well. 8)

[colin_partridge]

Albert could you post a picture of you female relief it is hard to give advice without seeing the carving. Female faces are a challenge because the features are very smooth. I did my first female tree carving this year and found that I had to use a sander to get that smooth look. Being a woodspirit carver where I usually carve the weathered and cracked faces the female face did present a challenge.
Colin

[woodenleg]

You picked a tough one. Women are very hard to do and only a little easier than children. Check out some of Wally Lueth's books that give the details for carving women. He specializes in carving women and gives classes as well.

Two things I would mention are arching the lips and rounding the bottom of the chin, making sure there are no straight lines like there are on most men. Old men are really easy to do becuase they have so many nice lines all over their faces.

You might want to get some clay to practice with.