And yet more Acanthus leaves

[Mark Yundt]

I'm sure you're getting bored seeing my Acanthus leaf carvings by now, but truly,, without being able to carve them, I'd be out of work. They are that popular. These are headed for another kitchen as you can see from the designers drawing. I did them in 3/4 " Basswood. The two small pieces are 6" X 24" and the large center piece is 12" X 48" . Here you can see one of my sketches, the pieces as they are being carved and the nearly ( a bit of sanding is still needed) finished pieces.
They are getting a paint/glaze finish.
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[Bruce Page]

Mark, you are a true artist!
That's going to be one heck of a kitchen.

[phil harold]

Where can one learn how to do that magnificent work that you do?

[Mark Yundt]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you like them.
Learning to carve them can be as simple as monkey see,, monkey do. That's basically how I learned how to carve them. Copy a pattern if you can't draw and have a go at them. After a while you'll learn to make up your own designs to fill any space and have them twist and turn to your hearts content. There are several styles of these which if you research them differ primarily in the terminations of the tips of the leaves,, and to some extent how they are clustered. As far as figuring out the folds etc. it's basically similar to a Romaine type lettuce,,, which an Acanthus ( the actual plant) looks very similar.

[Chuck George]

Mark, I'm never bored of seeing your carvings. Very inspirational. Acanthus leaves are one of my favorites!

[Ryan Mooney]

Fantastic. I love how crisp they are, really clean work.

[randall rosenthal]

really nice work!

[Roger Strautman]

Very nice Mark!! What kind of wood are they made from, MDF? LOL! How do you hold the carvings when you carve them? Thanks!

[Mark Yundt]

Actually , when the designer sent me the drawings from his shop I wasn't too impressed with the lines on the center piece. Foolishly I ignored my gut feelings and went ahead and carved it. I mentioned it to him that I thought it looks weird even though I finessed it a bit and he agreed. Especially since this is going into an Architects home. So he's having me redesign the center piece with my own design so it looks better than it does. It should more closely match the small two pieces which I designed.
I figured since it came from his shop it was 'approved'. I should have known better.
@ Roger,,, for pieces like this I use double sided tape. The thicker stuff.