Carving an Eagle

 

 6.  I have started this carving by defining the neck of the eagle. I am using a half round rasp to shape the neck. Starting on the back of the eagle, I shape the neck and begin to develop the shoulders of the wings and continuing to the front of the eagle, blending into the breast of the bird.

As you can see by the drawing, any time you are filing and shaping the sculpture, you are usually working in two directions at the same time. Try to attune your thinking to seeing three dimensional. Most people are commonly inclined to seeing things two dimensionally, like looking at a TV screen.

 7.  You now begin to shape the front of the eagle. Keeping in mind the shape of an eagle, form the breast, blending it into the neck and carrying the line back to the tail. Keep in mind the shape of a bird as you work.

8.  When carving the back of the eagle, it is not simply a matter or rounding the back. You must keep in mind that you are carving in two directions at the same time.

 To develop the wing shape, file from the shoulder back towards the tip on the wings. I hope that the file marks of the picture on the left will indicate the direction of the shaping of the folded wings on the back of the eagle.

 The Vee where the wings fold onto the back, showing the wing tips, are created with the round file.