Carving Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Other Creatures of Myth: History, Lore, and 12 Artistic Patterns (Fox Chapel Publishing) 350 Photos, 2 Step-by-Step Projects, Woodcarving…
$19.95
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Learn how to carve a gargoyle from start to finish!
- Step-by-step tutorials for a Traditional Water-Spouting Gargoyle and The Classic Grotesque
- 12 designs including the 2 practice projects and 10 more original patterns to try
- 350 photographs including over 100 meticulous close-ups of the step-by-step projects
- History and lore of gargoyles, grotesques, chimeras, and guardians, and the origins of each
- Helpful advice on choosing wood, carving tools, finishing techniques, achieving an authentic aged-stone look, and more
Craft a legendary architectural element for your home or garden!
Peering down from rooftops with their haunting, even humorous expressions, gargoyles have endured for centuries as architectural necessities designed to divert rainwater away from age-old buildings or—as legend has it—to ward off evil and protect the cathedrals, churches, and homes where they are perched! Today, these mysterious beasts are a popular carving subject for anyone looking to add primitive ornamentation in and around their homes, or simply as a form of artistic expression.
If you’ve ever wanted to carve a gargoyle, grotesque, chimera, or guardian, or just understand their differences, this unique step-by-step tutorial from renowned woodcarver Shawn Cipa will guide you from start to finish! In addition to being led through the entire carving and finishing process, you’ll also discover fascinating legends, lore, and symbolism about each of these mythical creatures, where surviving gargoyles can be found around the world, and the facts and conjecture surrounding their purpose and meaning.
Follow more than 200 step-by-step photos and instructions to create a Traditional Water-Spouting Gargoyle and a Classic Grotesque, mastering woodcarving skills along the way. Then, you’ll find 10 additional original patterns for rowdy characters, like the Crouching Imp and the Screaming Keystone Grotesque, that you can carve on your own, providing new challenges for experienced carvers. You’ll even find patterns for functional projects, like a gargoyle cane-topper, and a green man door knocker. Complete patterns and views of all sides are provided, along with advice on wood grain, tips for an artist’s approach, detailed close-ups, tricks for securing and mounting your work, and a gallery of gargoyles from around the world.
From chimeras to gargoyles, this 160-page guide to making mysterious figures will walk even beginning woodworkers through the entire carving process, including finishing techniques to fully capture the haunting and humorous expressions of these popular ornaments.
Learn all about the history of gargoyles and follow along to carve your own in wood, with Carving Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Other Creatures of Myth!
With the inspiration offered by the many engaging photographs of gargoyles in this book, and by following Shawn Cipa’s extremely lucid instructions, it is possible to create one’s own mesmerizing monster.
—Janetta Rebold Benton, Ph.D., Author of Holy Terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings
This is a must-have book for all gargoyle aficionados, not just for wood carvers.
—Walter S. Arnold, Stone Carver and President of the Stonecarvers Guild
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257 reviews for Carving Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Other Creatures of Myth: History, Lore, and 12 Artistic Patterns (Fox Chapel Publishing) 350 Photos, 2 Step-by-Step Projects, Woodcarving…
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$19.95
A. Martin –
The clear colour photos are really instructive. The book also builds on the prior projects in each chapter so that you’re not overwhelmed with tedious images of every cut made. This makes the book a great tutorial and guide as you learn and grow in confidence. It’s a good buy .
Amazon Customer –
great info
joey ramone –
Awesome book
wootens –
This book was great for a beginner like me. The history information was a very nice read and the projects are easy to follow and inspire confidence I have begun the project depicted on the cover and I am finding it the instructions easy to follow. This book has given me the confidence to explore creating my own projects.
ettore –
tecniche spiegate passo passo con ottime illustrazioni. soggetti belli e inusuali.
ad- studio –
soso
Anna H. –
I purchased this book for my father, a master cabinet builder and shop teacher who has started carving more delicate items as he nears retirement. It was a Christmas present that was mailed to my parents’ house, and I forgot to put a tag on the book to say whose gift it was. My mom opened it up, fell in love, and decided it was for her. My dad took a look, declared it must have been meant for him, and needless to say I got a phone call to be the tiebreaker! Definitely a lot of bang for my buck, as both parents have spent considerable time looking through the book and gleaning what they need out of it – now my dad has decided to give my mom carving lessons so she can make her own gargoyle. Heaven help us, lol!
dirk –
I love the book:
Starting with the nice cover ‘guy’ (the reason to choose the book) I dived into gargoyles history and carving.
The shown gargoyles are perfect carved and well documented with helpful carving and finishing tips and tricks.
You can take the book also as a guidance to carve other complex figures.
I started with watching the nice pictures and dreaming about ‘crazy creatures’ (-;
Next I made sketches of figures in the book and own ideas and started carving ‘small examples’.
The idea with the gargoyle cane is good!
I don’t miss more examples, the book gave me enough inspiration,…
i.e. to watch old buildings more careful to find funny things-
did you know, that the Cologne Cathedral (in Germany) got in the last century some gargoyles figures playing soccer?
(-;
It’s an inspiring book with great pictures, just made
to watch
to dream
to carve
(-;
Amazones X –
日本では見かけない、ガーゴイルやグロテスクの彫刻本。
製図付きの彫刻手順が１２種類、うち２種類はかなり詳しい制作手順の解説付き。
ガーゴイルやグロテスクの歴史の説明もあり面白い。実際に使われているガーゴイルの写真も沢山紹介されている。私は、ガーゴイルというのは建物に付ける単なる魔除けなのだと思い込んでいたのだが、この本を見て初めて『装飾雨どい』（多分、魔よけも兼ねている）なのだと知った。
何故か、名古屋城の金の鯱がアジアのグロテスクとして紹介されていて、ちょっと笑えた。
J Book –
I love just about anything written or filmed about wood carving or turning… so I’m kinda easy to please.
This is not one of those times. I was looking for a serious look on a different subject to try my hand at.
Most of this book met all my expectations. I took a very critical look at all aspects of this instructional manual. The first characters carving instructions were just right. I just wish EACH of the characters studied were “carved” in detail with photos, like the first one was.
I know everyone expects you to learn from the first effort and then carry on what you learned onto the next string of characters… however, I’m a little slow sometimes… so wish there was MORE instructions and photos to go with them.
What there was was perfect …. perfection can be increased……………
richuk8 –
As another reviewer mentioned, you will need a bandsaw to get the most out of this book. Whereas many books are filled with simpler carvings you can get around (with a jigsaw or chisels), with a couple of more advanced projects, these are mainly intricate 3D designs, that are blanked out by bandsaw in the book. There are a couple you can have a go at, but I think the rest would be difficult.
The book itself is full of beautiful photos and some very good designs. As I say, it is more intermediate than beginner, but will give you a great step up to more complicated projects when you’re ready for it (and serve as an excellent inspirational resource in the mean time). It also has a fairly lengthy (for this type of book) history about gargoyles, but once that is over you’re straight into the practical side.
Note: Be sure, also, to check out Chris Pye’s videos on his website. For about a fiver a month you can access a very good range of HD content, which I have found as helpful as anything else.
Oleksandr Hryhorchuk –
A great book
Jim Davis –
Excellent book of ideas and a few patterns for the intermediate and advanced carver. The author’s insights and techniques make the book a worthwhile addition to a carver’s library. The only shortcoming was small and that is that it has too few patterns.