Carving Figure Caricatures in the Ozark Style

Wood carving in the Ozark style is easy and fun when you follow professional carver Harold Enlow's directions. Using figures he has carved for his own collection in Dogpatch, Arkansas, he gives instructions and illustrations that cover every angle of carving figure caricatures.

He tells you how to go about selecting and preparing the wood, selecting the proper tools, sharpening the tools, using a mallet and band saw, roughing out a figure from a block, carving a head and face, and finishing your carvings. Then he presents explicit instructions for ten projects: a Missouri mule, a mountaineer, a hobo, a cowboy, a hill woman, Rufus and Sadie, Bootsie the cow, a banjo player, "Ozark Trail's End," and "Revenooers." Each project is illustrated in diagram form (front and usually profile) to make it easy to draw on the wood, and there are photographs of each completed project and some in intermediate stages. The general instructions are also illustrated copiously, and there are photographs of other completed carvings from the author's collection -- a total of 22 drawings and 47 photographs in all.

Whether you are an accomplished carver or just beginning, you will find these caricatures a delightful group and very easy to do. The projects are arranged in order of difficulty, and by the time you get to the last one, you will be ready to do your own designs and carve your own caricatures.