Bird Patterns

I recently received an E-mail from a beginning carver who wanted to know where he can find bird patterns so he can place them on a piece of wood. Also so he can get the size right for the bird.

This was a great question that isn't an easy one to answer. It may require a number of posts over time to cover the vastness of this question.

The first question I needed answered was, "What type of birds do you want to carve?".

Depending on what type of bird, there could be a lot of patterns available or none at all. Waterfowl for example, there are a wide range of locations to find good patterns: Pat Godin series of patterns, Keith Mueller (if you can find his book anymore), and so on. But, if you want to carve a rare songbird, then good luck, there may not be one around.

He did indicate that he recently subscribed to Wildfowl Carving Magazine. This magazine will have at least one pattern in each issue. Over time, you might see the pattern you want. Or, you could back-order an issue with the bird you are looking for. Speaking of Wildfowl Carving Magazine, some years ago I remember picking up a set of there Reference Guide books. Each book contain information on at least 5-7 birds along with a pattern to go with it. These books were grouped based on bird type (waterfowl, songbird, raptor, etc.).

My second question to him was "Where do you live?". If a person happens to live near a carving supply shop, then you simply go in and thumb through reference material until you find what you need. However, most people live some distance from a supplier so all we can do is look on-line and hope that the content is worth the money we will spend on a given book or pattern. Or, we attend a carving show that has a supplier or two on hand. This is most likely what most of us do.

In future postings on this topic I will discuss the pros & con's of using other peoples pattern, plus making your own pattern. I just finished making a pattern for a Western Screech Owl this week. Aside from taking a few days to make, you might be interested to know what I found when comparing other carvers patterns to each other.

If you have any additional side points on the topic of patterns feel free to let me know so I can include it with future postings.