Oil thoroughly, wipe dry, and rub long and patiently with a pine stick.
A motto, formed of Gothic letters, or a Gothic border, forms a good design for first attempts. Foliage should be kept until later.
It is a good plan to practice running lines with gouges and chisels until you have the same mastery over it that you would have over a pencil.
In this way you will become able to carve with a free touch, giving the element of originality which adds so much to the value of the work. Practice thoroughly on simple forms, such as ivy or oak leaves, before attempting more involved designs.
Beginners generally use black walnut, but oak, pear and apple woods are all beautiful. Lime or linden wood can be cut easily and then stained to any color. Any wood can be stained a dark walnut stain. Take a common umber, or Vandyke brown powder, mix it with beer or strong coffee; coat your wood well with it; rub it off when dry and repeat the process. If you wish it darker add a little lamp black and spirits. Oak may be darkened by washing it with strong soda water. The dyes for wood sold in paint stores are also as a rule very satisfactory. A good ebonizing process is as follows: Wash the article first with a strong decoction of logwood. Give three or four coats of this wash, letting each one get thoroughly dry. Then wash it with vinegar in which steel or iron filings or scraps have been steeping for some days. When dry, put on thin shellac with a soft cloth, thus giving it the dull polish of ebony.
When you first attempt foliage, get if possible a carved copy, or a plaster cast. Modelling the leaf in clay, leather, or papier maché will aid materially in learning to carve it. The hollows of the leaf should be very carefully cut away, or rather, to use Mr. Leland's words, "shaved away."
