Wood Spirits and Green Men: A Design Sourcebook for Woodcarvers and Other Artists [Paperback]

Lora S Irish (Author), Chris Pye (Author), Shawn Cipa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

The 40 patterns included in this guide for carving green men and wood spirits out of wood are appropriate for carvers of all skill levels. A recent term for a loose archetype—usually the head of a man within nature or a man as part of nature—the green man can be documented as early as A.D. 30 as a Roman architectural accent. The patterns show the green man in his wide range of emotions—happy, sad, miserable, or mischievous—with descriptions of how the wood spirit is anchored to nature not by the imagery of leaves and foliage but by the media on which he is depicted. The wood spirit walking stick patterns show realistic human faces that appear out of the bark or grain of the wood branches or logs in which they are being carved.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lora S. Irish is the author of Great Book of Dragon Patterns, Landscapes in Relief, and North American Wildlife Patterns for the Scroll Saw. She lives in Mt. Airy, Maryland. Chris Pye writes for Woodcarving Magazine and is the author of Elements of Woodcarving and Relief Carving in Wood. Shawn Cipa is a professional woodcarver whose work has been featured in Wood Carving Illustrated. He is the author of Carving Folk Art Figures. He lives in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565232615
• ISBN-13: 978-1565232617
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #838,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lora S. Irish is the author of Landscapes in Relief and Wildlife Carving in Relief. She lives in Mt. Airy, Maryland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wood Spirits and Green Men: A Design Sourcebook for Woodcarvers and Other Artists, August 1, 2005

By 

Cait (Kelso, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wood Spirits and Green Men: A Design Sourcebook for Woodcarvers and Other Artists (Paperback)

I'm not skilled at woodcarving, but I have to tell you...these patterns are so clear, so easy to follow, that they lend themselves to nearly any medium! Clay, lost wax casting models, needlework, woodburning decorations, painting inspirations, even stained glass, which is my business. Bravo, Lora Irish! Thank you for sharing!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource, December 8, 2006

By 

T. Krolick "tom149" (Naperville, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wood Spirits and Green Men: A Design Sourcebook for Woodcarvers and Other Artists (Paperback)

I wanted to carve some wood spirits for walking sticks. I had some 1.25 inch dowels to practice with. I checked this book out of the local library, and was able to carve a decent wood spirit on my first try. The "practice" wood spirits ended up looking good enough to finsish and keep for display, even though I had never carved anything before. So if you are a new carver, or even an experienced one, this book will give you plenty of patterns, illustrations, and descriptive text to make wood spirits. I will be buying a copy soon so that I can keep it on hand.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Woodspirits, July 11, 2006

By 

Joan L. Baril "crazy carver" (Citra, Fl. USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wood Spirits and Green Men: A Design Sourcebook for Woodcarvers and Other Artists (Paperback)

If you are into wood spirits, spirit canes, or green men this is the book for you. Lots of patterns, good instructions.