Master Hand Carving Information

Hand Carved Doors, Gates and More

We hand carve - to your request - doors, gates, architectural elements, furniture, and much more.

At ArtFactory.com we offer master hand carving by our in-house master carvers to decorate your custom furnishings. Sculpted by hand, these unique designs are hand carved in world class fine art relief. Images can be inspired by your own ideas, or from photographs, paintings, drawings, historical relief items, or new design ideas created by our design engineers. Contact us to discuss your custom design ideas at 1-800-292-0008.

There is No Substitute for Direct, Fine Art Master Hand Carving

Master hand carving is the process of direct carving by "one master's hand only" (not gang carving or machine CNC) imposing a characteristic order on the forms of sculpture. The faces of the original block, slab, or cylinder of material can usually still be sensed, existing around the finished work as a kind of implied spatial envelope, limiting the extension of the forms in space, and connecting their highest points across space.

In a similar way, throughout the whole carving, smaller forms and planes can be seen as contained within implied larger ones. Thus, an ordered sequence of containing forms and planes, from the largest to the smallest, gives continuity to the work.

Works hand carved by this method are considered investment quality fine art, to world class collector standards.

Master hand carving in this fashion will yield the best return on investment, and pride of ownership over time. ArtFactory.com is proud to have in its direct employ, several of these master carvers. (Our 27 Level High Relief Hand Carving Process Creates Both Positive And Negative Levels.)

We Never Gang Carve or Indirect Carve, or Use Fast Process Methods

Master Hand Carving All of the great sculptural traditions of the past have used the direct method of carving, but in Western civilization during the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries it became customary for wood sculpture carvings to be produced by the indirect method. Some indirect methods include the copy of hand works, then molded in resin or plastics, then applied to wood in a more or less mechanical way by means of a CNC pointing machine. Also fast gang carving, usually used in foreign low paid countries, is another undesirable way to create a carving using several different hand techniques.

Usually the indirect carving was not done by the sculptor himself. At its worst, this procedure results in a carved copy of a design that was conceived in terms of clay or resin modeling. Although indirect carving does not achieve aesthetic qualities that are typical of carved sculpture, Rodin's marble sculptures, for example, are generally considered great works of art even by those who object to the indirect methods by which they were produced.

Indirect and gang carving has no appreciable value or fine art qualities.

The indirect method has been steadily losing ground since the revival of direct carving in the early 20th century, and today in the 21st century it is in general disrepute among carvers.

Master Hand Carving

Note: Fine art hand carvings should never be ordered if your project schedule doesn't allow for this labor intensive creative process. Hand carving is a true creative art process and cannot be rushed if the end result is to be of high expectation. For example: It usually takes a professional master carver, with over ten or more years experience, many weeks, months, or years of hand carving time to carve a wildlife wilderness theme on a 4' x 8' foot area with heavy detail, depending upon the subject matter.

Learn more about our custom doors, gates, furniture, lighting, and furnishings from ArtFactory.com:

For more information about our products, please contact us at 1-800-292-0008.