Woodcarving – 6 weeks

Start Date: Sunday 22/02/2026 (Weekly)

Time: 10:30am

Duration: 2.5 (total 15 ) hrs

Price: £320.00

Ability: All Welcome

Tutor: David Whetton

Tickets Available: 4

About this course

Introduction

This course offers a practical introduction to wood carving using traditional hand tools. Working with native lime wood, you will explore the qualities of wood as a material and learn two fundamental carving approaches: cut-out carving and low relief. The emphasis is on understanding process, developing skill, and working confidently with tools rather than on a fixed subject.

Course Overview

Wood is a rewarding natural material, responding generously as we learn how to work with it rather than against it. This course introduces essential tools and techniques that form the foundation of wood carving, helping you decide how you might wish to develop your practice further.

You will choose from a simple range of subject matter—natural or decorative forms—suitable for either cut-out or low-relief carving. The simplicity of the designs allows you to focus on core skills: understanding form in three dimensions, reading the grain of the wood, and learning how centuries-old tools can shape it effectively.

Week 1 – Materials and Tools

  • Introduction to wood: characteristics of different species and why lime wood is particularly suited to carving
  • Sourcing and preparing carving wood
  • Introduction to carving tools, exploring their varied shapes and uses
  • Sharpening and maintaining gouges and chisels to keep them safe and effective

Week 2 – Preparing the Work

  • Cutting and preparing a wood block to suit your chosen design
  • Selecting and transferring a design using prepared templates and reference material
  • Beginning the carving by establishing the outline using chisels and a mallet

Week 3 – Developing the Form

  • Removing background material for low relief or shaping around the form for cut-out carving
  • Using shallow gouges to work back to the outline
  • Learning how to secure your work safely using clamps or a vice

Week 4 – Shaping

  • Identifying the main forms and contours of your subject
  • Working from larger shapes towards smaller ones
  • Using reference material to guide decisions as drawn lines are gradually carved away
  • Understanding the importance of sharp tools and controlled cutting

Week 5 – Depth and Undercutting

  • Introducing undercutting where appropriate to increase depth and definition
  • Refining edges and enhancing the sense of lightness or separation from the background

Week 6 – Refinement and Detail

  • Refining the overall form
  • Adding surface detail where appropriate to support the main shapes
  • Reviewing how small details contribute to the strength and clarity of the finished carving

Conclusion

This course is intended as a starting point. The skills you develop—tool control, material understanding, and spatial awareness—can be taken in many directions, from decorative relief carving to sculptural or expressive work. Whether you choose to deepen your practice in a studio or explore carving in other contexts, this course provides a solid foundation.

What Do I Need to Bring?

All materials and tools required to complete the workshop are provided.

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Reviews

“Taking the time to learn in the inspiring environment of Colne Road Studios was such a treat! The group was welcoming and supportive and Rachel is an extremely talented and generous teacher, sharing her skills and knowledge to give us fresh perspectives and a wealth of useful advice and feedback. I felt my ability and interest in drawing had been revived after many years dormant, learning how to observe as well as how to draw. I would encourage anyone willing to pick up a pencil to have a go, and have already signed up to Rachel’s next course!   “CB  March 2025

‘I decided to do the Drawing for Beginners class at Colne Road Studios as I have recently started painting for the first time since school and felt that doing a beginner drawing class would aid me with this in looking at image and form.  That and the fact that I hadn’t picked up a pencil to draw since I was a teenager.   The course exceeded my expectations.  The group were lovely and from very different backgrounds – some beginners, some already dabbled, and a couple were professionals who used drawing in differing forms in their careers.  Rachel Labovitch is an exceptional tutor.  She is informative in her teaching approach bringing in examples of other artists as we went along meaning that new or well-known works of art were discussed and techniques explored.  She is positive, supportive and very encouraging.   I left each class feeling inspired and even did ‘homework’ during the week to practice what I’d learnt – something I didn’t do at school.  I would highly recommend this course to anyone and everyone – if you think you can’t draw, you’ll be proved wrong and you’ll start to notice the world around you with fresh eyes.’  LA Feb 2025

 

Can I park nearby ?

A CPZ is in force from Mon to Sat 8.30 – 6.30pm
Limited paid spaces available in surrounding roads with Ring Go cashless Parking

Max stay 4 hours during operational hours

Holly Road Car park, behind Marks & Spencer TW1 4HF

Mon to Sat – 8am to 6.30pm.
This car park is accessible and free to park in outside of these hours. Max stay 4 hours during operational hours – walking to the Studio approx 9mins

Are your courses just for adults or do you offer any courses for children ?

At the moment the courses at Colne Road Studios are designed for adults over the age of 18 . The aim is to create a relaxed  environment, provide  a bit of an escape and switch off from every day responsibilites. We are not able to accommodate children in our classes, nor do we provide children’s classes at this time.

Enrolment deadline

To secure a course, please book at least 8 days before the listed course start date.

Any course with no bookings 8 days prior to it’s start date will then be removed from the website .

Courses with fewer than 3 participants may be cancelled, with 5 days’ notice given to those who had enrolled.

You will be notified by email if this happens, unless you would like us to text you  instead, but please let us know.
A refund for the full course value will then be made.
Please bare with us .    This might take 5-10 days to come through.

Where is my course taking place ?

100 Colne Road Twickenham TW2 6QE. map ref

WHAT3WORDS : location kind.cook.honest

What is your refund policy?

All of our longer courses are exchangeable up until 28 days prior to the start of the course. After this, you are able to change your booking to a different course for a £20 admin fee. Please note that from 14 days prior to the start of the course, your booking is non-refundable and non-exchangeable.

Our refund policy is strict because it enables us to pay ourselves and our tutors a fair wage, and remain accessible as a studio.
Every time we are asked to to accommodate a refund request, we would be forced to lower our staff wages or increase our prices – both of which we really want to avoid. We hope you understand that this is why there are no exemptions to our refund policies.

What if the course is cancelled by Colne Road Studios ?

Courses with fewer than 3 participants may be cancelled, with 5 days’ notice given to those who had enrolled.

You will be notified by email if this happens, unless you would like us to text you instead, but please let us know.
A refund for the full course value will then be made.
Please bare with us . This might take 5-10 days to come through.