Relief Carvings

Welcome to the Relief Carving Gallery

 Click through the gallery  below to view a sample of relief carvings completed by Dylan.  Some of the carvings were created on commission while others were designed for use in his learning seminars.  When completing a relief carving of an actual place or building, Dylan typically works from photographs, but if photos are not available, he creates a custom drawing utilizing all available reference materials.

 Dylan likes to refer to relief carving as carving in 2.5 dimensions.  Rather than having the three dimensions of length, width, and depth visible at different angles on real-life objects, relief carvings focus on depth and texture to give the appearance that the object is 3-dimensional.

There are four different types of relief carving:

  • Bas (Low) Relief – The depth of the elements in the carving are extremely compressed.
  • Mezzo (Middle) Relief – Elements are not as compressed as in Bas-Relief and may be undercut.
  • Alto (High) Relief-focal areas may have 50% or more of their actual depth and some elements will be undercut.
  • Pierced Relief – The artist carves completely through the wood in places, leaving open areas within the piece.
Look in the Gallery of Busts, Portraits and Woodspirits to see some examples of the Portrait reliefs that Dylan as done.