Netsuke Carving eBook

[WCraig]

Thanks for the kind words, everybody. I hope the book is useful and enjoyable.

 

Doug,

 

I thought about selling it, but decided the little money it was likely to bring in versus the pain and agony of burning CDs and mailing, international customs agencies, shipping and currency exchanges just wasn't likely to compute. I've approached publishers in the past, to startlingly little interest. A few years back I applied for a grant from my state arts commission to put it into print and was told it was just too "esoteric" an issue. Surprising to me, considering the weird stuff they did provide grants for that year.

 

Hence, I just decided a free download would be the best way to get the information into the real world, for real people. Netsuke have provided me with a lot of enjoyment over the years, a lot of really great carvers, collectors and dealers have provided help and advice to me, free of charge or obligation, so I figured I should try to pay something back to the world. Maybe if there was a little more of the sort of helpful attitude we carvers experience in our little groups, the world wouldn't be the sewer it is. Sorry for the rant...

 

Great teachers are to honored, thank you for sharing your knowledge Maestro

[Don Barnhill]

Tom,

 

I just went to your site and I love the netsuke. Especially the frogs. I desperately want to download the book, but on dial up it would take hours. Oh well, maybe one day.

Thanks for sharing. Beautiful work my friend.

 

Don

[tsterling]

Tom,

 

I just went to your site and I love the netsuke. Especially the frogs. I desperately want to download the book, but on dial up it would take hours. Oh well, maybe one day.

Thanks for sharing. Beautiful work my friend.

 

Don

 

Thanks, Don. I might suggest you start the download and then go to bed. The computer doesn't mind working all night, and while they may go to sleep, they never get sleepy!

[Janel]

I think that is what I did, at 26,400 bps.

[sebastiaan56]

Thanks for creating this book Tom, It is an amazing resource! Ive downloaded and gazed at the beauty in it. Now all i have to do is get something going! but as a total newb it is going to take some time

[tsterling]

Thanks for creating this book Tom, It is an amazing resource! Ive downloaded and gazed at the beauty in it. Now all i have to do is get something going! but as a total newb it is going to take some time

 

You're welcome! I hope it helps you in your carving quest....

[Woodworm]

As you all know I am not a Netsuke carver.

But I so do enjoy what I see here.

First off , Tom, like Janel I may have great difficulty downloading due to my dial-up, but I will try persue by other means.

Also, I would agree with you on your coment on the world being a better place, if only --- if only.

But I would like to add , Tom, with your offer to gift your hard labors to those who have interest , well , the world has just become a much better place.

Your gesture of kindness has placed a bit of "global glow" out there.

 

Netsuke police ??? Drilling ??? I am sorry, I do not understand why anyone would do such a thing or what empowers them to do so.

Were you and Janel joking???? As I am for most just a very curiouse visitor here what am I not understanding?

 

Bill

[Janel]

Hi Woodworm,

 

YES! We were joking! But my peers did point out that I made work that could be netsuke but had no himotoshi (cord holes to make them function as netsuke) and brought these to the netsuke convention. One described her urge to just take her drill and zip zip, make the himotoshi, simple to do.

 

So, the netsuke police were our netsuke carving peers, and the crime was making netsuke-like carvings and bringing them to the netsuke collectors convention. No harm or himotoshi drilling was committed, but a point was made by more than one carver in attendance. It was good humor, but it was also serious in content. Tom has been there, so he understood what I was writing about.

 

My apologies for making you concerned.

 

I brought real netsuke this last convention and have seen the error of my ways .

 

Janel

[Mibeck]

Hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think about it…

 

 

Thank You for making this accessible!

 

I really enjoyed reading this book!

 

 

+MILES

[Guest Clive]

Hi Woodworm,

 

YES! We were joking! But my peers did point out that I made work that could be netsuke but had no himotoshi (cord holes to make them function as netsuke) and brought these to the netsuke convention. One described her urge to just take her drill and zip zip, make the himotoshi, simple to do.

 

So, the netsuke police were our netsuke carving peers, and the crime was making netsuke-like carvings and bringing them to the netsuke collectors convention. No harm or himotoshi drilling was committed, but a point was made by more than one carver in attendance. It was good humor, but it was also serious in content. Tom has been there, so he understood what I was writing about.

 

My apologies for making you concerned.

 

I brought real netsuke this last convention and have seen the error of my ways .

 

Janel

 

Whats funny about those sad souls who bang on about himotoshi is that they don't realise that a very high number of the great netsuke by some of the most famous carvers actually left the masters studio without those silly little holes... they where often carved later often by inferior craftsmen working for the Wasai-shi or the Inro/Ivory merchant.

[Woodworm]

Thanks Janel, pardon my lack of knowledge and for being horrified at he thought of drilling holes into some of the works here.

Hope you all get a chuckle out of this one (I am now). (Insert little red face here). LOL and all that.

 

Have a good weekend folks.

 

Bill

[Janel]

Hi Bill,

 

Now that you mention it, those unfamiliar with netsuke (majority of the population at large) but who have enjoyed the small sculptural aspect of the things seen here and there, ought to be a bit surprised by talk of drilling holes in them! When you see the real thing with holes or himotoshi, it seems okay, but when I am about to put the holes in it always feels a little upsetting because they will not be used as netsuke most likely these days. So I try to use natural placement, hiding them in parts of the design. Or as in the past, avoiding them altogether. Sometimes it ruins the piece, as with one lately that is out of the queue now. I have little confidence when doing himotoshi, having never been shown directly how different versions are done. We carvers all are so far apart and when together we are not carving, so no demos, just descriptions given a week or three from being able to apply the new knowledge.

 

Thank you for your bravery in sharing the horror of drilling holes... It is a good topic for discussion now and then!

 

Janel

[MikeG]

Thanks Tom,

I'm sure that I'll learn a lot from your book.

Cheers

Mike.

[tsterling]

You're welcome, Mike! Hope you enjoy it.

[Mike Ruslander]

Tom,

Many thanks for your painstaking work and generosity in providing your ebook. I'm perusing it as I post this "thank you" for providing it.

I have looked at this site:

http://www.lulu.com/publish/books/?cid=nav_bks

for a while thinking that it might be a good way to produce some limited edition books of my knives and art for friends or interested customers. I thought I'd provide the link in case you or anyone else here wish to look into it for any publication needs that you might have in the future.

Thanks again, Tom.

-Mike

[tsterling]

Thanks for the link, Mike, and I hope the book helps with your carving. I just tried the self-publishng calculator - interesting little exercise.

[Kevin Patrick Kelly]

It’s finally done! Thank goodness…turned into sort of a love/hate thing.

 

I finally finished my eBook on how to carve netsuke (at least how I do it…). It’s been two years (actually 10 years, including the first version) in the making.

 

The book is 361 screen sized pages in length, 18 megabytes, in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, and free.

 

You can find the link on the front page of my web site: My Webpage

 

Hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think about it…

 

Tom, I've just joined this forum and while browsing came across your netsuke book.

I down loaded and thought I'd spend a few minutes looking it over. I got sucked in for the entire afternoon.

 

It's a very accomplished book and you're most generous to do it and offer your work to others.

It has generated enthusiasm on my part to find my praying mantis images.

 

You may know of this but if not, "hxtal" an epoxy that conservators use.

One other thing I also enjoyed your celtic device and tried to contact Cheryl Samuel to get her 'celtic line drawing' book.

Do you have any info?

Thanks

Kevin

[Kevin Patrick Kelly]

It’s finally done! Thank goodness…turned into sort of a love/hate thing.

 

I finally finished my eBook on how to carve netsuke (at least how I do it…). It’s been two years (actually 10 years, including the first version) in the making.

 

The book is 361 screen sized pages in length, 18 megabytes, in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, and free.

 

You can find the link on the front page of my web site: My Webpage

 

Hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think about it…

 

Tom, I've just joined this forum and while browsing came across your netsuke book.

I down loaded and thought I'd spend a few minutes looking it over. I got sucked in for the entire afternoon.

 

It's a very accomplished book and you're most generous to do it and offer your work to others.

It has generated enthusiasm on my part to find my praying mantis images.

 

You may know of this but if not, "hxtal" an epoxy that conservators use.

One other thing I also enjoyed your celtic device and tried to contact Cheryl Samuel to get her 'celtic line drawing' book.

Do you have any info?

Thanks

Kevin

[tsterling]

Hi Kevin,

 

Glad you're enjoying the book. I have a simple celtic line drawing tutorial (free) you might be interested in, so if you PM me your email address, I'll send you a copy.

 

Tom

[Cornel]

Hello Tom,

 

I was reading your e-book and I am really astonished about all the techniques and ideas

wich You have developed and published. I could already give your link to people wich

are interested to learn more about the art of netsuke carving.

By the way, I am always delighted about your fantastyc metalwork and sculptures

 

Thank You for your work and help !!!

 

Much fun with new ideas,

 

Cornel

[tsterling]

Hello Cornel,

 

Good to hear from you. I'm glad you liked my eBook - I really enjoyed producing it. Hopefully your friends will find it useful.

 

Glad you like my little excursion into metal - I'm enjoying it very much.

 

Tom

[E George]

Hi Tom,

 

I downloaded your wonderful book last week. Thank you for writing and publishing it. It is great to see all the TCP members who have made use of your hard work.

 

I am not a Netsuke carver; however, I have carved some small pieces that I've made into pins and bolo ties. So, the concepts in your book are very useful to me. I find the great variety of design in Netsuke a great resource in itself; netsuke with or without the holes is an amazing art.

 

This is the first eBook that I have acquired. I like the fact that you can click on an item in the table of contents and presto you are at that page. It doesn't get any better than that.

 

Also, thank you for your military service.

 

Thanks again for your wonderful book.

[tsterling]

You're welcome! Hope the eBook is helpful.

 

Tom

[Christophe]

Hi,

I just donwload it and take a quick look at it......woaw, congratulation and THANK's to you for sharing all this information.

In a time where capitalism seems to be the fashion, for someone to give so much information for free.......I'm simply amazed and hope life will treat you good. Many many thanks.

[tsterling]

Hi,

I just donwload it and take a quick look at it......woaw, congratulation and THANK's to you for sharing all this information.

In a time where capitalism seems to be the fashion, for someone to give so much information for free.......I'm simply amazed and hope life will treat you good. Many many thanks.

 

You're welcome, Christophe. Hope it's of use.