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Carving a King Penguin

Cedric Boyns whittles a magnificent bird in courting pose

Wooden penguin sculpture.

I have had an interest in the wildlife of the polar regions of the world since my first visit, which was an expedition to Antarctica in 1992. I was particularly fascinated by the colonies of thousands of penguins that I was able to see at very close range. This experience sparked a desire to make more visits to both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, which I have since been able to do.

The magnificent king penguins come ashore to breed, often forming huge colonies, on the beaches of a number of Sub-Antarctic islands, and one of the more accessible of these is the island of South Georgia where over 40% of the world population breeds each year. One of the larger colonies is on Salisbury Plain where around 160,000 pairs raise their young. To raise their single chick takes over a year, so king penguins are only able to produce two chicks every three years. It is therefore possible to see chicks in all stages of their development at any one time in the nesting colony.

My latest cruise included a visit to the Falkland Islands where there is an expanding colony of around 1300 pairs at Volunteer Point, which I was hoping to see.

I therefore thought a good whittling project for the trip would be a king penguin. I have plenty of my own photographs of many species of penguins I have seen in the wild, and plenty of material to use in producing my design. I prepared a blank for this carving before we left (along with several more of other penguins, as well as dolphins and whales). This carving was completed with a six-bladed carving jack (Flexcut) and a 5mm scorp, with a few finishing touches added when I returned home.

Things you will need

Tools & materials

Preparation of blank:

  • Suitable PPE and dust extraction
  • Side and front view templates of the penguin
  • Block of lime 190 x 70 x 60mm
  • Hot-melt glue
  • Bandsaw and handsaw

Carving and finishing:

  • Carving jack– Flexcut six-bladed
  • 5mm scorp
  • Slip strop with polishing compound for honing blades of above
  • Abrasive sheets 100-400 grit
  • Homemade ‘eye’ punch
  • Mini detail knife
  • No.11, 0.5mm veiner
  • Clear wax polish

Penguin carving plan

King Penguin side and front profile dimensions.

Preparing the blank

Penguin shapes being cut from wooden blocks and templates.
1. Make a copy of the front and side profile templates from the drawings. Use these templates to draw these profiles on to the block. Cut out the front profile first using the bandsaw with a suitable narrow blade, and remember to cut the two slits to isolate the two flippers. Glue back the waste with small blobs of hot-melt glue
Bandsaw cutting wood.
2. Cut out the side profile
Wooden sculpture in progress with carving knife.
3. Gently prise off all the waste wood and you can then sketch back the main features of the penguin on to the block when needed. The accurate positioning of the flippers on the side profile should be done before they are shaped
Close-up of a wooden board with a cut notch.
4. The two feet can be separated with a cut using a handsaw, but be careful not to cut into the tail region behind

The whittling process

Hands carving wood with a small knife.
5. I started shaping the upper body, rounding the square edges up towards the head. For this I used the detail knife blade on the carving jack
Person carving wood with sharp knife.
6. This process was continued to produce the rounded shape as shown in the photo. I decided to leave the detailed shaping of the head and beak to the end as I felt it would be easier to get the proportions correct
Close-up of wood carving with a small knife.
7. Wood was then removed up to close to the marked lines of the outsides of the flippers, to isolate them at the sides of the body. I made the cuts directed towards the ends of the flippers, both with push cuts using the detail knife for the front side of the right flipper and the back side of the left flipper
Close-up of wood being carved with knife.
8 & 9. I then made pull cuts using the hook knife or the scorp for the opposite sides. Final finishing can be done later
Carving wood with hook knife tool close-up.
Close-up of hands carving wood with knife.
10. Further rounding of the body can be continued by also removing some wood from under the flippers to achieve the correct rounded shape from the breast around to the back of the body, continuing up towards the head, and including the tops of the flippers
Person carving wooden object with a knife.
11. Once you’re happy that the proportions of the upper body are correct, the flippers can be finished by refining their shape to the lines, and also by reducing the thickness towards their ends. (This step can be left until later if preferred)
Close-up of wooden carving under blue sky.
12 & 13. The lower part of the body can now be shaped. The tail needs to be reduced from the sides. I used the hook knife blade for this
Person carving wood with chisel.
Hands carving wood with a knife.
14. The thighs need to be shaped…
Close-up of hand carving wood with a gouge.
15 …then separated down the middle using the 5mm scorp (or the straight gouge on the carving jack)
Hand carving wood with a knife.
16 The wood between the feet must be removed carefully
Close-up of hand carving wood with a small knife.
17. The legs and feet can then be formed. Be careful when shaping the feet as the grain is not running along them so they are more liable to break off
Carving wood with hand tools close-up.
18. The tapering needs to be done in a direction from the ends of the toes towards the legs, again to avoid breaking away the toe region
Close-up of wood carving in progress.
19. The toes can be isolated with shallow stop cuts to the ends of the feet…
Close-up of wood carving with knife.
20. …and shallow V-cuts on the tops of the feet as shown
Hand carving wood with detail knife.
21 & 22. I left the shaping of the head and beak until towards the end. It is important to consider the direction of the grain, which is shown by the arrows. Cuts will need to be made in both directions as shown in the photos. Special care will need to be taken when carving the end of the beak, again taking note of the direction of the grain
Carving wood with a small knife.
Close-up of hands carving wooden sculpture.
23. It is then possible to make any adjustments to the shape of the body. I felt that some refining of the shape of the flippers was needed, as shown
Sanding wooden object by hand for smooth finish.
24. I decided to sand the penguin through the grits to 600 to give it the sleek look that is characteristic of this courting pose
Carving tool shaping wooden bird figure.
25. I used a homemade punch to put the simple eyes in position. This punch is made from a 4in nail by grinding the point flat and then drilling a shallow hole in the end
Close-up of metal file tool on wooden surface.
26. As a result of carefully grinding or filing around outer edges, a circular punch is made, which can be pushed into the wood to create the eye
Hand carving wooden bird sculpture.
27. A line can be scored along the sides of the beak to create the mouth. This can be done with a detail knife. (A mini-detail knife is easier if you have one)
Hand carving wooden figurine details.
28. A few tiny grooves can be applied to the bottom of the thighs and the tail with a No.11, 0.5mm veiner if you wish
Wooden penguin figurine held with ocean background.

Hand holding wooden penguin carving against blue background.

29a & 29b. The finished penguin can have a couple of coats of clear wax polish applied, buffed up with a soft brush or cloth, and should look something like this

Wooden penguin sculptures on a blue background.
30. There is huge scope for varying the design of this penguin project and I include a couple of other whittled carvings that I have completed to illustrate this
Colony of king penguins with snowy mountains in background
31. The vast king penguin colony on Salisbury Plain, South Georgia
A large colony of king penguins on land.
32. The smaller colony at Volunteer Point, Falkland Islands

Further reading

How to Carve an Owl

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