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Kutkh

Cedric Boyns carves a stylised raven spirit from the Russian Far East

Things you will need

Materials

  • Suitable PPE
  • Copy of side and front templates
  • Wood block (pear) 60 x 55x 100mm
  • Glues: hot-melt, contact and superglues
  • Masking tape
  • Offcuts of sheepskin
  • Multi-coloured Czech seed beads, size 6/0
  • Finish – sanding sealer and clear wax polish

Tools

  • Bandsaw
  • Small gouges – No.3and No.5, 3and 6mm
  • No.11fluters, 0.5-5mm
  • No.9, 10mm, gouge
  • No.1, 6mm, straight chisel
  • Small V-tool
  • Detail carving knife
  • Hand drill
  • Twist drill – 2mm
  • Riffler – ‘spoon and knife’
  • Abrasives – 100 grit down to 400 grit

Kutkh plan

This project has been inspired by a visit that I made to Petropavlovsk, the main city on the Kamchatka peninsular in the Russian Far East. I visited there as part of an expedition around the Pacific Ring of Fire a couple of years ago and was due to go back to the region in summer 2020 had the Covid crisis not intervened.

This area of the world is an amazing place. It was totally closed off to the rest of the world (including most Soviet citizens) for military reasons until 1989/1990, and can still only be accessed by air or sea. Like the Inuit peoples of the North West Pacific, the local indigenous peoples of the Russian Far East, such as the Koryaks and the Chukchi, have always worshipped the Raven spirit, which they call Kutkh in these parts (pronounced Koot-Cha). It appears in many of their legends as a key figure in creation, a fertile ancestor, a mighty shaman and a trickster. Kutkh is believed to have many interactions and altercations with other animals of the region, such as walrus and bears.

It is said that Kutkh created the peninsular of Kamchatka by dropping a feather. Although Kutkh is supposed to have given mankind things like light, fire, language, fresh water and skills such as net weaving, he is also of ten portrayed as a laughing stock, hungry, thieving and selfish. In its perceived contradictions, his character is similar to that of other trickster gods.

1. Make a copy of the front and side profile templates from the drawings and cut them out. Use these templates to draw the profiles on to the wood block. Cut out the side profile with the bandsaw and glue back the waste wood with blobs of hot-melt glue (or masking tape if you prefer)
2. Cut out the front profile with the bandsaw and remove all the waste wood
3. Starting with the head, use a suitable small shallow gouge (No.3, 6mm) to shape the main facial features of the beak as well as the top and back of the head region
4. Use a No.3, 10mm gouge to make appropriate stop cuts to isolate the sides of the beak from the back of the face
5. Pare away and round down the top and sides of the beak to leave it as shown
6, 7 & 8. Pare down the square edges of the body of the carving to achieve a rounded shape. The back is hollowed leaving the wings joined across the upper back as shown
7.
8.
9 & 10. Mark and cut in the wings on both sides. Isolate them with stop cuts (or by using a veiner if you prefer), and then pare away enough wood from around them to leave them proud of the surface as shown
10.
11 & 12. Mark the position of, and then cut in, the bottom decorative band with stop cuts using a 6mm straight chisel (or suitable shallow gouge if you prefer). Then remove the wood from around the band to make it stand proud from the rest of the body as shown. At the front it should be positioned to sit below the belly of the raven, which should protrude beyond it slightly
12.
13. The wood remaining below the band can now be shaped to form the feet. Sufficient wood is removed from the region in the middle at both front and back to separate the two feet

Adding the detailed features and decorations

14. Using a V-tool, carve in the gape of the beak
15. Separate the tongue from the lower mandible using a No.11, 2mm fluter
16. Finish off the base of the beak with a vertical cut with a No.2, 2mm fluter as shown
17. Cut in the eye sockets and round over the eyeballs using a No.5, 3mm gouge. A horizontal groove across the upper part of the eyeball conveys the desired sinister expression on the raven’s face. This was done with a No.2, 0.5mm fluter. Cut in the nostrils as shown using a V-tool or suitable small veiner/fluter
18. Add some ‘feather’ texturing to the back of the head with a No.11, 2mm fluter
19 & 20. The decorations in the centre of the breast and around the band and the feet were cut in with a No.11, 5mm fluter, and those on the wings with a No.9, 10mm gouge
21. The carving can now be sanded through the grits to 400 grit and given a coat of sanding sealer. I also used a riffler to smooth the less accessible parts. I masked off the area where the fur collar was to be glued on beforehand to help ensure a better bond
22. A small strip was cut to size from an off cut of the sheepskin and glued around the collar using contact adhesive. The decorative coloured beads used were Czech seed beads obtained from a hobby centre. They were strung on to a short length of thin leather thong cut from a bare section of the sheepskin off cut, after which a simple knot was put in one end. Two thongs were produced for the breast, each with three beads, and a single thong for the head, which had seven beads
23. A small (2mm) hole was drilled centrally in the top of the head as well as just above the breast decoration
24. The thongs were then glued in with a small drop of superglue. Their positioning can be seen in the final photo
25. The final finish can now be applied. I used two coats of clear wax polish buffed up with a soft cloth. The final carving should look something like this

Further reading

Carving a Viking Dragon Head

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