High Relief Carving

High relief carving (alto-relief) is a relief style where subjects project dramatically from the background—often more than half their depth—creating bold shadows and near-sculptural depth.

For beginners, high relief is an exciting challenge. You’ll remove a lot of background wood, establish multiple depth planes, and use undercuts to pop features forward. Planning is everything: start with a side profile sketch, mark high and low levels, and sneak up on final depth in stages to avoid breaking delicate parts.

BeaverCraft recommends a small set of sharp gouges (U- and V-profiles) plus a detail knife for edges and undercuts. Work with the grain where possible, and keep tools stropped—clean edges leave crisp facets that read well in strong light. Basswood is ideal for a first high-relief plaque thanks to its fine, forgiving grain.

As confidence grows, you can add texture (fur, feathers, fabric folds) and refine shadows to increase drama. With BeaverCraft tool sets and step-by-step tutorials, newcomers can approach high relief methodically and achieve striking, dimensional results.