There is something magical about carving a face out of a stick or log and letting the wood itself decide the personality. That is the heart of wood spirits and greenman carvings. They are part forest guardian, part storyteller, and part technical practice piece for anyone who loves whittling and woodcarving.
Wood spirits are also incredibly forgiving. You can carve them rough and rustic or smooth and stylized. You can lean into knots, cracks, and bark, or carve a clean totem from a straight board. Every piece of wood holds a different character, which makes them the perfect ongoing project if you want to keep improving your carving skills.
If you are completely new to carving, it is worth reading through Wood Carving for Beginners and our guide to the Best Wood for Carving before you start. Once you are set up with a good knife, some basic safety gear, and a block or branch of soft wood, you are ready for your first spirit.
Below are seventeen inspiring wood spirit carving ideas, based on real carvings from the carving community, that you can adapt to your own style.
1. Bark-On Forest Spirit
Carving a spirit directly into a bark-covered stick is one of the easiest ways to get started. The bark frames the face and becomes part of the design, so you do not have to worry about perfect symmetry or smoothing every surface.
Start by sketching the nose and brow line, then carve down into the bark to reveal the lighter wood underneath. Let the bark form a natural hood or hairline. This type of carving is ideal for quick practice sessions, hiking sticks, or as a warm-up before more detailed work.
2. Deep-Grooved Greenman Totem
This greenman-style spirit uses long vertical grooves that run from the hair through the beard, giving it a strong tree-like look. The features are exaggerated rather than realistic, which keeps the carving fun and stylized.
Focus on getting a strong center nose, then pull the hair and beard down with V-cuts. You can keep it natural or tint it with diluted green and brown paint for a forest-guardian look. It is a great project if you enjoy rhythmic knife work and bold lines.
3. Weathered Spirit With Long Beard
This classic wood spirit has deep-set eyes, a long flowing beard, and a slightly worried, weathered expression. It looks complex, but you can build it step by step.
Block out the nose first, then carve the eye sockets and brow, followed by the cheeks and mustache. The beard can be done with repeated shallow cuts, following the flow of the wood grain. This is an excellent next step once you are comfortable with simple bark spirits and want more facial character.
4. Full-Body Elder Spirit With Hood
Instead of stopping at the shoulders, this design turns the spirit into a full robed figure. The hooded cloak frames the face while the body flows down into the base of the log.
You will learn how to keep proportions believable while still leaning into a stylized fantasy look. The folds of the cloak are forgiving, which makes it a gentle introduction to carving clothing on figures. If you enjoy this style, you might also like the ideas in Whittling Simple Human Figures.
5. Spirit Faces on Pencils
These carved pencils feature tiny spirit faces at the top, blending everyday objects with detailed carving. The pencil shafts give you space to extend flowing hair, simple robes, or leafy textures below the face. It is a fantastic project if you enjoy small-scale work and want practical, giftable carvings that people can actually use or display in a pencil cup.
6. Spirit Staff With Branch-Nose Detail
This clever wood spirit shows how much character you can get just by using the stick’s natural shape. Instead of carving a nose from scratch, the carver used a protruding branch as the nose and simply shaped the face around it.
The subtle eye and brow cuts plus the rough bark above make the spirit feel like it has grown out of the tree. A few knife strokes below suggest flowing feathers or a scarf, adding movement without over-carving the stick. It is a brilliant reminder to study your branch first and let the wood suggest the features.
7. Painted Santa-Style Wood Spirit
This cheerful wood spirit leans into a Santa look, with a tall red cap, white mustache, and orange beard all tucked inside a natural bark “frame.” Instead of carving deep features, the carver kept the forms fairly shallow and used bold paint to separate the hat, face, and beard.
The flat planes on the cheeks and mustache make this a very approachable project for beginners, while the strong color blocking shows how much personality you can get from simple shapes. It is a great reminder that you do not always need complex detail; a clean carving and confident paint job can do most of the storytelling.
8. Tall Stylized Spirit Totem
This tall, narrow spirit carving leans into strong vertical lines and symmetry. The face is stretched, the beard flows almost to the base, and the whole piece feels like a totem.
Because of the height, every cut shows. It trains you to work cleanly, think ahead about proportions, and keep the overall flow in mind. Leave it natural, stain it, or give it a subtle color wash. It displays beautifully on a shelf or mantel.
9. Branch-Form Spirit Using Natural Forks
Sometimes the best designs come from unusual pieces of wood. A branch with a fork, a split, or a big knot can be the perfect home for a wood spirit.
Instead of fighting the irregular shape, use it. Carve the face where two branches meet so the fork frames the cheeks, or let a crack become a dramatic hair part. Working this way helps you see possibilities in “ugly” offcuts and firewood. If you enjoy turning scrap into art, you will probably also like the variety of projects in 30 Weekend Whittling Projects.
10. Fiery Red Forest Spirit
Color can transform a carving. This fiery red spirit features wild hair and strongly shaded features that glow once stained.
After carving and sanding, apply a diluted red or orange stain, then deepen recesses with darker tones or thinned acrylic paint. The color emphasizes the knife marks in the hair and beard, bringing movement to the piece. This is a good project if you want to experiment with finishing techniques instead of leaving everything natural.
11. Thick-Browed Spirit Mask
Mask-style spirits have wider, flatter surfaces and more exaggerated features. Thick eyebrows, big noses, and heavy cheeks give them a friendly, cartoon-like charm.
These are perfect for practising carving expressive faces without worrying about full three-dimensional depth. You can hang them on the wall, mount them on a board, or turn them into decorative plaques. They are also an easy way to use short, flat offcuts.
12. Miniature Spirit on a Stick
Not every project needs to be large. This tiny spirit carved into a short stick or twig is a quick, satisfying pocket project.
Because the scale is small, you are forced to simplify. A few well-placed cuts for the nose, eyes, and mouth are enough to suggest a character. These are perfect warm-up pieces, and they make fun keychains or zipper pulls. If you enjoy miniatures, you might also like the pendant-sized ideas in 30 Small Carving Projects Perfect for Beginners.
13. Split-Wood Spirit With Dramatic Grain
Carved into a naturally split branch, this spirit uses the wood’s cracks to form a dramatic frame. The long beard and stern eyes emphasize the vertical flow. This project teaches you how to use natural defects as design elements instead of flaws.
This project works best when you keep the beard long and flowing so it echoes the vertical cracks. You can leave the split edges rough to contrast with the carved surfaces. It is a striking piece that shows how much design work the wood can do for you.
14. Ancient Spirit Emerging From a Knot
Knots can be frustrating when you are trying to carve something clean. For wood spirits, they are an opportunity.
Position the face around or above the knot so it looks like the spirit is emerging from the tree itself. You may need sharper tools and a little more patience to carve the harder knot wood, but the finished effect is worth it. The piece feels like it has grown that way over years rather than being carved in a weekend.
15. Rope-Twisted Wood Spirit
This unique wood spirit uses the look of coiled rope instead of leaves or vines. The carved strands wrap around the face and beard, giving the piece a knotted, nautical feel. Each rope coil has sharp ridges and deep grooves, which makes the texture stand out even from a distance.
This is a great project if you want to practise carving repeating patterns and clean, rounded channels. The twisted forms also challenge you to keep curves smooth and consistent as they spiral around the face. A light wash of color on the rope helps separate it from the spirit’s skin and beard, making the whole carving pop.
16. Mini Spirit Charms and Pendants
These tiny rectangular charms each hold a simplified spirit face: a brow line, nose, mustache, and beard. Their small size makes them perfect for pendants, keychains, or zipper pulls.
Because they are quick to carve, they are fantastic for experimenting with different expressions and beard patterns. They also make good practice pieces if you are working through a new knife or testing a finish. If you are building a small collection of everyday carry carvings, pair them with ideas from Whittling Dogs: 23 Charming Dog Carving Ideas.
17. Gentle Spirit With Painted Eyes
The final idea is a friendly, approachable spirit carved into a short log and finished with painted eyes. The long, simple beard keeps the carving accessible, while the eyes give it a surprising amount of life.
This project is ideal if you are still building confidence with facial anatomy. You can keep the carving itself subtle and let the paint do some of the heavy lifting. A soft wash of color on the beard or cloak can complete the look.
Tools, Wood, and Finishing Tips for Wood Spirits
You do not need a huge tool kit to start carving wood spirits. A good carving knife, a V-tool or small gouge, and a strop will carry you a long way. If you enjoy power carving, you can also bring in a rotary tool; the ideas in Amazing Dremel Project Ideas show how far you can push a small tool.
Basswood, lime, and other soft hardwoods are easiest for detailed faces. For rustic stick spirits, straight-grained branches of willow, poplar, or similar soft woods work well. Whatever you choose, seal and store it properly so it does not split; our guides on Seasoning Wood for Carving and How to Prepare Wood for Carving walk through the basics.
For finishing, you can keep things simple with a clear oil or wax, or experiment with stains and diluted acrylics to add subtle color. A little shading in the eye sockets and beard can make the spirit stand out without hiding the grain.
Final Thoughts
Wood spirits sit in a sweet spot between practice piece and artwork. They allow you to explore faces, texture, expression, and natural wood shapes without the pressure of strict realism. Every knot, crack, and curve suggests a different character, so you can carve dozens of them and never repeat the same idea.
Use the projects above as a springboard. Start with a simple bark-on face, then try a tall totem, a twisted leafy spirit, or a tiny charm. As your skills grow, you can push into more complex scenes, combine spirits with animals or human figures, or integrate them into furniture and walking sticks.
Most of all, let the wood talk back. The best wood spirits often appear when you stop fighting the grain and start listening to it.