Creating a convincing sense of weight or gravity in wood carvings is essential for bringing lifelike realism to your artwork. Here are the most effective techniques to achieve this illusion:

1. Strategic Undercutting: By carving deeper shadows beneath protruding elements, you mimic natural light and shadow patterns, enhancing the perception of weight.

2. Dynamic Composition: Position your carving at an angle or mid-motion, as gravity naturally affects objects in motion differently than static ones.

3. Textured Surfaces: Adding subtle texture to areas that would bear weight (like compressed fabric or strained muscles) visually implies pressure and mass.

4. Proportional Distortion: Slightly exaggerate the sag or bend in weighted areas (like a heavy branch) to emphasize gravitational pull.

5. Directional Grain Utilization: Follow the wood's natural grain to suggest tension lines where weight would naturally stress the material.

6. Balanced Negative Space: Leave calculated empty spaces around weighted elements to create visual "resistance" against gravity.

7. Multi-Angle Finishing: Apply different finish densities - glossier on tension points, matte on weight-bearing areas - to enhance dimensional perception.

Advanced carvers often combine these techniques with scale manipulation, where smaller supporting elements make central features appear heavier by contrast. Remember, the illusion of weight isn't just visual - it's psychological. Study how people interact with heavy objects (posture adjustments, grip changes) and subtly incorporate these human responses into your carved figures for unparalleled realism.

The key lies in observation: study how gravity affects objects in nature, from drooping flower petals to the way a tired animal's shoulders slump. Translate these natural weight manifestations into your wood grain, and your carvings will possess an undeniable gravitational presence.