Self-teach wood-carving/whittling figurines? How to start?

[Reinhart]

Hi all,

Recently the pace of life's getting a little slow, a little boring and I feel like picking up a hobby that I could just take time and develop whenever and wherever and won't really have to feel pressured into doing (like going to classes every week at some remote places 2 hours away).

Is there a way for me to self-teach myself wood-carving or whittling? (I personally don't believe you absolutely need a teacher, the very first teacher didn't have a teacher) What's the difference of the two? Are they more suitable for different shapes or objects you want to achieve with wood? I think I'm a little more interested in whittling, but I know little of the difference.

What kind of chisel or whittling knife should I use; are there a more universal one (so instead of having 15 different kinds I can just have 5)? Are there shapes or objects I should start out practicing like when you're just starting out drawing teachers would tell you to draw geometric shapes (square, triangle)?
My goal years down the road is to be able to carve figurines of...people, I guess. (NOT bed frames/wall frames/ceiling frames or whatever commercial application decoration stuff with ornamental shapes, this is a hobby for fun) The closest commercial application if you must - for the people who can't think outside of such framework - is probably those religious carvings from various religions of their saints, and gods; or just plain animal figurines as well.

So, what do you think? Thank you!