The Process of Stone Sculpture
In the direct method of stone carving, the work usually begins with the selection of a stone for carving, the qualities of which will influence the artist's choices in the design process. The artist using the direct method may use sketches but eschews the use of a physical model. The fully dimensional form or figure is created for the first time in the stone itself, as the artist removes material, sketches on the block of stone, and develops the work along the way.
On the other hand is the indirect method, when the sculptor begins with a clearly defined model to be copied in stone. The models, usually made of plaster or modeling clay, may be fully the size of the intended sculpture and fully detailed. Once the model is complete, a suitable stone must be found to fit the intended design. The model is then copied in stone by measuring with calipers or a pointing machine. This method is frequently used when the carving is done by other sculptors, such as artisans or employees of the sculptor.
Some artists use the stone itself as inspiration; the Renaissance artist Michelangelo claimed that his job was to free the human form hidden inside the block.
Read more about this topic: Stone Sculpture
Famous quotes containing the words process, stone and/or sculpture:
“Science and art are only too often a superior kind of dope, possessing this advantage over booze and morphia: that they can be indulged in with a good conscience and with the conviction that, in the process of indulging, one is leading the “higher life.””
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“Men admire the man who can organize their wishes and thoughts in stone and wood and steel and brass.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“You should go to picture-galleries and museums of sculpture to be acted upon, and not to express or try to form your own perfectly futile opinion. It makes no difference to you or the world what you may think of any work of art. That is not the question; the point is how it affects you. The picture is the judge of your capacity, not you of its excellence; the world has long ago passed its judgment upon it, and now it is for the work to estimate you.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)