Limestone elephant shallow relief

[Gargoyle]

My latest piece. Indiana limestone, 20 x 25" (about 50 x 64 cm). Maximum depth of relief 3/4" (2 cm).



arg.. I see in this photo it's hard to distinguish how the right front leg is behind the left front leg, it fades together. I'll have to check the stone again, make sure I differentiated them enough.

 

[glstrcowboy]

Very nice! How much of a problem are existing cracks and inclusions when cutting stone? Is it like wood where you get 2/3 of the way done and a crack opens up?

 

[Dave London]

Beautifully work, and I was complaining about background removal on a butt plate:beatup:

 

[Gargoyle]

Mike, you'll notice a calcite inclusion on the left side of the frame. Those can be hard and chippy, need to carefully cut across them with a sharp carbide chisel; they can chip or dull a tempered steel chisel. It's largely an issue of grade selection and knowing the quarries. This, like a lot of what I've been doing this fall, is using salvaged stone, scraps I pulled out of the dumpsters at stone mills or the scrap pile of a quarry. I tend to grab interesting looking pieces when I'm there selecting stone for job or picking up an order. Therefore, these are of mixed quality, more architectural grade than sculptural grade. A lot of it has been coarse grain, and it can pluck out when cutting across it.

This Tudor lintel I did last week is an example. Very coarse, large grains, surface could chip out or shatter under the chisel, so it wouldn't take sharp lines (what we call an arris, a clean crisp edge). Couldn't get smooth flowing lines to the leaves, so I had to simplify everything.

 

[Marrinan]

Thanks for sharing a tiny bit of your knowledge and your art with us. Much appreciated. Fred

 

[glstrcowboy]

And to think I complain about a homogenous medium like steel! That is cool stuff. Thank you for posting.

 

[Gargoyle]

natural materials- you never really know what is inside. I saw carvers work for weeks on a marble statue of a young girl, beautiful clear block of white marble, only to hit a black vein right across the eyes, like a raccoon face. Or work on a Madonna and hit a hidden open vein right across the chest that would cause it to break apart if set outdoors for a few years. It happens.

 

[sam]

Wonderful stuff, Walter. We're really fortunate to have a guy like you in the group.

 

[monk]

great stuff. i'm thinkin the "problem" with the legs is simply the lighting angle. the right leg is clearly seen.

 

[Gargoyle]

The back tusk was also too big, I shaved it down. Would that qualify as scrimshaw, since I was cutting the ivory?

 

[monk]

aint scrim whilst still on the critter ! just my thought.

 

[Beathard]

Interesting thought a live elephant with scrimshawed tusks? Cool.

 

[monk]

no ! too difficult to make em hold still !

 

[Gargoyle]

Installed Friday. The masons should finish the stone above it on Monday.

 

[sam]

You are THE MAN, Walter! I hope we can get a final shot once the building is completed.

 

[mrthe]

Wow very cool!

 

[Marrinan]

A winner and that's for sure. Fred

 

[Gargoyle]

Scaffolding around it so the masons can set the stone above, probably be next week before I can get a better shot of it.

 

[Tim Wells]

What Sam said both times. You are an inspiring artist in every sense of the phrase.

 

[KCSteve]

That looks very right there. You and the masons did a good job of making that wall look very nice.