The procedure of carving
- The artist will first start with the chasing hammer or adze and chisel, hewing out the rough form.
- For more detail the artist will go over it again and again with the finer chisels.
- (Necessary for hard stone only) The sculptor now uses a rasp and file to further smooth and shape the sculpture. The stone does not show it´s natural colours at this point.
- The next stage is to smooth the surface, this is achieved by using coarse to very fine grades of wet/dry water paper (sand paper). The colour and character of the stone is now becoming visible. The sculptor would have used up to 1200 or 1500 grit wet/dry water paper before deciding to apply any wax.
- The sculpture is now ready to receive the wax. The sculpture is placed close to a fire or artificial heating medium. During this process the sculpture must be turned many times so that it is heated evenly if not there is a possibility the sculpture may crack. Once it reaches the required temperature multiple layers of clear wax or beeswax can be applied.
- When cold the sculpture is buffed to remove any excess wax.
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