Dales Countryside Museum Commission – Carving Progress

This page shows the stages of carving my sculpture  –  follow links below for other details about the commission

Sculpture Commission Process      Commission Brief      Design Statement      Grand Opening

Stages of Carving Aurochs

A block is selected at the quarry.

Once I got the block back to the workshop, the first job is to check the stone over – get to know it a little, and take off any loose or fractious material (so good clean, sound stone remains to carve).

Here I have chiselled off loose stone from the front of the block, to prepare a reasonably flat surface to begin carving.

A rough sketch of the Aurochs is drawn onto the stone so that I know where to cut the stone away, where I need to adapt the design and how the shape will fit the stone block with the right proportions.  I’m thinking too of rythm and pleasing shapes.

And work begins on carving out the rough shape, beginning with taking material away to define the shape.

As soon as a blocky shape begins to appear, I then redefine by drawing on the stone again.  Very soon, in the flurry of carving, with the dust and taking stone away, the drawn lines disappear  – so I am constantly putting lines back, re-drawing shapes and refining the outline.

And then I just keep chiseling!

These are exciting times, as the Aurochs is really beginning to ’emerge’ from the stone and take on its own life and personality.  I can feel the power and strength of the animal, imagine many in herds, and early man hunting them.  I want my carving to contain some of all of the history and everything I’ve learned about Aurochs.

It feels time that I worked on the face, more detail in the ears, nostrils, and eyes.

As the placing of details and refining of them is underway, I begin to want to smooth off and begin the process of creating the finished surface.  This involves a flat chisel, which works over the ridge marks left by the ‘claw’ or ‘scutch’ chisel.  When this is completed I rub the surface smooth with carborundum blocks and carbide paper until a fine finish is achieved.  This stone is a fine-grained sandstone, which enables a tight, even surface.

The rubbing down, and sanding smooth is a time-consuming and lengthy process.   My finger ends take some punishment and become sore and worn from the abrading.

I wanted the Aurochs to be smooth, and in contrast to this, wanted the background to have a texture – so I did a bit of smoothing and when my arms ached too much, switched jobs and put some texture in the background and kept alternating between the two until it was all done.

Then it was time to take it out of the workshop, hose it down to get rid of all the dust, and give it a sanding down whilst wet and refine all the lines.  The dry dust can hang around in corners and lines, making them look really sharp – until the stone is cleaned off with water, and then all the wiggles and errors show clear and stark.  This is also a long process, and sometimes lines have to be re-carved and shapes re-defined.  The colours, textures, and the grains and tones are all revealed too – the real stone’s own brightness shows clear and bold.  Having the sculpture outside also gives the opportunity of seeing it from a distance and I can walk round it freely, checking it works well from all angles and that the rythm and character are as intended.

And the last little job, of loading it onto the trailer and making the journey to Aurochs’ new home at the Dales Countryside Museum, Hawes for the Hidden Secrets Sculpture Trail.