Sculpting Stone

22/02/2021

It's always a treat to see this bust by Benedetto da Maiano (1442–1497) when visiting Florence's Bargello Museum.  The portrait of Pietro Mellini, a wealthy merchant, exhibits a remarkable capacity to render difficult details in marble such as short hair and older skin folds and texture.  Da Maiano was known to first create terra-cotta models, which he would use as a reference when carving the marble.
It is no trivial job to accurately carve wrinkles: they are not simply incisions across the surface; each curve, depression, valley and line has its own character and change of velocity.  Only keen and repeated observation and study of skin can teach a figurative sculptor how it "behaves" when young, old, under tension, relaxed, etc.

15/11/2020

Tune in for a fun live chat with and tomorrow at 5:30 PM EST. We will be chatting about various topics related to stone carving while enjoying a glass of our favorite whiskey. Grab a drink of your choice and join us tomorrow! Make sure to bring your questions. The link to this event is in our bio. ⚒

17/10/2020

Hello! We both hope that you all have been well! Just a little announcement... Our friend Antonio, the creator of most of our diamond coated tools, will be sending his first shipment to the US since the beginning of the pandemic. If any of you are interested in tools, feel free to reach out via DM. A link to a google album of Antonio’s most popular products can be found below. Take care! - Kellie and Steve

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GZfEdpmWCjjh9U5Z6

09/04/2020

New video on youtube!

This video is a survey of many abrasive tools used in modern stone sculpture. This is not a comprehensive list, but simply a look at the instruments we use frequently in our own studio practice. Several of them are electroplated diamond tools created by Diamantart, a colleague of ours in Carrara, Italy: https://www.instagram.com/diamant_art...

Part 2 will focus on percussion and steel tools (hammers, chisels, scrapers and steel rifflers). Feel free to contact us with any questions, and check out other postings and forthcoming tutorials on our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/Sculpting_Stone

This video is a survey of many abrasive tools used in modern stone sculpture. This is not a comprehensive list, but simply a look at the instruments we use f...

15/01/2020

Hello! A little question for the crowd here. Steve and I have a lot of experience with sculpting with clay, mold-making, etc. We have many things that we can teach, but only if you all think it’s relevant. Let us know your thoughts! There is a poll in our story.

05/01/2020

Hello followers! We created a video going over a few topics that some of you suggested. To watch, go to our Instagram page and click on our story!

20/12/2019

⁣Hello followers! ⠀
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We thought it would be fun to create a live Instagram video this month. We have not picked the exact day yet but will make sure to notify all of you when we decide.⠀
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In preparation for our video, we would like to ask you guys if you have any specific questions and/or topics that you would like us to discuss. We are very open to any topic relating to stone carving, so DM us or comment here with anything that you think of. ⠀
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Thanks! ⠀
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- Kellie and Steve

20/12/2019

Steve gives an overview of point chisel technique as he finishes a public monument to Bill Wilson, in Danby marble at the Vermont Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in West Rutland, VT. Sculpting Stone will publish a more in-depth episode on the point, its history and usage, as well as demos on all other tools in the stone sculptor's arsenal.

Please follow us on Instagram, subscribe to our channel to be kept up-do-date on new releases, and consider supporting our 2-person project here: https://www.patreon.com/Sculpting_Stone.

12/06/2019

Fred was very reluctant to let us record him making the paper hat typically worn by Italian master carvers.

He was born in the United States and moved to Italy later in life to learn how to carve in an Italian stone workshop. It was years before his teachers thought that he deserved to wear the paper hat and taught him how to create it. Fred has described it as his graduation ceremony, when he finally felt accepted into the stone carving tradition by the other artisans in the shop. For this reason, it is a sacred activity for him.

Thank you Fred for sharing this with us!

09/06/2019

Master stone sculptor Fred X Brownstein demonstrates using a chisel and wood paintbrush for scraping as a finishing technique.