Cat's Eye Carving

The Cherub Sculpture V

The next stage was to turn the maquette around so I could start taking some measurements off the wings and the back of the heads.

In order to do this, I made a template of what I had drawn on my bench and placed the plaster model of the Cherubs on this. I could continue marking lines on the template paper for guidelines.

i needed to find the point where the wings met in the middle, and how high this point was. I had left some extra stone on the back of the heads in order to give me enough stone to carve curls into the hair.

By using the models of the Cherubs, I was able to determine how far in I needed to come, to get the edge of the body, I couldn’t just saw down as this would take off the wing, so I sawed in horizontally to a point where I knew the edge of the body was.

I was able to put identify more measurements on the wings and this enabled me to start forming the shape. Obviously I can’t take too much stone away from under the wings-yet. This is because while I am still wielding heavy mallets and chisels, there is a danger of knocking the wrong bit off. When I start to spend more time on the hair, I will start to develop the wings more.

I am really pleased with the progress of this commission. The Tetbury limestone that I am using has a lovely golden hue and it is very dense so I will be able to carve some fine details.

Until next time…