Cat's Eye Carving

The Cherubs Part IV

As you can see once I had removed the bulk of the stone away with my saws and heavy chisels, I was able to start refining some of the points in the faces. This was done using my squares, rulers and sliding squares.

I measured in from the front onto a pre-determined point on the plaster maquettes, using the external line that I had drawn on my bench. (Because this was the same dimensions as the block of stone I was able to transfer measurement onto the stone carving.) I then took a measurement in from the side and finally I measureed the height from the base of the Cherub.

All of this is done with care, as the look of final sculpture will depend on how precise I am at this stage. If you imagine an invisible box, the corner touching the point on the maquette, so when I chop in it is as though someone has poured paint on the invisible box as what I call a check is cut out of the stone.
Look at the red cross I have marked on the stone on the upper part of the taller Cherub. This is the furthest most point on the eyebrow on the left side, I have cut in using my chisel, creating steps-the tread is the bit I will cut away, the corner is what I would describe as the corner of the invisible box-this is the important point that I am revealing. Confusing I know.

Follow that red cross through the photos and you will see that it gives me an indication-along with other such points that I have revealed, of where to take the stone away, until finally I have the start of the forehead and hair line.

I will carry this process through the whole carving and you will see how with each point I can refine the detail until I get to stage where I am confident that I have enough and I can start to put real definition into the sculpture of these two Cherubs.

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page or come and see me and  my Cherubs in person.

Thank-you for reading and I hope you are finding these posts interesting.