Animal portraits.
16 September, 2013 – 9:38 amI have been getting a lot of enquiries about carving animal portraits.
I have done quite a few and there are two types I can carve;
In the round, this involves working from photos and the animal, where possible but it isn’t critical. I model the animal in clay and create the best likeness, this can take up to a week depending on how much detail and body is required, as soon as you the customer are happy with this I cast the clay model in plaster.
The next process is the most time consuming as I then start to measure removing large amounts of stone as I gradually work closer to the finished portrait. If you require just the head then it takes approximately 10 days to complete the carving. The price starts at £850 for the head, I can carve portraits of people as well but as this is a much more in depth and complicated process the cost is £2500
The second type is a relief, carved in Welsh slate, I work solely from a single photo preferably a two thirds profile. The size is approximately A4 with a border, I then cut down into the slate at about 1/4 inch the deepest part and create a shallow relief. This can take up to a week to carve and prices start from £250 depending on the size and amount of detail.
If you would like to see more photos please look in the categories section on the right hand side of the home page and there is a section titled commissions and portraits, this will take you to all the posts I have written about carving portraits in stone.
