A BASIC PROCESS
Direct carving, or taille directe, is a basic process which man has used since the Stone Age. A simple description of the process might be to carve the material at hand in a direct manner. If the material is carved without copying precisely measured drawings or models, it is a direct carving. This does not mean that drawings or models cannot be used in direct carving, only that any drawings or models are secondary to the direct working of the material.
In direct carving, the carver must allow the material he is working with to be part of the design factor. Each material has its own potential, and also its own limitations. The stone-carver must work within the existing shape of the block, and with the veining, and the color of the stone he has chosen. The shape of the raw block of stone will often suggest the idea for the sculpture. The wood-carver must work within the existing parameters of the wood: shape, grain, hardness, and color of the wood he has chosen. The shape of the log or the grain of the lumber will often suggest the idea for the sculpture. If the conception of the sculpture evolves from the shape, then the form evolves from the handling of the tools and the working of the material.
Look at the unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo known as the slaves or the prisoners. Observe how each of the figures seem to grow out of the form of the block from which they are carved. If you study the marks of the tools on the surface near the foot you can see how the tool was systematically used to define the material into its form. We know that Michelangelo sometimes made small working models out of wax and clay, but the evidence of the unfinished pieces shows us that the process of his carving was also a direct response to the material.
Sometimes the carving will break while being worked, or maybe a hidden flaw will appear after hours of carving. This should not necessarily be considered a disaster, but perhaps as an opportunity to re-define the concept. Often, when the unexpected occurs and one is forced to re-think an idea, it is as if the original concept is tempered and made stronger by adapting to the qualities of the material. The solution becomes more eloquent and more satisfying precisely because it is tempered through trial and error.
BASIC DIFFERENCES IN WORKING STONE OR WOOD
There are some obvious differences between the two materials — stone is much denser, heavier, and harder than wood. Stone most usually has a granular or crystalline structure, while wood has a fibrous cellular structure. The compressive strength of stone is great, but the tensile strength is comparatively weak. The tensile strength of wood is substantial as is the compressive strength. Comparing the relative durability of stone to wood is easily answered by looking at the archeological remains of past cultures — a great deal of the physical remains we have found are stone. Looking at the percentages, very few of the physical remains found have been made of wood or fibers. Wood is subject to many more different types of natural damage than is stone, and is much more rapidly affected by environmental changes.
In addition to these differences, the two types of material are distinctly divergent in the way they must be approached within the basic process of carving with hand tools.
- Stone is relatively hard and has a granular or crystalline structure, so it is carved by fracturing the waste material
away from the main block with the cleavage occurring between the distinct grains or crystals.
- Wood is carved by slicing or cutting through the fibrous cellular structure with the cleavage occurring throughout and
irrelevant of the structure. Wood tends to carve more quickly if the chisel is oriented to cut in the same general plane
as the direction of the grain of the wood than if it is oriented so it is cutting across the grain.
Because of the inherent differences between the two materials, the novice carver will probably find that it requires less skill to carve forms in stone successfully than to carve the same forms in wood to the same degree of success. In relative terms, the process of carving stone usually removes waste more slowly than the process of wood carving. But, after having said that, it must also be noted that a soft type of stone (such as alabaster or soapstone) will carve much faster than a hard wood (such as oak or boxwood).
Tools for woodcarving are relatively common and available much more readily than tools for carving stone. A much wider range of wood suitable for carving is also much more readily available than is stone suitable for carving. Tools for carving wood are generally more expensive than a comparable tool for carving stone. The care and sharpening of woodcarving tools is more demanding than the care and sharpening of the tools for carving stone. It is essential that woodcarving tools be kept razor sharp in order for them to work slicing through the fibrous cells of the wood. Carving tools for stone do work better if kept sharp, but even somewhat dull tools will fracture waste off the block of stone. Dull woodcarving tools do not carve or slice the wood, but instead tear and crush the fibers and require a great deal more application of force. The skills needed to successfully sharpen wood carving tools is also more difficult to master than the much less demanding skill of sharpening stone carving tools.
Finishing the material to refined and smooth surfaces is easier, but more tedious, with stone than with wood. With wood the process of sanding goes relatively quickly, though the direction of the grain affects the way the sandpaper much be used, and usually three or four sanding stages of successive grits of sandpaper is all that is necessary before the final sealer is applied. The process of sanding stone is more simple in that direction of sanding does not matter, but the required number of sanding stages of successive grits for a glossy surface might be a dozen or more if the stone is a dark-colored marble. Once the sanding is done on marble the only remaining step would be to apply a wax-type sealer to the surface and buff to a gloss. Wood can be waxed as well, but if a high gloss is desired then several coats of a finish might need to be applied, allowed to dry, and finely sanded before the application is repeated over a several day period.
The sculptor Constantin Brancusi once said,
"you cannot make what you want to make, but what the material permits you to make. You cannot make out of
marble what you would make out of wood, or out of wood what you would make out of stone."
Overall, the merits of working in either stone or wood are offset by either the degree of time or the degree of skill required for that material. Both materials have their own unique qualities and potential. One is not inherently better than the other, though certain designs would work better in one rather than the other. Each carver will have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each material to suit their own goals and ends. The novice carver especially would be well advised to follow where intuition leads, to be receptive to the potential of the material. One should allow the qualities of one’s design to accompany the nature of the material rather than forcing the design into a material for which it is unsuitable.
In addition to the sections about stone and stonecarving, there are sections dealing with safety, sources of supply, power tools, the use of tools, and making your own tools.
