Sculptures made of stone: how to tame inanimate material

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

A sculptor is a master who turns cold and lifeless pieces of rock into works of art. How did a person manage to tame stone, clay, wax, wood, metal and other materials, give them volume and shape, embody images, movement, grace in them? How can we learn this today? More about everything in our article.

First works

From lat. sculpo - I cut out, carve - sculpture is one of the types of fine art, the works of which have a three-dimensional shape and are made of plastic or solid materials. Unlike painting, here the movement is not so dynamic, it is conveyed in a different way - with the help of volume. An important factor is processing - the sculptor must calculate in advance how the light will fall on the planes and faces at different times of the day, etc. Even a minor mistake can kill a work.

The first sculptures in the world appeared long before rock art, before people began to build dwellings. Ancient tribes sculpted figurines from clay, in ancient Egyptsculptures were part of religious rites. Then, for each deceased person, their own statue was intended. It was believed that at night the soul leaves her, and returns again with the sunrise.

Sculptures made of stone as an art form appeared only in Ancient Greece - local craftsmen depicted emperors and inhabitants of Olympus. The level of craftsmanship was so high that many of them have survived to this day.

Types and genres

Sculptures made of stone have many classifications according to types of relief, purpose, method of obtaining and execution. The main genres are as follows:

• household;
• historical;
• portrait;
• mythological;
• allegorical;
• animal;
• symbolic.

The main types of sculpture are round sculpture (where the statue is surrounded by free space) and relief (where the image is partially immersed in stone). There are three types of relief - bas-relief (the sculpture is less than half visible), high relief (half of the sculpture is visible) and counter-relief (the image is buried in the base).

Depending on the purpose, sculptures are monumental (monuments), monumental-decorative (sculptures in fountains and parks) and easel (independent of the environment).

According to the method of artistic expression, they distinguish:

• building a three-dimensional form;
• sculpting;
• design silhouette;
• invoice developmentand colors.

Making stone and clay sculptures

Depending on the type of material used, the sculpture can be obtained in several ways:

• plastic (soft material extension);
• sculpting (cutting off excess);
• casting (when liquid metal is poured into the finished mold).

Sculpture made of stone is the most labor-intensive, as it requires remarkable physical strength and enormous patience.

Before starting work on a plastic statue, the sculptor makes a drawing, mathematically calculates the center of gravity and proportions. Then he sculpts a model from wet clay in order to predict the final result in a reduced form. Later, he starts working on the work itself: he sets up a steel base for the future statue, beyond which not a single detail of the statue should go; makes a base out of wire and strands, and gradually, framing the base with clay, brings the sculpture to the result that was originally intended.

DIY stone sculptures

At the first stage of training, the future sculptor sculpts simple figures - he learns to convey proportions correctly. Then you can move on to sculpting the head and parts of the face. After some time, having gained experience, the student begins to sculpt models of a person, reduced human figures in a round and relief version. Later, the future sculptor begins to sculpt his first human-sized sculptures, sculpts naked people and improves his sculptural skills.

Stone sculpture is very labor intensivea work of art, requires skill, skill and unprecedented talent. With the advent of photography, sculpture as a way of depicting a person faded into the background, but to this day there are schools for teaching this type of art, as well as craftsmen who selflessly love their work. Their work is truly a masterpiece and boggles the imagination.