by tom44 | Jul 24, 2018 | DIY Sculpting
Welcome to my guide on how to carve jade with a dremel.
The art of carving jade has a long tradition that spans many generations.
Like in every other task, technology has provided modern tools to ease the process and produce complex designs. As a result, carving today is an intense exercise with perfected precision.
Carving jade requires a keen study of the properties of this unique material. A carver needs to examine the patterns before commencing on the task. Carving into a rock is a gratifying experience that many consider therapeutic. To maximize the precision and accuracy of your designs, a dremel is a critical and useful tool.
In this article we will examine how to carve jade with a dremel. Learning how to use a dremel will save you hours of carving time traditionally spent using a hammer and chisel.
Collect Your Material and Tools
First, gather your rocks and a dremel with its different tips. The tips are part of the package that came with the tool when you purchased it. You also need a glass of water, a small towel, and workbench. Acquire safety glasses and use them to protect you from any danger to your eyes.
The Workspace
Carving is a manual job and this means your body posture is vital. Set up your workbench to create ample room for you move around freely without the need to crouch over or turn and twist your back for long hours.
Your posture should also allow you to move around the piece of jade. All the materials you need ought to be near you so that you will not need to move around very much. Avoid cramped workspaces to eliminate the possibility of confusion.
Confusion arises from disruption of concentration. Focus on having open spaces as much as possible.
All of these aspects of learning how to carve jade with a dremel are important to keep in mind.
Always wear your safety glasses to avoid the debris from reaching your eyes and face.
Finally, use your fingers to determine how the grain runs on the stone. The grain often runs along the piece to guide your carving. Remember that carving across grains easily causes weak-points and cracks that result in splitting. You will want, therefore, to be cautious about every piece and its unique grain patterns.
Preparation Steps
First, make a sketch or rough outline of your intended design with a pencil. This is a necessary and crucial part of the process. Defining your complete product before you even begin provides the guide that will ensure you get the final results you desire. If you will be carving a relief, an outline is very essential.
Avoid rushing to create your design. You risk breaking the jade with your dremel. Instead, carve slowly bit by bit as you observe the progress. Practicing patience is very important when learning how to carve jade with a Dremel.
Beginning at the center of the stone and work outwards is the best way to avoid cracks. Avoid the urge of beginning at edges as this usually increases the risk of cracking. Limit your speed or you will make an irreversible mistake by chipping away the wrong way.
Sanding
Silicon carbide sandpaper is among the best tools for completing your work. Use course sandpaper grit for a quick smoothing process. The coarser it is the more polished your product will emerge. You may begin by the obvious excessive rough spots before you proceed to smooth the entire piece.
More Tips
Change dremel bits depending on the hardness of the stone. Each bit is designed for a specific level of hardness so find the appropriate one.
The smoothest carvings can be produced by a 45-degree angle. Do not use the tip straight up if you want to have a quick, easy, and smooth carving. If you want a rough outline, on the other hand, take a big tip. The options can allow you to make any desired shape and shading. They cut deep and are more efficient that a grinding tip.
Always ensure you have observed safety precautions like wearing protective gear. Do not ignore safety precautions and put your body in harm’s way. Your positioning is also very vital. Sit up straight to avoid neck-aches and back-aches.
Conclusion
Jade is an outstanding material for craft making because it is so durable. It is also cheaply found and any items made from it will last a long time because this material is very hard to destroy. Any creations made from jade can make very beautiful decorations if handled with precision and creativity.
Most importantly, jade is easily accessible and easy on your budget. You never need worry about items made from jade losing their value, as they will always maintain their quality. Jade products can save your memories for a long time without much care required to maintain them. A good dremel will help you produce high quality jade crafts and artworks if you learn how to use this special tool appropriately.
by tom44 | Jul 18, 2018 | DIY Sculpting
Common Materials Used For Sculpting
Sculpting as a medium of expression goes beyond the pristine statues and other masterpieces of art which were sculpted by the great artists of the High Renaissance like Michelangelo.
One very different example could be a funny looking figure of a sheep in an animated screen calling himself “Shawn”. It could be a virtual sculpt in 3D software like the Maya, Mudbox, Zbrush etc. Although 3D software creations may have their own charm, having an inanimate object in your hand and breathing life into it brings exuberant joy and produces a feeling of freedom of expression.
But which medium is the best and what are the different types of sculpture materials that one would need to kick start a sculpting venture ? Here’s a cursory review of some of the cool sculpting materials you can use for your next project, whether it be large or small.
Various Types Of Sculpting Materials Exist
There is a wide variety of awesome options available when it comes to sculpting your imagination, bringing form to nebulous creatures, beckoning them from your dreams and nightmares. Following is a list of the various types of sculpting materials that you can scour through and decide for yourself, as to which one you would want to pursue for some leisure art in your backyard or your home studio.
Clay
Clay is one of the most versatile of the sculpting mediums and is the only medium that can be allowed amongst kids as young as preschool age as it is flexible and will not cause a fatal choking hazard under proper monitoring! Owing to its very dough like ductile and malleable form, clay is used in a wide variety and genres of sculpting art.
Clay comes in many types. There are clay products that are oil based and are excellent for making durable art works that can be used as decorative objects. There are clay varieties that are plastic based with plastic elements that provide the clay with elasticity which normal clay does not have.
Clay sculpting is fairly easy to learn, practice and master. In addition, it is among the most affordable of all sculpting materials with the possible exceptions of sand sculpting, rock sculpting or word carving.
Bronze
Bronze is the most popular material used in caste metal sculpting. The sculpting method is simply called bronze.
The process by which the bronze sculpting is done is the traditional lost-wax casting process which has been historically used for magnificent sculpting across many civilizations across the ages.
The metal had been revered across the millennia by various cultures and hence was widely prevalent as a medium of sculpting deities and figurines for worship.
The process of obtaining a fine art sculpture using bronze as the source material makes it a bit too complex to be practiced at home. This is among one of the types of sculpting techniques which needs to be taught and monitored by skilled experts. The material and the technique are not suitable for kids or even novice adult students.
Terracotta
Like glazed clay, terracotta is a medium that is highly popular among the masses. This particular material has been the medium of creation and expression amongst artists and artisans who had no means to obtain marble or precious metals to sculpt, beginning back in prehistoric times.
Not only used as an art form but terracotta is also used to create utilities like pottery that blends culinary art and sculpture. Terracotta is also the preferred medium of art for making 3D murals. Being among the few mediums that are readily available and easily processed, terracotta can enliven your backyard art and any craft project. The most popular and well known of all terracotta creations in history is the Chinese Terracotta Army from 210–209 BCE.
Plaster of Paris (POP)
Plaster of Paris (or POP as it is widely known) has become another trendy form of sculpting and this material is professionally used to create beautiful wall hanging murals, show pieces, centerpieces, statues etc. It’s a little easier on your budget when compared with the other sculpting material options like terracotta and clay.
Alabaster
Alabaster is a type of soft rock that is widely used by stone sculptors. It’s a smooth, soft gypsum rock and it literally means “soft”.
An alabaster rock, as a sculpting medium, gives more flexibility than marble, granite or other hard rocks. Marble being a metamorphic rock is twice as hard as an alabaster rock. Although the methodology of sculpting both alabaster and marble is somewhat different, they make use of the same set of tools.
You can craft sturdy statues, bowls, vases, etc. if you master this particular material. You will need rock solid practice, perseverance and patience to grasp the nuances and tricks of stone sculpting.
Foam or Styrofoam
Foam is the exact antonym of stone! And the exact opposite of sturdiness. Foam or Styrofoam provides a lot of fun whilst sculpting. It can be a very challenging material to master. This particular material provides some sort of flexibility but can be tough to master as it is too delicate for rigid and rugged hands.
Some sculpture artists use a hot knife to carve the desired shape as this material breaks too often with any blunt edges of any tool that you might be using. Foam is also a very inexpensive medium the same as sand, wood or clay. It’s also one of the most kid friendly mediums that can be explored by young ones after they get creatively exhausted from sculpting with clay for too long.
Papier-Mâché Sculpting
Another well-known medium is Papier Mâché, which as the name suggests is nothing but paper. More precisely, it is a textured variety of paper.
With paper mache you can explore and create a wide variety of wall art, abstract sculptures, animal sculptures, origami, DIY arts and crafts and so much more. In addition, it is among the safest of all mediums and hence recommended for tiny tots to create fun objects with.
Who would have known that the Chinese invention could be a medium of expression not just when it is inked but also when it is bend, curved, carved and folded beyond recognition to make something unique and appealing.
Now that you are more familiar with the various types of sculpture materials, you can choose one and create your own masterpiece.
by tom44 | Jul 16, 2018 | DIY Sculpting
Introduction
Sculpting has been one of the most prolific visual art forms practiced across millennia by almost every civilization that has ever existed.
Sculptures and sculptors have shaped generations and civilizations, touching all aspects of art, culture, culinary art, politics and more. It is the innate expression of the inner self on materials which do not possess life to convey human emotions, meaning and beauty.
Sculpting transforms dead stone, marble or other materials into statues or other beautiful creations breathing with life. It transforms simple sundry things into objects of wonder, beauty and joy.
Sculpting beautifies the architecture and landscaping of any city or residence with installations of statutes or just any abstract creation which was made by sculpting.
Sculpting defines spaces, volumes and shapes of modern metropolis architecture.
History Of Sculpting
Earliest sculpting works can be found in prehistoric reliefs and motifs found in ancient dwellings, altars and mounds of the dead. The art of sculpting gave the modern coin its widely accepted form of embossed monetary value, the seal and the insignia.
One prominent figure that immediately pops into anyone`s mind at the very mention of sculpting is the great Italian painter, sculptor, architect and poet Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni or just “Michelangelo” as he is commonly known.
Of course the history and mastery of sculpting precedes the High Renaissance greats, but the very subject can’t be left without mentioning the splendid fine marble sculpting works of the Florencial prodigy. Pieta and David, his masterpieces are works of wonder which he sculpted before he was even thirty.
Among modern sculptors, Auguste Rodin features prominently since he is well known for his magnifique “Thinking Man” or also called “The Thinker” which is a timeless bronze sculpture located in Paris.
The major types of sculpting forms or techniques are subtractive, which is carving, chipping or in some way removing material to create and form a piece of sculpture, along with additive (also called modelling), casting (or molding a creation from melted material) and mixed technique (constructing, joining or assembling different materials).
Stone Carving or Stone Sculpting
Stone carving as the name suggest is sculpture practiced in stone, carving the rugged edges of different types of stones, churning out a finished product that seems surreal for the stone to have become.
Stone sculpting is also one of the earliest form of sculpting and can be seen in countless Temples, Buddha Viharas, Tombs, Mounds and Archaeological artefacts from across many civilizations throughout history around the entire world.
Wood Carving or Wood Sculpting
Wood carving is amongst the most popular techniques or forms of sculpting. There are sub genres of wood sculpting techniques that range from methodologies to varying forms of wood work.
The most ancient form of wood carving can be found in the form of Totems and Poles carved out for divination purposes. Wood is a material which gives a beginning art amateur a good scope for learning the titbits of techniques like chiselling, carving, etc, and help in learning the basics like blocking and volume, among other skills.
Marble Sculpting
Marble carving is one the best known forms of the sculpting art and the most appreciated owing to the complexity of the process and the rather challenging learning curve that needs years and years of practice. Marble is derived from limestone and offers a good base to carve a curve off the intricate calcite that forms the large marble stones.
Ivory Carving or Sculpting
Ivory carving is an illegal art form as it needs carving out of animal tusks or teeth which are primarily obtained from Elephants, Walruses and Rhinoceros.
The Venus of Brassempouy which is thousands of year old is one of the famous prehistoric ivory sculptures that depicts (along with the Islamic Ivory) how widely prevalent the art form was and how large swaths of animals were poached for the purpose of obtaining ivory to create sculptures.
Sand Sculpting
The art of modelling sand into an original and interesting creation is called “sand art” or “sand sculpting” and has become increasingly popular over the past couple of decades. Since the only 2 materials required for this particular type of sculpting are sand and water, this is probably the best sculpting activity for anyone with limited funds. The only tools you will need are your own 2 hands, or if you prefer, you can also use buckets and shovels of any size you choose.
The pic above is of a sand sculpture (of a dolphin in case you were wondering) which I created with my own 2 hands 🙂
Bronze Casting
Bronze is another widely practiced and proliferated form of sculpting art. Bronze cast is done with bronze alloys and uses techniques like the lost-wax casting to attain the desirable shapes and figurines. This particular type of sculpting pre-dates marble carving.
Some other popular sculpting forms which can be practiced by kids and adults alike for passion, profession or mere hobby are :
Semi Precious Stone Sculpting and Shell Carving
This is done by carving or sculpting semi-precious stones like rubies, opals, sapphires, etc. They are widely used to craft fashion accessories like rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc.
Conches and shells are carved and sold along beaches and in boutiques. They are usually in great demand in tourists spots. They also boost cottage industries and can be an excellent source of income for skilled artisans who traditionally practice this ancient form of sculpting.
Clay Sculpting or Modelling
Clay modelling is almost too much fun. Anyone can enjoy hours and hours of sculpting pleasure with this material.
Clay modelling is also used in Claymation which is actually animation done using clay models and figurines that are animated step by step using a plethora of techniques creating surreal imagery that is fascinating and entertaining to watch.
Sculpting As A Career
Sculpture as a vocation or career option should only be pursued by someone whose only pursuit is sculpture as means of creative expression.
This art form needs much devotion, dedication and perseverance in order to earn a living from it. The skills honed in the process of learning will pay dividends and give other forms of commercial visual art and communication a run for the money. Look for a good school or university with acclaimed mentors.
A mere YouTube video or two which demonstrate sculpting methods wouldn’t be nearly enough to learn the intricacies of becoming a fine sculptor.
Conclusion
As Pablo Picasso rightly inferred, “Sculpture is the art of the Intelligence”.
The art form is best appreciated by developing a keen insight and passion into the various facets of creating sculpture from scratch.
If you are a beginner or just trying to get hands on experience with different types of sculpting techniques, then start with very basic clay modelling. With much practice and determination it may be possible that one day you will create a sculpted masterpiece of your own.
