Carving continues on the left hand, rain drives me inside to work on the head and a rabbit nurses her young

I have begun defining the individual fingers of the left hand.  I crayon in areas under the hand to check if I need to remove the stone.  I also remove stone from the area beneath the hand.

I haven't cut the ends of the fingers as I need position them correctly where they terminate.  Also it gives me some latitude in the position of the fingers, I can raise or lower them - a little.  So right now they look stumpy and fat.  In the background you can see a puff of dust from Don.  He has finished blocking the stone blocks for me and has returned to his own carving.

Here he is through the door of the studio working on his sculpture entitled "Ecliptic"

I begin to form the fingers beginning with the pinky.  I think I will change the index finger - in the model is in lower than the second finger, I think I will take it a little above.  I will leave stone under the index finger if I change my mind again.

 

I start defining the wrist as well as the heel of the hand.

I begin shaping the individual fingers, indicating the joints. I will make them a bit exaggerated coming back later to smooth the form.

We have a bit of rain so I'm back inside working on the head of the piece.  I have started forming the ear and working down the hair on top of the head as well as grinding down the cheek which is a bit full.

The rain clears and I'm back to work on the hand defining another finger.

Now I have started on the index finger...

A view from above....

This is foot portion of the sculpture that is waiting on me.  But I will get further along on the arm then do some work on the knee before I jump here.

Speaking of jump, here is a rabbit, Actually and obviously it is a mother.  She was in the road to the studio nursing her young so I stopped so as not to disturb her.  Her baby looks comfortable lying on it's back as it dines.....

Carving the left hand of discovery and a buttery moon



Don has blocked the left hand and now I begin carving the form.  I start by establishing the thumb by removing the stone above it.  I have then made cuts to establish the index finger.




I have cut stone from the index finger though it is still thicker than it will finally be.



I then go to the other side of the hand to begin establishing the fingers. First I mark the top corner of the outside of the hand.  I will remove the stone across the area from top to bottom, essentially beveling it.

Meanwhile, Don grinds on the foot of "Discovery".

After beveling the top edge of the hand I make cuts to get down to the top of the pinky finger.

Here is the side view with some of the stone removed.

I use a timber crayon to mark where the fingers are so I can confidently remove stone.

By comparing to the model I can tell areas of the stone that need to be removed - one can see that the index finger of the stone is almost completely dark while the index finger of the model has a good deal of light coming down the side of it.  This means I need to bevel the stone so that the light and shadow match the model.

This stone will be the knee of the piece.  Don is cutting the back flat.

I cut down the fingers of the hand.  I am concentrating on the hand, I will carve the wrist and arm later.



At this point I have not rounded the ends of the fingers.  The fingers should overlap slightly and I will do that ( the fingers will have to angle in slightly) when I am sure of their position horizontally.



I was meltling butter in a pan and thought it looked at bit like the moon...

Continued work on Discovery... progress on the head, foot, setting up for the left hand. A tiny Praying Mantis makes a brief appearance

 I have been working on the head of "Discovery", refining the face and smoothing the hair.  I, then, began cutting down the back of the head.

 The back of the head is straight up and down and it is obvious as to what to remove. First, I mark a corner to be removed from the back of the head.

 Another view...

 I have taken off most of the corner with the angle grinder in the photo.

 Another view.

 After that corner is cut off, I mark other corners to be removed like this one....

 and this....

 and then these corners as well.

 Then, I remove stone from the middle of the head to the back of the head.

 

 Meanwhile, Don is working on the foot.  He uses an air hammer to remove stone from the sole.

 He uses a big grinder to shave stone off the foot.

 Next, I will begin work on the left hand.  The model is on the stool, I have marked in crayon areas that need to be removed.

This is a tiny Praying Mantis only an inch long, cleaning his foot.

Discovery continues, work on the left and right hands, the head and the leg



This is the left hand of Discovery.  Don has partially cut the top profile.

Don has completely cut the top profile of the hand.

Don has blocked the entire hand and is now cutting the profile of the underside of the hand.




He is finished blocking the left hand, soon I will be carving the form of the hand.

I have caved in the fingers of the right hand.  I have begun removing excess stone  from around the thumb back to the wrist.

I cut the fingers a bit wide at first, now I cut them closer in to where the form should be.

I mark the knuckles in lumber crayon.  I will cut around them to define them and create the fingers.

The thumb and index finger were too wide and I have narrowed them somewhat.  The wrist is still thick and the entire hand needs a good deal of refinement.

While I work on the head,Don smooths out the stone below the right hand.  The earthwork and sod will follow the line of the hand.  I need to conscious of the this when I refine the base to make sure that the stone does not interfere with the sod.

Don and I moved the head into the studio so that I can work out of the sun or rain. I have begun establishing the hair on the right side of her face.

I have also begun taking off escess stone from the back of Discovery's head.

Now I need to start removing stone from the back of her head.

Don uses the hydraulic chainsaw to remove stone from the leg.

He then erected a structure over the leg so that he can have shade while he blocks it.

This is a really interesting insect that found it's way into the house, it was over 3 inches long.  I put it outside so that the cats wouldn't get it.

A couple of frogs, one relaxes on the slate, the other enjoys a soak.