Chalk carving is the practice and shaping of chalk via carving . This article covers some methods, types of chalk, tools used and the benefits (and ramifications) of this material.
The benefits of this material are also its drawbacks. Its main benefit, its softness, makes it very easy to manipulate. This is also a serious disadvantage, however, as chalk structures tend to be very delicate. This material is also extremely brittle and dusty. However it is cheap, readily available, easy to work with the simplest of tools, and able to hold a reasonable amount of detail.
The main types of chalk, for the purposes of the carver, are processed and non-processed (natural). Processed chalk has several advantages over natural chalk; it is softer, more consistent and comes ready finished in neat cylinders of varying sizes. However, natural chalk is available in more interesting shapes, the size is not limited, and it holds detail better.
Tools for chalk carving are numerous. In fact any small file, stone carving equipment (no mallet is needed), and even needles can be used. Some of the best hand carving equipment are an etching needle, a selection of small files, and a miniature carving tool designed for soapstone.
The methods are very simple. Once the carver has a feel for the material, it is possible to construct fairly complex shapes, and make figurative work. It is possible to coat the chalk in button polish to produce a finish.
Chalk is considered by seasoned stone carvers as one of the most difficult of stones to shape, as the material may literally powder away in your hands, if you are not delicate with the handling. A chalk can also have many defects and voids in its structure, this makes chalk carving a very difficult and precise art.
Types of Chalk Carving
There are two types of chalk carvings.
1. Single piece
A carved object or relief consisting of one piece of chalk.
Single piece chalk sculpture
Hourglass carved out of chalk
Loop made out of a single chalk
Lincoln in chalk
Chalk carving of a Pillar
Chalk carving of a Penguin
Chalk carving of Lord Venkateswara
Chalk carving of a dancer
Chalk carving of a Tambura
Chalk carving of a chain made using pen Knife
Chalk carving of a pillar
Chalk carving of a fountain pen
Chalk carving of a face
Chalk carving of Lord Venkateswara colored
Chalk carving of a man holding umbrella
Chalk carving of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Single piece chalk carving.
2. Multi-piece
A carved object or relief using two or more individual pieces of chalk.
Olympics Logo carved by chalk artist
single piece sculpture
Original city made using chalk. carved using x-acto blades.
Chalk carving of an airplane made by attaching multiple pieces of chalk.
Alabaster is a mineral and a soft rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions and usages for the word alabaster. In archaeology, the term alabaster is a category of objects and artefacts made from the varieties of two different minerals: (i) the fine-grained, massive type of gypsum, and (ii) the fine-grained, banded type of calcite.
A chisel is a wedged hand tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge on the end of its blade, for carving or cutting a hard material. The tool can be used by hand, struck with a mallet, or applied with mechanical power. The handle and blade of some types of chisel are made of metal or wood with a sharp edge in it.
In archaeology, a hammerstone is a hard cobble used to strike off lithic flakes from a lump of tool stone during the process of lithic reduction. The hammerstone is a rather universal stone tool which appeared early in most regions of the world including Europe, India and North America. This technology was of major importance to prehistoric cultures before the age of metalworking.
Marble has been the preferred material for stone monumental sculpture since ancient times, with several advantages over its more common geological "parent" limestone, in particular the ability to absorb light a small distance into the surface before refracting it in subsurface scattering. This gives an attractive soft appearance that is especially good for representing human skin, which can also be polished.
Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar, to wall or cover formed structures.
Cameo is a method of carving an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel. It nearly always features a raised (positive) relief image; contrast with intaglio, which has a negative image. Originally, and still in discussing historical work, cameo only referred to works where the relief image was of a contrasting colour to the background; this was achieved by carefully carving a piece of material with a flat plane where two contrasting colours met, removing all the first colour except for the image to leave a contrasting background.
Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object. The phrase may also refer to the finished product, from individual sculptures to hand-worked mouldings composing part of a tracery.
Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time.
This page describe terms and jargon related to sculpture and sculpting.
Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical (fantasy/mythical) creatures.
Antonio Canova's statue The Three Graces is a Neoclassical sculpture, in marble, of the mythological three Charites, daughters of Zeus – identified on some engravings of the statue as, from left to right, Euphrosyne, Aglaea and Thalia – who were said to represent youth/beauty (Thalia), mirth (Euphrosyne), and elegance (Aglaea). The Graces presided over banquets and gatherings, to delight the guests of the gods. As such they have served as subjects for historical artists including Sandro Botticelli and Bertel Thorvaldsen. A version of the sculpture is in the Hermitage Museum, and another is owned jointly and exhibited in turn by the Victoria and Albert Museum, Scottish National Gallery while another one is in Galerie Plastik in Hořice.
In wood carving relief carving is a type in which figures or patterns are carved in a flat panel of wood; the same term is also used for carving in stone, ivory carving and various other materials. The figures project only slightly from the background rather than standing freely. Depending on the degree of projection, reliefs may also be classified as high or medium relief.
The art of chainsaw carving is a fast-growing form of art that combines the modern technology of the chainsaw with the ancient art of woodcarving.
This glossary of woodworking lists a number of specialized terms and concepts used in woodworking, carpentry, and related disciplines.
Chinese jade refers to the jade mined or carved in China from the Neolithic onward. It is the primary hardstone of Chinese sculpture. Although deep and bright green jadeite is better known in Europe, for most of China's history, jade has come in a variety of colors and white "mutton-fat" nephrite was the most highly praised and prized. Native sources in Henan and along the Yangtze were exploited since prehistoric times and have largely been exhausted; most Chinese jade today is extracted from the northwestern province of Xinjiang.
A stone sculpture is an object made of stone which has been shaped, usually by carving, or assembled to form a visually interesting three-dimensional shape. Stone is more durable than most alternative materials, making it especially important in architectural sculpture on the outside of buildings.
Haida argillite carvings are a sculptural tradition among the Haida indigenous nation of the Northwest Coast of North America. It first became a widespread art form in the early 19th century, and continues today.
Hardstone carving, in art history and archaeology, is the artistic carving of semi-precious stones, such as jade, rock crystal, agate, onyx, jasper, serpentinite, or carnelian, and for objects made in this way. Normally the objects are small, and the category overlaps with both jewellery and sculpture. Hardstone carving is sometimes referred to by the Italian term pietre dure; however, pietra dura is the common term used for stone inlay work, which causes some confusion.
Carving is the act of using tools to shape something from a material by scraping away portions of that material. The technique can be applied to any material that is solid enough to hold a form even when pieces have been removed from it, and yet soft enough for portions to be scraped away with available tools. Carving, as a means for making stone or wooden sculpture, is distinct from methods using soft and malleable materials like clay, fruit, and melted glass, which may be shaped into the desired forms while soft and then harden into that form. Carving tends to require much more work than methods using malleable materials.
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