Tips to Carve a Marble Sculpture

Do you know how the marble sculpture made? It is the result of forming 3-dimensional visually interesting objects from marble .
In fact, carving sculpture is a difficult thing, which is an activity older than civilization itself. The prehistoric sculptures, like the Venus of Willendorf and the faceless statues of the Cycladic cultures of ancient Greece were usually human forms. Later cultures designed animal sculpture, human-animal and abstract forms in marble. The earliest cultures used abrasive techniques, and modern technology employs diamond tools and other devices. But for most of human history, sculptors used hammer and chisel as the basic tools for carving marble.

The process of marble sculpture
The work begins with the selection of a marble for carving. The artist may carve in the direct way, by carving without a model, creating a form or figure from scratch, with only the idea in his mind as a guideline, sketching on the block of marble and developing the work along the way. This method can be inspiring but can also present major problems when too much marble is removed in previous stages.
Or the sculptor may begin with a clearly defined model to be copied in marble. Traditionally the sculptor would begin by forming a model in clay, wax or fiberglass, and then copying this in marble by measuring with calipers or a pointing machine. This method leaves much less chance for error, so the desired result can be achieved as expected. This method is also used when the carving is done by other sculptors, such as artisans or employees of the sculptor.
Some artists use the marble itself as inspiration; the Renaissance artist Michelangelo claimed that his job was to free the human form trapped inside the block.