Techniques of Sculpture
2008-08-19

Techniques of Sculpture 

Development in Techniques
Sculpture embraces such varied techniques as modeling, carving, casting, and construction—techniques that materially condition the character of the work. Whereas modeling permits addition as well as subtraction of the material and is highly flexible, carving is strictly limited by the original block from which material must be subtracted. Carvers, therefore, have sometimes had recourse to construction in which separate pieces of the same or different material are mechanically joined together. Casting is a reproduction technique that duplicates the form of an original whether modeled, carved, or constructed, but it also makes possible certain effects that are impractical in the other techniques. Top-heavy works that would require external support in clay or stone can stand alone in the lighter-weight medium of hollow cast metal. 

The principal sculptural techniques have undergone little change throughout the ages. Hand modeling in wax (see wax figures), papier-mâché, or clay remains unaltered, although the firing of the clay from simple terra-cotta to elaborately glazed ceramics has varied greatly. Carving has for centuries made use of such varied materials as stone, wood, bone, and, more recently, plastics, and carvers have long employed many types of hammers, chisels, drills, gauges, and saws. For carrying out monumental works from small studies, various mechanical means have been developed for approximating the proportions of the original study.

Bronze casting is also a technique of extreme antiquity (see bronze sculpture). The Greeks and Chinese mastered the cire perdue (lost-wax) process, which was revived in the Renaissance and widely practiced until modern times. Little Greek sculpture in bronze has survived, apparently because the metal was later melted down for other purposes, but the material itself resists exposure better than stone and was preferred by the Greeks for their extensive art of public sculpture. Metal may also be cast in solid, hammered, carved, or incised forms. The mobile is a construction that moves and is intended to be seen in motion. Mobiles utilize a wide variety of materials and techniques (see also stabile). Contemporary practice emphasizes the beauty of materials and the expression of their nature in the work.

General Techniques 
Carving
Dating from pre-historic times, carving is a process in which the artist subtracts or cuts away from a solid material to reach the desired form. It can be a very painstaking and time consuming method because of the hard and weighty materials, such as marble or other stones, that are often used. However, artists also carve softer substances such as wood and even soap.

Modeling
Modeling is the process of manipulating soft materials to create a three-dimensional form. Unlike carving, modeling requires soft substances that can be easily and rapidly shaped by the sculptor's hands. Clay is the most frequent material used for modeling; however, others such as plaster, papier-maché, and wax are also common. 

Casting
Casting is a method of obtaining the permanence of a modeled work by making a mold and casting it in a durable material such as bronze. Two methods of casting are used: sand casting and the cire-perdue or "lost wax" process. The lost-wax process is more widely used, however, both have been frequently employed since antiquity.

Construction and Assemblage
Emerging in the twentieth-century, the techniques of assemblage and construction consist of combining and joining various materials to form a three-dimensional object. These methods originated from the technique collage, which was popularized by the Cubists during the early part of the twentieth century.

Direct Metal Sculpture
Direct metalworking techniques have opened up whole new ranges of form to the sculptor—open skeletal structures, linear and highly extended forms, and complex, curved sheet forms. Constructed metal sculpture may be precise and clean, as that of Minimalist sculptors Donald Judd and Phillip King, or it may exploit the textural effects of molten metal in a free, "romantic"manner.