Visit to Jostlins stone works- stone carving practice

Recently my art class took a trip to 'Joslins Stonemasonry' in Long-Hanborough, Oxfordshire. After visiting the On-form exhibition at Asthall Manor I was keen to practice stone carving for myself and so it was arranged for us to try it out. Before we visited the workshop we were asked to create design ideas of the object that we wished to create and carve. I will upload these after this edition. We were briefed on our safety and on the work that the organisation had done previously. This included stone carving work at Exeter College in Oxford. We were taken to see this work after the workshop.

After being briefed and having our designs checked and ready to use, we went outside to choose our stone.

We had a choice of a variety of offcuts of different types of stone and this one that you can see me handling in the picture is known as Portland stone. This is a limestone which looks very smooth and very white. However, for the design that I wanted to achieve, a sand stone would prove to be more appropriate. (You can see this sitting on top of the Portland to the left). Once I had picked my stone, I needed it cut as I seeked a cube shape. This was done using one of the industrial cutters inside of the workshop. Before we worked on our own designs, we practised using some of the tools which can be seen on my A1 page including a mallet and chisel. To practise we used an electric chisel on an off cut of Portland stone. I also practised lettering on an off cut of sand stone using a mallet and chisel to practice the technique. This involved creating a deep 'V' valley in the letters whilst carefully pointing the chisel down wards and gradually tapping away the excess stone. The trick is to not tap to hard in order to avoid breaking the stone. 

Once I had practised, I printed out the letters which I wanted to carve  and I traced them on to the stone. I have chosen to use the first letter of every member of my family's first name which I have put on to each side of the cube. I will explain this further when I upload my design ideas.
 

Once the lettering had been copied I began to chisel in the letters using a chisel and mallet. This was very hard work and I would have to rest every so often as my arm would ache. I didn't manage to finish the lettering at the workshop and I so I had to finish it off at school. Once the lettering had been completed I sanded and washed the stone using warm water to give a smooth finish. To show this on an A1 page I carved out the lettering 'Stone Carving' and used a grey watercolour wash for the background. I created a scroll in coffee wash to create a scroll of instructions. I also drew, in pencil two of the tools which could possibly be found when stone carving including a chisel and hammer. 

I also draw in watercolour and soft pastel, my final outcome from this workshop. This has been drawn to scale using straight lines and then worked into. 

Once I had finished with the water colour and pastel I decided to use sand to create the texture of the 'sand stone'. I thought this would be a clever idea. 

This brings out the shadow of the stone and makes it darker. 

This is the overall finished design drawn in watercolour, soft pastel and with the usage of sand to create texture. Overall this trip has gained me a new experience as well as a new medium. I thoroughly enjoyed stone carving and I appreciated the true nature of detail. I would really like to use an aspect of this in my final piece.