Post #365947 by Paipo on Mon, Mar 10, 2008 1:07 PM

Thanks Hil, Robin, Benjamin, Jonesey, Tom, Kinny, MIT, seek surf and Pat (whew!)

Robin, short answer to your Q is probably not - I just grabbed this rock from a small pile I had put aside for sculpting, drew a few lines where I saw the suggestion of a tiki, and went for it. I worked outside the lines and then back into where I wanted it, with a lot of adjustments on the fly to proportions, lines etc made with the toolz as I went. So most of the feel/character develops as I carve. It's a different story with the more detailed little guys, which are usually carved verbatim from a drawing and don't allow much room for improvisation. Next time (probably this week!) I will get pics of (A) the untouched stone and (B)the sketched lines pre-carving.

Tom - obsessive? Maybe...just maybe! I was planning to do a lot of surface detailing on this guy, but now I've seen how pretty the interior is, I'm not so sure. Plenty of work left though - this is still just a few hours roughout with a couple of toolz so far....

Mustang Island Tiki, we have a pretty comprehensive Stone Carving Q+A thread that should answer most of your questions. Your garden centre pebbles will be fine, but don't expect miracles - they are chosen to fill bags, not for their carving attributes! If you are surrounded by sand, there must be rock somewhere?