Subtractive Sculpture

Subtractive sculpture is the oldest form of sculpture and involves the removal of materials, such as wood carving or stone carvings, in order to create a finished work. Subtractive sculpture is thought to be the most technically difficult and a more restrictive expression.

Why?

Gravity is real! Physics is real- even if you don't understand it.

You have to work with balance, tension, weight, strain and pull. Every chunk of material you remove reduces you workable mass. Once a part is removed, you cannot replace it.

Also, you cannot create editions or reproductions easily. This limits how many you can make and increases how long you spend on one artwork.

Additive Sculpture: you add objects or materials together to create a finished work. Key vocabulary words include: modeling, constructing, and assembling.

Subtractive Sculpture: you are removing objects or materials to create a finished work.

Q: how to you make a statue of an elephant?

A: get a block of marble and cut away all the bits that don't look like an elephant

The Tools & Materials:

You can carve into a variety of materials:

Stone

Plaster

Wood

Ice

Foam

Drywall

Fruit

And More!

The tools you will need are directly determined by the materials you are carving:

Pitcher Hammers

Gouges

Drills

Chisels

Sandpaper

And More!

The Process:

The carving technique is universal for all material in the way that the sculptor will remove first the large unwanted portions of mass before proceeding to break smaller and smaller pieces as he/she approaches the surface of the desired forms.

The final stages of the form revelation often involve careful and time consuming sanding, polishing, and depending on the material, finishing the sculpture by sealing its surface.