Shaping Stone Volume Two: Advanced Techniques of Soapstone Carving

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Volume Two picks up where Volume One ended, guiding you easily and seamlessly into the more advanced tools and techniques of soapstone carving. I would like to thank all of the people who bought the first book, as your comments and questions assisted in developing the contents of this book. In the first book I took a single project, from rough stone to finished piece. In this book, I will do several different projects, each highlighting the use of a new tool or technique. This means you'll get exposure to a much wider variety of techniques and styles that can be applied to soapstone. As with the first book, I will guide you through the techniques, and processes in easy-to-follow steps. There is nothing difficult or hard to learn about carving a finished piece. I do suggest reading through the entire book before you start working on your stone, so you get a feel for the new techniques. Hopefully you will find tools and techniques here to inspire you to new creations. I’ve included photos of a variety of the finished pieces including those done specifically for this book, so you can get an idea of the range of images and techniques that are possible. You can do everything in this book with only a few tools, so the investment is not onerous. The basic tools can be purchased for thirty to forty dollars. The more advanced tools are also reasonably priced. The stone is reasonably easy to acquire and relatively inexpensive, usually no more than two to three dollars per pound. If there’s no rock shop in your town, good quality stone can be ordered on-line via the Internet. I’ve chosen to make this book more pictorial than wordy. I’m a firm believer that a picture speaks a thousand words, so I’ve tried to show, and only talked enough to lead you into what the picture depicts. I’ve also chosen the size of the book so I can fit in lots of pictures, while keeping the pictures big enough that you can see the detail shown without needing a magnifying glass. At several points through-out the book, I point you to on-line videos so you can see the process in motion. Lastly, I’ve focused on showing you advanced techniques and carving methods, based on the assumption that you've had some experience with carving soapstone. Thank you for buying my book. I hope you find it helpful on your continuing journey into soapstone carving. Sound interesting? Well, if you haven’t already done so, buy the book. Pick up a few tools if you don’t already have them at home. Buy a chunk or two of soapstone, follow along with the book and let’s start carving.