Sculpting is the art of constructing figures, structures, and models by carving materials such as stone, metal, clay, and wood. Though sculpting has been prevalent for thousands of decades, we believe that is the Greek era that gave rise to the present tradition of making sculptures. Even today, Greece is known across the world as the creator of masterpieces in the visual art form. The only difference from previous eras is that we can now appropriate almost any material to create statues and sculptures thanks to technology. In this article, we explore the most common type of sculpting and the elements each employs.
• Stone Sculpting
This is the most ancient form of sculptures and can be connected to first humans that ever lived. They were the first images humankind created by etching likenesses into rocks. They are called Petroglyphs. Today, the technique involves shaping stones into a specific form using controlled movements. The processes used to carve stone are:
o Pecking
o Carving
o Abrading
This type of sculpting includes hardstone carving which makes use of gems like jade and carnelian.
• Bronze Sculpting
When it comes to creating statues out of metals, bronze is the widely used material because of its incredible properties. Bronze easily expands when it is set in a mould which allows it to fill even the minutest details. Plus, the metal has immense strength and ductility. Therefore, sculptures made of it can be kept outdoors without any worry.
Uncover More About : A Short And Brief History Of Sculptures
• Wood Sculpting
When wood is used to carve out unique shapes and forms, it is called wood sculpting. Generally, this type of sculpture required handheld tools; very few are powered. Wood sculptures are meant for indoors as decorative items. A typical example is wood furniture which has carvings on them to offer a more aesthetic look.
• Cast Sculpting
The very first method used to form sculptures is said to be casting. There is a frog sculpture cast that has been dated 
back to 3200 B.C. The procedure is actually straightforward. A cast is a mould made of clay. It has a hollow cavity in the shape of the sculpture you want to create. A molten liquid of metals like bronze or aluminium is poured into the cast and then allowed to solidify. Once stable, the clay cast is broken, and the sculpture inside is retrieved. While an old process, casting is used to date. We now utilise it with components such as:
o Concrete
o Clay
o Epoxies
These were the most preferred modes of creating sculptures in the present world. Most of them have been prevalent for centuries. The only difference is the type of statues that are being made. While there was a time when only sculptures from mythology were formed, today we build art pieces that have a contemporary meaning to them. The time when just religious statues were created is long gone. Sculpting is now a mode of expressing oneself.
