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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2015 12:31:33 GMT
The early morning light was dispersed by the grey clouds which covered the sky and cast the city in a dull twilight. Jacoben had purchased a large block of stone to begin his work on his Artisan profession as a method of relaxation as well as simply playing to his own hobbies. He had the required tools to work with the stone and the inherent knowledge of how bestowed upon him by his class combined with his own prior experiences working with various mediums over the years. True, stone was different from the usual clays and plasters he had worked with but the basic principles were similar, and he was interested to give it a try.
Staring at the block of stone he tried to consider what it was he could do with it. Before he could even pick up a tool he would need to have something in mind, otherwise he'd just end up wasting the materials purchased. Considering the rectangular block of stone he had been given and his own inexperience with working with this medium, Jacoben decided he was going to make something that was relatively familiar to him and somewhat easier than anything more complex.
First he pulled out a small sheet of scrap paper and a stick of charcoal, boldly sketching the outline of his sculpture first from the front on, and then side, top and rear. He knew he would need to take into consideration the three dimensional nature of a sculpture when he worked, so he wanted to give it depth as well as shape. Using up every available free part of the paper he eventually settled on a nice design that didn't seem too complicated, the Fox-tail flipped the paper over and began sketching a final copy to make sure he was happy with what he was doing.
W: 306
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2015 0:40:39 GMT
Design in mind the Fox-tail wandered back over to the simple stone that lay before him and began marking it with the piece of charcoal in bold, well practiced lines. He made sure to mark the basic lines of the side as well so he could dispose of the excess stone quickly before moving onto the more complicated aspects of the craft. One final check assured him that he had everything he needed to begin his work, all the tools in the right place and a thick apron to protect himself from any shards of stone, a scarf across his face and over his hair also prevented dust and flakes from getting caught in his hair or accidently inhaled.
Selecting a broad chisel and his mallet, Jacoben gently placed the metal tool a distance from his first line. He wasn't about to begin too close to his sketched out image, otherwise a mistake could ruin the entire sculpture. Thankfully it seemed that just by choosing the Artisan class his body knew how to handle the tools, as he brought the mallet down on the chisel in a carefully controlled swing to break off a large corner chunk of the stone.
Nudging the shard from the block the Artisan continued what he had begun, moving the chisel in an oddly instinctual manner to hammer away the excess stone shard by shard. It was odd how soothing the repetitive motion soon became, almost a form of meditation with the sound of metal on stone on metal providing the background music.
W: 258
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2015 11:09:19 GMT
Slowly but surely with each tap of mallet on chisel chunks of stone were chipped away, weakened by cracks the excess fell to the ground and left the very rough outline of the shape that Jacoben wanted. At points he needed to be very careful, the lightest touch of mallet to chisel sufficient to knock away a portion of stone that had no place being where it was. It was tiring work, but he lost himself in it, envisioning the final product in his mind and holding that thought through the long hours of work that were ahead of him.
Eventually he would be left with the rough outline of his final carving, the flat and featureless stone chipped away at the sides to leave the overall form that he intended it to take. Rough and angular, he ran his hands over it carefully, fingers tracing the surfaces that he would soon refine into something better. He knew it would be far from a masterpiece of course, it was his first ever carving and would probably barely make back the money that he spent on materials. That didn't matter though, what mattered was that he would be taking his first steps into becoming a recognised artisan in a world where such a profession was less looked down upon.
Looking back to his original design he matched it up with the shape he had carved out thus far. Overall it seemed he had gotten it relatively right, the edges still rough to allow him to sand it down properly without making it too small.
W: 263
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2015 12:22:33 GMT
Putting the mallet and chisel aside for the time being Jacoben once more grasped the stick of charcoal and began to sketch on the slab of stone in front of him. His first step was to place down a series of dots in a grid-like pattern which would aid him in the shaping of the twisting patterns of Celtic style knot work. With these guides he would be able to form the basic patterns of the knot relatively easily and they would be erased as the work continued, leaving only the stylistic carving familiar to many as being unique to the British Isles.
While he had plotted out the design before he had even put chisel to stone there was a possibility that the stone wouldn't take well to his original pattern. Glancing between the sheet of paper and the stone the Fox-tail Artisan began to lightly sketch out his pattern on the stone, shifting the design slightly to account for the shape and colouration of the stone where possible while maintaining the aesthetic he intended it to have.
It didn't take him too long to realise that he'd be unable to sculpt all sides of the stone in the same sort of pattern, the shapes conflicting with the reverse side to the point that he couldn't really figure out how to fix it now that he had already carved out the basic shape of the sculpture. Tail swishing in agitation the Artisan tried to determine just what he could do to salvage the situation so that the finished piece didn't look stupid as all hell.
W: 266
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2015 13:08:30 GMT
 | Jacoben HP: 100% MP: 100% |
"Any treasure you obtain without ever having to work for it is no treasure at all."
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Taking up a smaller chisel from his rather abysmal tool collection Jacoben prepared himself for refining the sculpture. This would take a much more delicate hand as he began to sculpt the details and also slowly work to remove the rough chisel marks that he had left during the first stage of his work. Furrowing his brows he placed the chisel just so and tapped it lightly, feeling the stone crack beneath the metal tool and judging it to be a little bit too shallow to get the shape that he needed. A second tap saw the crack deepen and a small shard of stone flick out onto the floor of the crafting area.
The Artisan pulled the chisel away from the stone to examine how well he had begin to carve out the details of his sculpture. It seemed that he had managed to get the right depth and size, which meant that he would be able to continue without having to start all over again. "Confiteor Deo, Omnipotenti. Beatae Mariae, semper virgini," he began to sing under his breath as he worked on the carving. He was very glad that no one was around to hear him, because he'd have been very embarrassed to be caught singing this particular song.
"Beato Michaeli, archangelo. Sanctis apostolis, omnibus sanctis" he continued as he carefully set chisel to stone to trace out the very beginnings of the pattern he had sketched out on the flat surface. It was slow going that required him to stop and check after every few swings of his mallet to make sure he was on track and hadn't ruined the sculpture.
OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 275
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2015 13:24:21 GMT
| Jacoben HP: 100% MP: 100% |
"Any treasure you obtain without ever having to work for it is no treasure at all."
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Tap, tap, tap went the hammer against the chisel against the stone, flakes of the hard rock flicking up and falling to the floor of his workspace as Jacoben continued to etch out the pattern into his sculpture. "Beata Maria, je clame que mon ame est pure. De ma vertu, j'ai droit d'etre fier," he sang as he worked, mismatched eyes focused on the unfolding of the art beneath his hands. Working from the top of the sculpture to the bottom, he soon reached the hardest part and couldn't help but wonder why he had decided that this was a good idea.
Right, because he'd never learn if he didn't try and this was the easiest thing he could think to sculpt that still might be worth someone's money. Slowly and carefully he twisted the chisel this way and that, seeking to form the winding pattern that he had planned for both in his head and on paper....which was far more difficult than he had anticipated, even with his body's instinctive grasp on the basics of stone carving. "Beata Maria, mon coeur a bien plus de droiture qu'une commune vulgaire foule de traines-misere," his voice rose as the song continued, the rhythmic rise and fall of his voice aiding in his timing in swinging the hammer and twisting the chisel.
"Mais pourquoi, Maria? Quand ell danse, l'insolente, ses yeaux de feu m'embrasent et me hantent." it was almost there, the crude version of the pattern at least. Close but not perfected just yet. Still, he felt confident in his work even as he moved the chisel away and searched his tools for the right ones for the final phase of the sculpting, the refining and cleaning of the stone.
OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 289
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2015 14:02:03 GMT
| Jacoben HP: 100% MP: 100% |
"Any treasure you obtain without ever having to work for it is no treasure at all."
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Switching his chisel a final time, Jacoben prepared himself for the last stage of carving prior to sanding and polishing the sculpture. This time he'd need to angle the chisel almost horizontal as he tried to remove the harsh lines and soften up the carving to better prep it for sanding. This was probably the most dangerous stage of making the sculpture as the chisel had a higher chance of slipping at the angle he needed to hold it. "Quell brulure! Quelle torture! Les flammes de sa chevelure devrent mon corps d'obscenes fletrissures! Infernal, bacchanale. L'Enfer noircit ma chair. Du peche de desir le ciel doit me punir," the silver haired artisan continued to sing as he worked, his voice somewhat less passionate than it should have been during this portion of the song but he didn't want to ruin his work by moving too much.
It was tough work, following the twisting curves of his work and chipping away at the straight edges one small portion at a time. Slowly but surely he began to smooth it out into something that he would actually be able to sand and polish. It was an extremely slow process as he could only remove small portions of stone at a time, light taps of the hammer against the chisel breaking off flecks and rounding sharp edges. "Est-ce ma faute? Pourqoi ce blame? C'est cette sorciere gitane, par qui mon couer s'enflamme! Est-ce ma faute? Si Notre Pere, a fait les hommes moins puissants que Lucifer?" the song was barely audible now as his focus was almost entirely on the sculpting.
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Word Count: 268
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2015 14:23:20 GMT
| Jacoben HP: 100% MP: 100% |
"Any treasure you obtain without ever having to work for it is no treasure at all."
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Once he had finished all the refining he could do with a chisel, Jacoben put aside his tools and reached for the stones he would be using to sand his sculpture. Technically harder than the stone he had been carving these particular stones had the right coarseness to allow him to sand away the imperfections of his sculpture and polish it to a smooth finish. With careful movements he began to rub the curves of the carvings, the rasping sound of stone on stone filling his workspace as he worked to complete his very first crafted item. No longer singing as he required focus for the delicate work he was doing at this stage of the sculpture. If he lost control of the sanding block he could ruin the hours of work that he had put into making this piece. Once he had gone over the sculpture with the first stone he swapped over to one with finer grit and repeated the process. With only three kinds of sanding stone it wasn't going to be as smooth and polished as a higher levelled crafter could have made, but he would still do his best. Eventually he put down the final sanding block and looked at what he had made. A wry grin spread across his features behind the scarf that had been tied around his face, he had done it, he had crafted his first item. Reaching into a nearby bucket of water Jacoben pulled out the cloth that had been soaking and began to wipe off his sculpture. The sanding had left a fine layer of particulate across the surface which needed to be removed before the sculpture could be considered finished. With every pass of the cloth Jacoben could see the fruits of his labour, the sculpture finally revealing its form to him in all its amateurish glory. It was far from the statues of Michaelangelo or Da Vinci, but it was a first step into the skills needed to get to that sort of level, and one day perhaps he'd be making items of that quality for other players to admire. That was assuming they stayed here long enough for such a vision to come true. Perhaps they'd all return to the real world before then. "Anyway, it's done... so now I guess I have to sell it," he mused aloud as he picked up and stared at his first sculpture, a simple but elegant celtic cross.  OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 410
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