Building a studio

[Don Dougan <dondougan@xxxxxxxx>]

Howard:

You have plenty of great info on setting up a studio from all the other
folks on the list -- the only thing I would like to add is to stress the
need for direct incandescent light in addition to general fluorescent
light.

Though I cannot always do so, I try to do most of my carving outdoors in
direct sunlight when the weather permits.  Nothing can beat working under
the sun on a nice day.   However, the climate where you are might not be
conducive to working outdoors, or your schedule might require you work
when there is no natural sunlight, so you need to consider at least two
types of indoor lighting.

I have fluorescent lighting fixed in my studio, but I also use have 100
to 300watt incandescent or halogen lights for use when I am actually
shaping the stone.   When I teach a class in stone (or wood) carving,  I
make sure each student has a portable light on a movable stand during the
working session.

Fluorescent lighting -- more-or-less shadowless -- is great for general
work in the studio -- it makes it easy to see small items dropped on the
floor and it is the most economical way to light a space.  But for
carving (and tool sharpening - *see below) I have found a need for direct
light that WILL cast a shadow.  Fine details of subtly-refined surfaces
(that stone is so adept at allowing) cannot be seen in fluorescent
lighting -- but a 100 or 150 watt bulb in a movable fixture (w/reflector
shade) placed only a short distance away from the workpiece will reveal
all the little imperfections you couldn't see in the general lighting.
And if you can't see it, how are you going to address the problem?  The
play of light and shadow is what makes sculptural form for the viewer, so
take advantage of that play while you're working.

I am not the first or the only one that feels this way -- read Malvina
Hoffman's account of her days as a student of Auguste Rodin in her book:
SCULPTURE INSIDE AND OUT **

The only American woman student Rodin ever accepted to teach, Malvina
Hoffman describes the master taking her to the Louvre late in the
afternoon just before it would close, and he would move a lighted candle
(pre-electric lighting in the galleries) held near the surfaces of the
classical Greek and Roman stone sculptures to show her the perfection of
surface forms.

Now, I grant you some of that perfection of surface form was a direct
result of using hand abrasive stones to smooth the surfaces -- rubbing
stones by their very nature tend to create 'perfect' and regular curves.
But with a careful touch and sense of craftsmanship you can create those
same 'perfect' and regular curves with modern power tools . . . as long
as you can see the subtleties of the surface that can only be revealed by
long-shadowed direct light! ***

If your carving is small enough, place it on a lazy-susan turntable and
slowly turn the work in direct light.  This will reveal to you all the
obvious areas that need refining.  I do this with almost every piece I
work on, usually near the end of the stone removal stages when I am
grinding or sanding my final contours.  And if the size of the workpiece
makes the lazy-susan impractical, I move the light around the piece,
chalking and marking the areas that need further work..

Good luck with the new studio -- I envy you.  If I had read what has been
written here on the list when I built my studio 20-odd years ago I would
have made it a lot differently and wouldn't have been regretting (for
years) some of the seat-of-the-pants decisions I made back then.  It
would have been so simple to address radiant heating and plumbing when I
was pouring the floor or overhead lifting space when putting on a roof.
Oh, well - live and learn.

Good Carving to you.
Don Dougan

* direct light for tool sharpening -- for determining the relative
dullness or keenness of   an edge, good direct light is a valuable tool
(one among many, to be sure).  Hold up the blade in question, sighting
along the sharpened edge with a direct light source so as to reflect on
that sharp edge.  If you see a 'white' line of reflection on the edge you
know it is dull.  When you have sharpened and honed the edge properly,
you will not see a white line of reflected light.

** though the book has been out-of-print for years, there were a number
of copies available through http://www.Alibris.com  when I last checked a
couple of months ago.  It was published by W.W. Norton & Co. in New York,
1939.

*** this perhaps is stretching the truth -- your sense of touch will also
reveal those subtleties of the surface, though as a 'visual' artist I
cannot help but place what I see as slightly more important than what I
can feel  -- but I use my sense of touch to tell me what needs to be
refined too!