Pitching. Cutting with a blade.

Quoted text begins. Can you illustrate for use some uses
of texture for me?
Elaine
End of quote.

Not exactly sure I understand the question. In relief carving,
(particularily low relief) use a bush chisel or frosting tool on the flat
background to really bring out the carving. Sometimes a claw can be used
for this same purpose. Some of my work involves historic restoration
where I need to duplicate what is to be replaced. As Tomas mentioned, all
sorts of tooling is left on the surface, and I find myself trying to put
myself into the mind of the original carver so as to understand the how and
why of what was done. Just looking at what others have done can be quite a
learning experience. In my sculpture, I begain experimenting with surface
textures for much the same reason you are--I was bored with finishing
everything smooth. That plus the fact that some of my more resent work is
of a lot larger scale (pieces 5 to 7 feet tall), so the texture helps keep
the work itself from being too boring.(well, that too is in the eye of the
beholder.) Much of my sculptural work involves curving shapes moving
around and through the piece, and the texture can assist the eye along the
journey by defining various planes. Also, I find that it is a lot of fun
to play around with the different tools and see just what can be done with
them. My current favorite is the criss-cross bushing tool from T&H. It
leaves a lovely pattern on the stone. Personally, I believe when it comes
to stone carving, there are no rules, or restrictions other than those we
impose upon ourselves. I remember a very early piece that another carver
told me when he saw it that "you can't do that with stone". Luckily I
wasn't told it couldn't be done before I went and did it. LOL.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to shoot me a private email.
JVC