I chose Michelangelo for my project and now that I have gone through four or five bars of soap just to produce a forgettable sculpture of a canoe, I have an even greater appreciation of the talent, patience and effort it takes to bring a work of art like "David" to completion. I would think that a sculptor would have to be in good physical condition to be able to chisel marble and at the same time use the fine motor skills needed to be able to make the precise cut that is required for some of the detail.

The subtraction method does not give the artist any room for error. If one makes a cut that is too deep and/or gouges the medium at a critical point in the development of the sculpture then there is no "fixing" it.

When I started my first attempt I used a steak knife. When I couldn't handle the steak knife I chose an Exacto knife. I even tried heating a butter knife to see if it would help me make better cuts. I ended up using one of my husband's pocket knives since it was smaller and easier for me to handle.

Vicki Galati