What Are the 4 Basic Types of Sculpture?

There is subtraction (removing or engraving materials) or addition (adding materials) in the production process of sculptures. Generally divided into four basic types, namely modeling, casting, carving, or assembly. What are these four basic types do?

1. Modeling:

Modeling is an additional process. The media that artists use to mold sculptures include clay, wax, pulp, and plaster. When a soft or malleable material (such as clay) is constructed (sometimes on a skeleton) and shaped to create a form, a model sculpture is created. Model sculpture can also be the first step in casting or carving sculptures. It can also be viewed directly as art sculptures.

2. Casting:

The cast sculpture is made of molten material (usually metal) and then poured into a mold. Let the mold cool to harden the metal. Casting is an additive process. Casting sculpture involves modeling the sculpture, then making a mold and casting it in metal or other media. Bronze art sculptures are generally used in this step. Bronze sculptures occupy a large proportion of people’s lives, and many handed-down antiques are also made of bronze.

3. Carving:

The sculptor removes unnecessary material to create the shape. This is also called subtractive sculpture. Generally, materials such as wood blocks, stones, and other hard materials are used. Engraving involves cutting or cutting off a shape from a large amount of stone, wood, or other hard materials. The material is systematically removed from the outside to the inside. Carved sculptures, such as Michelangelo’s Pieta, can take years to be carved out of marble. Among carved sculptures, marble art sculptures are the most handed down. Many classic figures and gods have been handed down from generation to generation by marble carvings.

4. Assembly:

Sculptors gather and add different materials to create assembled art sculptures. Assembly is an additional process. Assembled sculptures will pull bits and pieces—some are recycled—from almost anywhere into textures that satisfy the artist. An example of a combination is Martin Puryear’s That Profile above.

No matter what kind of sculpture technique, it can produce beautiful art and leave a treasure that is handed down from generation to generation.