Material defects
This Owl, another flying buttress figurine carved for St. Eusebius' church in Arnhem, resisted the copying quite a bit. Not that it's such a difficult figurine, it is simple enough. But I was almost done and would only just carve the remaining profiles at the bottom, when I discovered that the dark line at the bottom became a crack, and that with each stroke it became a bit clearer. I still bravely plodded on, but I already knew where it went, and when I began to do the finish chiselling the crack ran all the way through to the other side. Well, that can happen, a faulty material. Better that we discover it now than once it's been a few years up high on the church. So I carved another one.
The stone comes with a warranty from the quarry I believe, and I won't need to buy that myself. That was provided by the stonemason, I only do the carving. Oh well, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
The tear in the bottom part
The crack went all the way through the owl
The back of the old Owl
The back of the copied Owl
Owl with feathers
The old tuff owl was very simple, and especially the back, which is turned towards the public, was a strange case. And boring too. I've carved everything a bit clearer and given it some more details, but basically it's still the same. I can do it in my sleep by now, after copying it twice.
The copied Owl in Muschelkalk limestone
The Old Owl, out of tuff