After this photo was taken, I added the polka dots and stripes on the shield signifying the color code for the gold and red of the Van Heeckeren's.
Crest stone with Van Heeckeren family coat of arms, Bentheimer sandstone, 120 cms wide
It was a very interesting assignment, because the coat-of-arms are usually very lively depictions. Because I like it when a relief has a little volume, this one was carved about twelve centimetres (five inches) deep; This gave me the chance to undercut parts such as the tail and two front legs and especially to carve the helmet very open and voluminous. As a result, there is a very clear distinction between light and darkness.
The relief was carved out of Bentheimer sandstone, type Gildehaus. It is 120 cms in diameter and a total of 20 cms thick, of which the relief itself has 12 cms of depth.
The griffins and the base are now just about carved. Now it's time for the helmet and the mantling, and then all the details need to be carved really crisp (nails, hairs, dotting the i's and crossing the t's…). Finally, I will have a go at the profiled edge, but that can be seen in a next post.
On the photo can be seen how the stone changes color when it dries. The wet areas are still dark, and the drying parts are much lighter. When sandstone is outside for a long time, under the influence of the weather, and perhaps algae or moss, depending on where it is located, it will gradually darken again. That could take another decade or more. In any case, this sandstone easily lasts a few hundred years, a reassuring idea.
