Life: Soapstone Carving

As an Alaskan ive seen a lot of soapstone carvings in my day. Its a hobby that the Inuit have been doing for years and years. I was feeing very artistic lately and i wanted to do something new, something i could really sink my teeth into and while looking up Inuit art for inspiration i discovered soapstone carving and wanted to try it.

I won a box of soapstone from eBay, we don't have soapstone just lying on the ground here in PA, which sucks for me, so i have to order it online. I got the box today and i dug right in, i couldnt wait. I saw a rock that would make a good seal. I wanted to stick to Inuit style and make the animals they usually make, bears, seals, walrus, Inuit people, fish, whales, stuff like that. So after reading a ton about this online i went to work to see what i could do.

As you can see i went from normal looking rock to seal-type creature. This isn't done of course, i need to do the detail and more fine sanding then polishing. But isn't it cool how the rock's true colors come out after a lot of filing and sanding?? Id say this isn't so bad for my first try and only a few hours of work, if that, to complete this sculpture. I plan on getting more tools and taking my time for my next project. I'll keep you updated, and as for soapstone carving? Its a really fun rewarding challenging hobby, but thats my two cents.