[The Sculpture Yard]Creating Masks[Closed]

[Vanwen Frostfawn]

Creating Masks 1st of Fall, 511AV The sun had barely risen in the sky by the time Vanwen had himself situated on a stone bench in the center of the sculpture yard. Dressed in black, loose pants and a dark blue shirt, he had only brought a block of wood roughly the size of an adult head, and his woodcarving kit, a lacquered box of dark wood. He sat straddling the bench, using the space as a makeshift workspace. He'd be more comfortable working some place else, but being surrounded by artists and by the sculptures themselves made him feel better than he was. Even at this early hour there were people already hard at work on sculptures, or posed in thought on one of the benches, or walking around admiring the statues, looking for inspiration or studying techniques. Most of these people were from the Skyglow hold, people who devoted their entire lives to the pursuits he was currently practicing. Van moved the box arms length away from him on the bench and lifted the lid off, nesting the bottom part of the box inside it. He laid out the cloth which covered his tools on the bench with a flourish, as if it was a tablecloth. Next, he took each tool from the kit and placed them onto the cloth, reverently. He could have taken them from the box as needed, but Van liked the ritual of his preparation. He next picked up the wooden block, which had been sitting between his legs, and considered it. It was to have been firewood before he had taken this piece from the pile. It was soft wood, and would've burned out much too quickly (which is how he justified taking it, he thought guiltily). He had marked off roughly where the eyes and the nose and the mouth would go. It would be a simple carving, lacking much of the detail of more skilled artists, but would remain identifiably human. He would practice creating more details at a later date. First, though, he needed to work on the very broadest of detailing, shaping the head. He took the largest chisel from his set, preparing to take the angles off, working along the rounded edges he had drawn on previously. He picked up a small mallet from the kit, holding it in his left hand, and placing the chisel in his right. He placed the chisel flush against the wooden block, and hammered the mallet against the chisel handle with firm, slow strikes. It took four before the point of the chisel went through the wood, removing one corner from the block of wood. He would need to do much more work to smooth and shape properly, and would need to take more off. Instead of moving on immediately on to more work, Van instead took a moment to study the wood where he had carved away. He could see a gouge where he had allowed the chisel to sink too deeply into the wood, and the angle he took wasn't perfect. He'd need to do more detailing, and unless he wanted to risk splitting the wood and ruining the piece, he'd need to live with the gouge that would undoubtedly remain on the top of the masks' forehead. 'I've barely started and I've already made a mistake. If anyone was watching Van at that moment, they would have seen a face void of most expression, his mouth relaxed but straightened, his cheeks slack. It was a kind of mask he wore to hide the frustration at the mistake he'd made, and the mistakes he knew would come as he continued. It felt like an effort for Van to keep this face up. Sometimes it was easier than others, but this was not one of those times. Van calmed the more he thought about the mistake. The imperfection was there, and he couldn't do anything about it. It might even add character to the mask. All he could try to do was work as well as he could, and learn from his own mistakes. Shaking himself off the distractions, Van rotated the wood block to another corner, placed his chisel and mallet back into position, and began working again.