Progress update ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ Still working on the right arm and right hand but I jumped around a little and started fixing other areas like the left side where the shirt meets shorts. The curvature wasn’t quite right before. As I’ve said before, this is very much a learning process for me. I try to keep challenging myself and this carving is no different. The cool thing for me to see is the improvement of my understanding of relief carving just within the scope of this single project. The legs for example- they’re not done. I knew I wanted to go back and re carve them but now I have a much better sense of what I need to do after having worked on other parts. Relief is an interesting challenge. I still think I prefer carving in the round (think free standing sculpture), but I’m glad I’m learning how to do this. Stay tuned for more updates… I’m off to bed. Back at it tomorrow.

Hey bro, hold my chisel for sec. Need to post something silly on nostr. ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️

Progress continues ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ Reworking the right hand a little bit now. I’d started in on some details but the perspective was off so now I’m pushing certain parts deeper. The positioning of this hand (and the blurriness in parts of the original photo) make it especially tricky. So right now I’m working to make the thumb appear further back than it really is, giving the palm more depth by pushing it further into the stone, making sure the various angles are correct. When I’m happy with all that, I’ll move on to adding details like lines in the palm, fingernails and creases/wrinkles etc. Once this hand is done… I’ll be moving on to the head. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about that, but also a little excited. If I can pull this off, it will represent a big step up in my abilities as a sculptor. Onwards…

Forgot to share the result… fun little test project I completed recently, a relief carving in green slate from Vermont with 24k gold leaf. I took inspiration from Japanese kin byobu (folding screens) with the idea being to possibly create larger works with multiple panels… What do you think?

Just putting this out there.. My local stone supplier has a 1014 lb block of orange calcite available. Anybody want to commission a monumental Bitcoin B? Just imagine it sitting by your pool and the sun making it glow as Bitcoin hits $1MM.☀️

Carving continues ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ Still working on Hal’s right hand but I have a good grasp on what needs doing to make it look right. I’ve also pulled his right arm deeper into the stone to add more depth as I work on the hand. The lighting you see here is interesting to note as it’s the angle I’m using to check my progress. Also approximately the same angle as the sun in the original photo of Hal. With any sculpture, but with relief in particular, lighting and the shadows created from that lighting are key.

I recently picked up an 80lb block of Carrara marble. 🏛️ I will be splitting it into ~8 smaller blocks and creating variations on the piece I carved for another Bitcoiner, below. Let me know in replies or DMs if you’re interested! 🤝

Back at it… ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ Currently working on the right hand and feeling like I’m a little more than halfway through this marathon. Once I finish this hand I’m going to move on to the shoes or the head. Maybe the shoes because they’ll be easier and carving hands makes my brain hurt. Once I “finish” everything, I’ll then need to go back and make adjustments and refinements. Still a lot left to do.

Done for today ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ Today I worked on the left arm and started defining the right arm, shoulder and hand. You’re seeing the panel after I’ve just done some light sanding of the background and washed the dust away with water. With a bright overhead light. Gives me a more accurate progress update. Back at it tomorrow.

Studio selfie ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ I’ve been working on this Hal Finney relief for over a month now. Gives you time to think. We have so much to be grateful for with Bitcoin, and to Hal, we owe a great deal. Wish I could have met him. For those just seeing this, I’m planning to auction this piece off on @Scarce.City for the 4th annual Running Bitcoin Challenge benefitting ALS research. This is a relief carving in reclaimed slate, and the panel is almost 2 feet tall, so my largest relief yet. Stay tuned for more updates and wish me luck. It’s going to be a race to finish this in time for the auction mid January..

Carving update ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ Made some progress on the left hand but still not finished / happy with it yet. I’m moving on to the left arm and other areas for a bit though. Done for today. Back at it tomorrow.

We picked up some stone today. Carrara marble on the left that I’ll be splitting into smaller pieces. Persian red travertine in the middle. Likely going to make that into a planter. Italian ice alabaster in the back right… I’m thinking a melting fiat ice cube theme🧊 for that one. And a small block of New Mexico travertine that’ll likely end up as another planter. Successfull haul.💪

Currently on my way to grab drinks with friends. Been working nonstop on this piece and need a mental break. 🧠 Unfortunately I am a sculptor which means that even when I’m not in my studio, I can’t help but analyze my work and plan what needs to be done next. Is the angle of the calf right? Oh yeah the inner thigh probably needs to be brought in a bit more sharply. How am I going to make the hair look right? Gonna need to test that texture before I do that. That right shoulder definitely needs to get pushed in more so I have more room to work with when I carve the head. Shoelaces!!! View quoted note →

Progress continues ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ Currently working on the left hand… trying to stay true to the perspective in the photo and it’s not easy. If I was doing the design from scratch I would have positioned Hal’s fingers so they’re fully visible and not curled inwards. It’s proving tricky to get the right perspective…

Back to work ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️

‼️“Free Yourself” Bronze Casts‼️ Reach out to me ASAP if you’d like to acquire one for your collection. Limited to 21 pieces and I still have some numbers available. $5,000+shipping The foundry I work with will be pouring some molten metal VERY soon.

Progress continues ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ At this phase I’m using just hammer and chisel and sand paper. It’s a very slow process but worth it for the control it provides. I read once that Michelangelo’s early carving, Madonna of the Stairs, took him between two and three years to complete, and it’s no wonder why. Reliefs are different than sculpting in the round. I’m starting to think of it as less sculpting stone and more as the sculpting of light and shadow. With a classic statue, you create something in three dimensions. Still very difficult, but you don’t have to create the illusion of depth. With reliefs, it’s more akin to painting, or rather, halfway in between. You get to play in three dimensions, but you’re constrained in the third dimension and have to create more depth than there actually is.

Nowhere near complete, but it’s starting to come together. ⚒️🏃🏻‍♂️ For now, I’m focused on the broad strokes and making sure the depth of each part appears correct. Relief carving is all about creating the illusion of true depth. Which are the high points, closest to the viewer? Which points need to be deeper to make them appear further away? In this phase, even as it starts going from 2D to more of a 3D appearance, it still has a somewhat cartoonish feel. But once I get depths right, I’ll move onto the details and finish, and that will bring everything together. If all goes well, the end result will be true to the photo of Hal we all know so well. Back to work…

$100,000 ✅

Hey folks. What are your favorite wallet apps to use with nostr in the US? I do not want to open any lightning channels at this time and I’m looking for something like WoS that still works in the states…