The artist begins creation of a new statue by choosing a block of stone from a quarry. The choice may fit with a detailed plan worked out in a sketchbook, or may be the inspiration for the statue itself. The Renaissance artist Michelangelo believed that the figures he created already existed in the stone and his job was to release them.
After the selecting the stone, the artist takes it to the studio where he begins carving. The artist may work from a detailed sketch, a wax or clay model, a live model or directly from the imagination. Large blocks of stone are removed with hefty chisels and a mallet. Once the general form is created, the artist adds details with smaller chisels and hammers.
Once the details are in place, the artist refines them with a flat steel tool with a coarse surface called a rasp, along with a smaller but similar tool called a riffler. Once the artist is satisfied with the details, the statue is polished with sandpaper and emery. Polishing reveals patterns in the marble and brings out its hidden colors, as well as adds a sheen to the finished statue.