Select the type of stone you want to carve. For beginners, a softer stone is best. Of the softer stones, soapstone and alabaster are ideal for a beginner. Marble and granite are harder stones and require more strength and endurance to work with.
Draw the outline of your sculpture, or at least guidelines, onto the stone block. The drawing doesn't need to be detailed, but it should guide you as to which portions of stone you need to remove to find the shape of your sculpture.
Outline your sculpture using a point chisel and a mallet. If you've drawn guidelines, follow them with the point chisel to bring out the general shape of your sculpture. Work slowly, breaking away large chunks of stone until your sculpture has taken a rough shape. This process is called "roughing out."
Refine the shape of your sculpture with the tooth chisel. This is only the first step of refining, so it doesn't need to be perfect. Use a mallet and the tooth chisel to work your way around the outline of your sculpture, removing smaller sections of stone to begin refining your sculpture's overall form.
Remove the marks left by the tooth chisel using a flat chisel. This will further refine the shape of your stone. Tap at the flat chisel as you hold it to your stone at a 45-degree angle, removing only the tooth markings of the previous chisel. This step leaves a smooth finish on your stone or a final form to your sculpture.
Rub a steel rasp or rifler over the surface of your sculpture to further smooth it and remove any rough spots.