Notes on teaching (english)

My teaching methods follow a mix of the basic traditional principles of finding planes and points within a stone.
I usually begin by asking the students / participants to clarify some of their ideas in one or various models or maquettes. These can be in clay, wax, plaster, cardboard or any fast working material that will survive a few weeks of handling. Once a maquette has been produced the scale should be decided. It can be presented next to and envisioned within a piece of stone.
If possible one or more points of reference should be taken from the model and found on the surface of the stone. If there is no point on the surface then one should be found below and taken as the first fixed point. From the first fixed point other points or planes can be found below the surface, connecting one to another. Correcting and cross referencing continually. Thus slowly bringing out the volume of the desired sculpture from within the stone, three dimensionally. Only once this has been done should any attention to detail occur.
Once the external points and planes are in the correct position the final details can be worked, quickly and accurately. The sculpture will be achieved without loosing control and without wasting too much time.
Things we will be covering.
Clothing for safety / comfort: gloves goggles, ear protection.
How to hold and use the points/hand tools.
How to hold and use the hammer. I.e. long swings
Body weight while working
Posture and body position
Never work above heart level
Marking out. Invest plenty of time finding one or two fixed points and from there work onwards to 2nd and 3rd outer points. Keep these connected; draw and maintain these connecting lines and points on the stone, they will help to maintain an order and use as cross reference as the work progresses.
Use of set squares
Use of parallel lines
Circles or spherical shapes using a profile
Use of angle cutter
Splitting the stone
Polishing.
Once one has learned and mastered these basic methods and feels comfortable in using the tools one can do whatever one wants.