"Speak friend... and enter"

[Polylord]

When posting a thread about my project of carving the Argonath out of stone (click here), people asked me to post pictures of a previous project, of the Gates of Moria.

Here are some pictures of that carving I did out of stone. It represents the Gates of Moria, where the Fellowship try to enter the Mines of Moria.

Step 1: It all begins with a scan from the book of Lord of the Rings, and a
stone that I've filed flat.

Step 2: I've started with the first column and the branches of the tree that
curl around it.

Step 3: The first column starts to get its shape.

Step 4: It was hard to get the arch nice and round.

Step 5: The second column gets carved.

Step 6: The second column gets more details.

Step 7: A start on the right tree. The black lines you see are just lines in
the stone, not cracks fortunately!

Step 8: The branches of the trees are hard to shape in the stone, because
they're so tortuous.

Step 9: Starting on the part underneath the arch; the crown.

Step 10: The second column gets more detail, as gets the crown. I added the
stars above to the crown too, just to get an idea of what that will look like.
They will be erased later before being placed there permanently.

 

[Polylord]

Step 11: The branches of the right tree get more detail.

Step 12: The branches of the right tree are nearly finished, I started on the
left tree.

Step 13: The branches of the right tree are finished, the left tree starts to
get its shape.

Step 14: The left tree gets more detail, the first layer of a star appears in
the middle. The bottom parts of the trees are connected.

Step 15: Both trees are now practically finished.

Step 16: The star gets its second layer (4 points added). I made the stone
partially wet to see what effect the wax will have when I put it on later.

Step 17: The crown, the star, the columns and the arch get waxed.

Step 18: The final result: The Elvish markings are engraved in the arch (that
was a very precise job!). Edition size: 1/1.

 

[Jen]

That is absolutely amazing. What beautiful craftmanship. You should be very proud...that is a piece any LOTR fan would love to have in their collection and to think that you made it! Bravo!!!

 

[Rogue Trooper]

You are one talented person with some patience, this is unreal.
How long did it take you to carve this piece?

 

[Polylord]

You are one talented person with some patience, this is unreal.
How long did it take you to carve this piece?

Thanks for your kid words. I think it took a total of about 40 hours to make this piece.

 

[Alice Adrenochrome]

That's a lovely work!

 

[C-Phan]

Man !!! I always wanted to have stone sculpt skills !! You did a terrific work here.

 

[Polylord]

Man !!! I always wanted to have stone sculpt skills !! You did a terrific work here.

Thanks. I didn't know I had it in me, until I just tried it at first. And I found out I liked it and I'm good at it as well, hehe. Sometimes you just need to try something before you know you're any good.

 

[Cocoboloboy]

Thanks. I didn't know I had it in me, until I just tried it at first. And I found out I liked it and I'm good at it as well, hehe. Sometimes you just need to try something before you know you're any good.

I couldn't agree more with this statement and yes, you ARE good at it. Keep it up! It looks fantastic!

 

[Darth Cruel]

I can only imagine what it must feel like to be able to sit down and make something so incredible appear from a stone. Beautiful work.

 

[artistrex]

Looks awesome, I love carving. It's a bit time consuming but It's rewarding

 

[The Craw]

that looks very good polylord. cant wait to see more of your argonath as well.

 

[Dante]

Outstanding work matey. You should think about going pro, there has to be a market for work like that.

 

[Polylord]

Outstanding work matey. You should think about going pro, there has to be a market for work like that.

Thanks for the compliment. However, going pro isn't what I'm looking to do. For instance, the Gates of Moria was about 40 hours of work. If you have to make a living, you'd have to charge people approx. $ 600 (40 hours times $15 an hour) for this piece. There's nobody that's gonna buy it for that price.

That's why I keep it as a hobby and keep the things I make for myself. There's not a day that goes by without me enjoying my sculpt, and I'm sure it won't be any different once the Argonath are finished

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

That's a beautiful piece of art. You're quite the craftsman.

 

[Mooncat]

Given the amount of time and effort id get this thing in a studio of some descript and get it lit and photographed professionally. Realise that would just be for our benefits as you get the real thing but given the amout of work thats gone into it. Id be showing it off

 

[Polylord]

Given the amount of time and effort id get this thing in a studio of some descript and get it lit and photographed professionally. Realise that would just be for our benefits as you get the real thing but given the amout of work thats gone into it. Id be showing it off

Haha, thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to make some good pictures of it myself tho. With my "simple" digital camera and some "home made" lighting (a lightbulb and opening the curtains on the other side ), I'm capable of making some very nice pictures. If you don't believe me, just check my site

And for the ones who don't think pictures do the thing justice... feel free to come over

 

[dwing]

Amazing work. I tried to carve stone once-I picked up a stone and then said nah! Wish I had the time.

 

[galactiboy]

If you have to make a living, you'd have to charge people approx. $ 600 (40 hours times $15 an hour) for this piece. There's nobody that's gonna buy it for that price.

I don't know, people pay pretty insane prices for custom and one of a kind items. If you keep at it and spread the word around you could probably make some scratch out of commision work. I once spent $300 on a statue at an arts and crafts show just because I loved the piece and enjoyed talking to the artist about his work.

 

[Polylord]

I don't know, people pay pretty insane prices for custom and one of a kind items. If you keep at it and spread the word around you could probably make some scratch out of commision work. I once spent $300 on a statue at an arts and crafts show just because I loved the piece and enjoyed talking to the artist about his work.

Thanks for the tip. I'll think about it. However, the Argonath will stay in my posession for at least a couple of years, I'll probably be too proud of them to sell them