I have never done marble - I imagine it must be hard work - nor steel. It would be interesting to learn about the artistic process for either one of the pieces you posted.

Take care,
Uvi

<<I have never done marble
- I imagine it must be hard work >>

Believe it or not, marble is a pleasant material to work with - soft as sugar. Chisels stay sharp almost forever - unlike granite, that is a bustard - you literally need a person to sharpen them as you work.

The sculpture is within the marble block, just like Michelangelo said. Michelangelo - such a lame example - too popular, but honestly, he got a big influence on me. I quit art at the age of 8 when I realized that my drawings do not look as good as his. I did not touch the brush or pencil until I turned 14 - decided to become a physicist, you should have seen my parents happy faces... In Russia at that time physics was the word of the day - they/us (russians) all a little mad on physics - nuclear physics is in the High School program.
Anyway I had won some school awards on physics - even dated a physics teacher, but look at me now - painting frescoes, Michelangelo never let me off the hook.
The sculpture is trapped inside of the marble block, I have a few sitting in my studio waiting for me to see what's in them. As soon as the image comes to mind (may take a few years) - comes the "easy" part, cutting is a pleasure. I would have never understood drawing if I had not sculpted.

Steel is a little different -- material is the key! I grew up surrounded with the relicts of the "Glorious Commie Revolution" - canons, first world war/revolucia machine guns, armed vehicles that Lenin used to speak from according to the russian textbook myths, battleships - material of distraction, then the plants and the glory of beating the America in steel production per citizen. Dead material, cold and hard. Even looking at the western art steel sculptures the one still sees cold and sharp geometrical forms, abstract and not appealing to life - pure aesthetics.
Sundance is the breath of the fresh air (at lest for me) when the cold history of the material meets the beauty, charm and innocence of the children dancing under the sun. If you see the piece in person you must notice that the edges are rough - cut with the torch - no finishing, just the melted cut, like a battleship, but the poetry of the new life that is cutting through the cold, dead luggage of the past, springing its leafs for the future, the poetry is clear.

Maybe it is just what I see...

Ilia Anossov
http://www.truefresco.com/anossov

Here is another steel sculpture of mine - the Trinity

I might get expelled forom every church on earth for that one, because we know that the Holy Trinity is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father - is clear, the Son - is clear too, but what is the Holy Spirit? For me it is the Woman - that simple.
In my sculpture father is the base, two figures are the son and the mother.

Usually artists select their media to complement the idea of their art - it is very interesting that in your "Sundance" piece the material contrasts against the idea!

Then the execution. I start with the face, because if the expression isn't right I'll have to start over. Once the face is done I complete the head around it, but do not apply the hair yet - that would come later when I decide on the direction of the gales of wind.

Then I do the feet and hands, in accordance with the movement I have in mind. They are hollow with the exception of fingers and toes.

Meanwhile, I build the neck under the head. It too is hollow. (in general the 'wall thickness' is half a centimeter for any structure I create. Then I proceed to build the shoulders, arms are created, the hands are attached.

So far, the sculpture stands vertically. At this point I need to lay it horizontally to continue work on the body - or else it will collapse upon itself. (Of course, I create an internal armature inside the sculpture as I build it.)

So I lay it on a wooden shelf, create legs, body, build scuffoldings in places the movement needs to 'lift' the figure away from the shelf. The scuffolding is made of clay so it will shrink at the same rate as the figure itself.

At this point I work on the garments, in this case it is more then a 'decorative' detail - it is in fact the structure that will support the sculpture when it will finally stand upright. Her feet are not touching the ground - she is floating above, so it is the garments that hold her up there. Hair is added.

Once the piece is bisque fired I intend to glaze the garments with a transparent glaze, so they will have a different shine than her skin, and fire her again.

Has it been fired already? Would like to see it standing up.