When 26-year-old Yash Soni began following Russian artist Salavat Fidai on Instagram, little did he know how much Fidai’s work would influence a change in his own. Fidai, one of the world’s finest micro sculpture artists, posted a time-lapse video of his pencil carving of two entangled hearts. One look, and Soni was hooked. Predisposed toward doodling and sketching, he became intrigued by this intricate art form where pencil lead could be turned into his canvas.
“It was totally worth it. In 10 Rupees, I carved my first heart on a pencil lead. I used a regular pencil and a regular craft cutter. It was done in one attempt, and that gave me motivation to carve further,” Soni shares with us.
The Process:
“Pencil carving is a very intricate and delicate form of art. Lead is very brittle and hence very fragile.” Soni prefers using 6B pencils, allowing him to play with both horizontal and vertical designs. Once Soni decides the subject of his sculpture he creates a mental plan on how to execute. “I like to use a surgical blade, but having said that, it is extremely sharp,” he comments jokingly.
While shaping the piece, any wrong move could result in completely scrapping it. It cannot be reversed or re-shaped. One wrong stroke of a blade and it has to be completely redone. The details and delicate parts are carved in last; while their brittle nature requires a whole lot of patience. “Sometimes lead is defaulted and broken from within. While carving they happen to break. Scraping the wood part and getting the clean cylindrical lead is one of the hurdles.” The sculptures are encased in 20ml - 30ml message bottles. The pencil is held with tweezers and gently glued to the centre of the glass bottom.
Motion in carving:
Other artists have tried to introduce their own style to pencil carving, yet Soni thought of taking it to another level. Hence, the windmill.
Inspired by the deathly Mumbai heat, the windmill consists of two separate pieces.
“Making the propeller/fan was easy but making the axel was difficult. A 3mm fan with a hole in the center demands an axle for the rotation of the fan. This is my second piece with motion incorporated, the first was two entangled hearts,” he says.
Check out more of Yash’s work on his Instagram page, you can get your own pencil carving by reaching out to Yash.
If you enjoyed this piece, we suggest you read: