August 8, 2010

Pencil Sculptures - miniature masterpieces carved into graphite by Dalton Ghetti

Pencil sculptures
miniature masterpieces carved into graphite by Dalton Ghetti

The alphabet, all carved from 26 pencil tips

A sculpture of Elvis Presley wearing shades, carved from a single pencil

A tiny saw, using both the wood and graphite of a single pencil

Dalton uses three basic tools to make his incredible creations - a razor blade, sewing needle and sculpting knife. He even refuses to use a magnifying glass and has never sold any of his work, only given it away to friends. He said: "I use the sewing needle to make holes or dig into the graphite. I scratch and create lines and turn the graphite around slowly in my hand"

The longest Dalton has spent on one piece was two and half years on a pencil with interlinking chains. A standard figure will take several months. He said: "The interlinking chains took the most effort and I was really pleased with it because it's so intricate people think it must be two pencils"

A tiny key hangs from a ring

Dalton, who is originally from Brazil , has a box full of more than 100 sculptures that have broken while working on them that he affectionately calls 'the cemetery collection'. He said: "I have quite a few broken pieces so I decided to glue them on pins and into styrofoam for a display case. People might think it's weird I keep them but they're still interesting. I worked on them for months so they might be dead now but at one point I gave them life"

Two interlocking hearts, carved from one pencil

Dalton hollowed out the centre of the wood, then carved the central column of graphite to create this hanging, linked heart

Carved from the graphite in a normal pencil: A tiny hammer

Carved from the graphite in a normal pencil: A tiny button

This carving shows a goblet being held by a hand, all carved from one pencil's graphite

Carved from the graphite in a normal pencil: A highly-detailed boot

A miniature graphite chair

Using the eraser end of a pencil, Dalton created a tiny cross sculpture from the internal graphite

A mini mailbox on a post

An intricately-detailed screw, carved in one piece from a pencil's graphite


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