The following photo essay shows in brief, the process involved in bringing ideas from a small concept sketch, to full size lettering ready to be carved into a stone.  As I begin to carve the letters I will post more photos.  This stone is a piece of Vermont green slate.   The "back" of the stone, or the the side with the poem, is "honed", which means the surface has been worked and smoothed.  The "front" of the stone has a "riven" or "natural cleft" surface (it will be shown in a later entry) and is a rougher surface.  The natural cleft is the actual face of the slate which has been broken or "cleaved" away from the larger stone slab, or from the mountain itself.

The original sketch.

Re-drawing the final full size letters.

The finished lettering for the poem.

Measuring for the lines to be drawn onto the stone.

Ruling the lines.

Transferring the finished letters to the stone.

Stanza I, transferred onto the stone.

Stanza II

Stanza III

Ready to go!

Preparing to hoist the stone up for easier carving.