Recently, an assignment for my college was to make an aluminum cast piece of artwork. Casting is a process where you dig into an object so that a liquid with properties of solidification to fill in. You break the original objects and then you have your art. For our projects, we used sand blocks that we etched into with metal tools. I covered the piece with a charcoal and alcohol mixture, and then I burnt the ever-living hell out of the alcohol leaving the charcoal behind.
For this piece, I quickly sketched out an idea of a dragon. I wanted the dragon to have very sharp features and overall just be angry looking.
Without much preparation, I dug into a sand block with many tools. The process was quite relaxing and enjoyable if not slow. As I was digging it came to my attention that I was doing the whole piece wrong. However, there was nothing I could do to change this as I already dug too deep. You see, casting works in reverse of the direction you dug. The deeper you will dig the further it will stick out in relief. That being said, I am happy with the final piece and I think I managed to save it with paint. If you ever get the chance to cast an object I encourage you to learn from my mistakes. And know if you make mistakes you can always save it with paint.
Here's some footage of the aluminum being poured enjoy