This form of picture carving is a relatively new and most unique form of carving art. You won't find these in Walmart or Target, in fact, it remains almost unknown to most people in the USA. It's origin begins in China and seems to go back a mere 30 years or so. Each picture carving begins as a piece of finely polished black granite and the carving skills of a master artist. Our artist have a minimum of (3) years of training under the guidance of a master stone carver. The artist needs only a image/photograph, a stone and a pointed chisel to create these wonderful works of art. Some will take up to one week (or longer) to create. The face of the stone is struck by the tiny point of the chisel. Each strike will make the smallest indentation in the stone. The more times the stone is struck, the lighter the indentation appears. Unstruck areas now appear as shadows.