new scrimshaw: "Generations" knife (people portraits!)

KatherinePlumer

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Hi everyone! I hope I'm not overwhelming you with new scrim. There's one more project yet to post after this one! ;-)

I have to tell you the story of how this project came to be, because I fully expect a few turned up noses over the fact that it's a kit knife. A friend of mine had been kicking around the idea of having me scrim a knife for his dad for a couple of years. His dad is a serious knife enthusiast, though perhaps not a diehard "collector." He finally decided on a subject matter and commissioned me to do the knife for Christmas this year. The subject was portraits of him, his dad, and his grandfather. Thus began the Generations Knife. I'll admit my initial reaction to people portraits was "eeek!" but it was really okay. I think the thing about drawing people is it's sort of psychologically challenging because everybody thinks it's really hard. It's not that bad. Lines, curves, lights and darks is all it is... in proportion and in the right place of course!

So, we got to talking about what knife would be good, and I helped him look, and we found a really stunning knife with wart hog ivory scales (that's why I asked about scrimming wart hog a couple months ago). But the more my friend thought about it, the more he wanted to be involved in the project, and he's pretty talented, so after making sure it would still be okay for me to work on, he made a kit knife with pre-ban elephant ivory scales. It was not a matter of budget, it was just that he wanted to take part in creating the finished piece, and it didn't change the work that he wanted me to do. And it's not like this is the sort of knife that's going to be out on the market, so "collector value" was not an issue, it's obviously going to stay in the family. So I was cool with that.

It did make the design immediately more challenging though, because instead of a knife smooth field of ivory, or a couple of unobtrusive little pins, there were now big ole screws to deal with.



"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." I decided I'd have to incorporate the screws into the design. Once I got the reference material and sat down and really had a look at things, I knew I wanted to make it an old time style image with an oval border. It definitely needed to be contained somehow, and not just be floating heads! I asked if I could really go all out and put the guys in fancy old suits and really go for the old fashioned look, and he thought that sounded great! Designing the layout took a while...

The image is all dots, and it took a really really long time. This was pretty intense.

I'm thrilled with how it turned out. So is my friend. And so is his dad, who got the knife for Christmas! :big grin:

Here's another little progression for you!









Every now and then I remember to throw a penny in there for scale:






Here it is finished!!!







Thanks for looking!

-Katherine
 

John B.

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Wow, Katherine, You really outdid yourself on this one.
Just beautiful and a wonderful treasure for many more generations to come.
Thank you for sharing it with us and the great photos.
Best regards.
 

armcarve

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Mar 31, 2007
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montville ct.
Katherine,
This is just soooo...great. The sequence of photos & the story about the knife is wonderful & the scrim is fantastic.
Amy
 

Roger Bleile

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Oct 4, 2007
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Northern Kentucky
Katherine,

The quality of your work on this piece is masterful! Nothing is more challenging than rendering the human face especially that of a specific person. Whether your work was on a kit knife, a high end custom or a kitchen knife should be of no importance to other artisans. The work speaks for itself regardless of the object it is rendered on. And of course the customer is always right.

Roger
 

Sam

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Katherine, you're on a roll! Sakes alive this is amazing work. You really control light and shadow beautifully. And your photos are top notch, too! Thank you for sharing your talents with us. We're fortunate to have you here. / ~Sam
 

vilts

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Estonia
The colored dog was top notch, but honestly, this is just over the top! My favorite so far and I'm eagerly waiting what are you going to do that's even better :)
 

Joe

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Jun 2, 2007
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Location
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Katherine,
To log on and find that you have posted is always the most exciting thing about the forum for me. I have envied your tallent and accomplishment ( in a good way ) for a long time. The Generations amazes me. You leave us all wanting more. Your gift is a gift to us all.
 

JJ Roberts

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Katherine, your animal anatomy always impressed me, and these portraits are outstanding. Keep up the good work.

JJ Roberts
 

filbertius

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Apr 24, 2008
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"Lines, curves, lights and darks is all it is... in proportion and in the right place of course!"
That is the secret - and, Wow, you delivered!
Gary
 

KatherinePlumer

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Jul 25, 2007
Messages
235
Location
Oak Run, CA
Thank you everybody! Your kind comments mean a lot to me. :) It was a big sigh of relief to finish this knife, but good golly I love doing scrimshaw!

-Katherine
 

Marcus Hunt

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Fantastic work as usual Katherine!!!

Just an observation that I've noticed with modern scrimshaw which I was wondering if you could comment on? To get the photo-realism virtually all scrimshanders seem to have gone over to the 'dot' technique (rather like a lot of engravers). Do you stipple or engrave the ivory? If the former, do you just push down into the material, or if the latter, how do you get your cuts so consistent?

I think what interests me (and dare I say it - a lot of other engravers) so much about your work (like a lot of other fine engraving too) is not so much the finished articles (which are always fabulous so that goes without saying) but seeing the techniques you use to bring such life to your scrim. Thanks so much for sharing this art form with us.
 

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