finally anodized the girl

Dani Girl

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Its almost finished. Sometimes I just see what I should do with a space and sometimes nothing good comes. I filled the space around the pivot shaft... it fills the gap but it's not magical by any means. I think I'll take the advice of adding a third rose tomorrow... and that's that done.

Does anyone have an idea for specifically how I can improve the look of my work, what well engraved scroll 'heads' look like... tips on improving leaf shapes etc?

Thanks everyone.

Danae.
 

atexascowboy2011

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You're on the right track by adding the additional flower, IMO.
In art there is a rule of threes. I, myself would also like to see some more of your leaves to fill in the background of your bouquet. Yes, it is a great focal point, but to me it detracts from your excellent scrollwork.
JMO.
AS others have said, your work is outstanding. :clapping:
 

Andrew Biggs

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Hi Dane

This is where good resource books come in handy. Failing that, have a search on the internet and look at some of the fabulous web sites showing some world class engravers work. I would also suggest that you save some of these pictures onto your computer for future reference. Take a very close look at the work of Coggan, Lovenberg, Pozzobon, Pedersoli, Creative Art, Griffne, Martens, Alfano, Lindsay, Strolz and a whole host of others.

There are basically four ways to make a head on the scroll.

1. A ball

2. A leaf

3. A flower

4. A zoomorphic (Animal form)

You’ll find that just about everything is a variation or combinations of the above. Some heads are extremely elaborate and others very simple depending exactly what you want to achieve and the complexity of the design. Once you key into the complexities of the designs you will start developing your own variations that eventually become your own style.

Cheers
Andrew
 

Dani Girl

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Ok, this one's finished. I am sure it won't be long before I look at it and think I could have done that part better.

Andrew thanks heaps for all the advice and encouragement. I'll do some searching now.

This knife is 3" closed.

Danae.
 
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Andrew Biggs

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Hi Danae

Yes, you do your best on the day and move onto the next project and take with you what you have learnt on the previous peice.

What you have done is good. Of that there is no doubt........it's the finesse and constant striving to do better that turns the work from average to excellent.

I have attached below something for you to think about.......it's from an old thread with Arnaud and I've modified it slightly.

It concerns line thickness when cutting and the importance of having scrolls/leaves touching borders during the design and main line cutting phases.

Cheers
Andrew

When you engrave you have to develop an understanding about line thickness

Photo 1: Scribed lines/Transfers. You’ll notice that the lines at A does not touch the border. B does not touch the other scroll……………..C touches the line. Now watch what happens further down the engraving process.

Photo 2: Main Cuts. When you cut something and are going to remove the background you cut on the outside of the scribed line/transfer because essentially that line becomes part of the background. If you don’t do that your design will be “thinner†than you originally intended it to be.

Figure A & B shows the lines now touch…………but it is only the outside of the lines………..so it’s not to bad after all………but keep watching that area as you move through the photos.

Figure C & D the lines merge into one another so there is only one line thickness where they join. The arrows indicate that from the yellow mark I cut in both directions where the lines converge.

Photo 3: Background removal: Now you can start seeing the differences more clearly. Figures A & B a gap now starts appearing and the border line (A) and joining scrolls (B) are now separated from each other. Figures C & D are still touching one another.

Photo 4: Background texture/stipple. Everything is now enhanced as the background is darkened and that gap between A and B is more noticeable.

Photo 5: Finished: Has been blackened and now you can see that areas A & B no longer look connected to the border or the other scroll. However areas C & D are still connected and there is no gap, only the thickness of the line.

So as you can see from the photos one thing affects the next. That is why you must be careful about getting your lines to touch borders and each other. I was using a 90 degree graver for this exercise……..if you were using a 120 degree graver the results would be even more noticeable.

I hope this helps with your cutting and understanding of the process.

I’ll add the usual disclaimer that this is my way of thinking and others may, and will, think differently. It’s just something else to throw in the mix

Below is what I was getting at about
 

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Dani Girl

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Thanks

Thanks Andrew for sharing that. It really does make it all that much clearer, looking at the scribe... nothing stuck out to me to be a big problem... as you go along it becomes very clear.

I have noticed in past when I transfer something and try to cut it exactly the same I have a hard time not ending up with thinner scrolls and borders.

That's going to help a lot. I hope you notice some improvement there on my next post:tiphat:
 

Andrew Biggs

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No worries, Danae

What you describe is classic.........cut on the outside of the line as the cut becomes part of the background. Exactly as described in the above post.

Everything looks great till you start cutting away the background.

If you are not removing background then there is no need to cut on the outside.

Cheers
Andrew
 

SamW

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"I have noticed in past when I transfer something and try to cut it exactly the same I have a hard time not ending up with thinner scrolls and borders."

This is the very reason I only use transfers for proper placement of elements. I then redraw on the metal using a smoke pull of the other side as a guide. The smoke pull, placed tape to tape allows viewing as a mirror image. Once properly drawn, cutting the same as the other side is much easier. The two steps of engraving...draw what you want to cut and...cut what you draw.
 

JMiller

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Danae your work looks great and Thanks Andrew for posting the old thread!..... When you want your backbone to touch the border or another scroll do you "always" cut out of the border or backbone in opposite directions instead of making one continuous cut?
 

Andrew Biggs

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When you want your backbone to touch the border or another scroll do you "always" cut out of the border or backbone in opposite directions instead of making one continuous cut?

It's six of one and a half dozen of the other...........translated that means it doesn't matter. I cut mine all over the place depending on the situation. :)

The important part is the lines intersect.

Cheers
Andrew
 

Dani Girl

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Who thinks the last picture, the knife looks alright without background removed and who thinks it's just not finished.











 

Marrinan

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With Your shading it will pop. Background relief is not always the way to go. Sometimes budget doesn't allow, other choices of background shading maybe what your looking for (like a wriggle cut or dot punched or hair lined etc.) or as in this case you have chosen to go borderless. When no background at all is used is when line wait and roll become very important as they are part of the shading as well. It a pretty job. So I for one think you have made a very nice job of it. Fred
 

Silberschweif

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Hi Danae,
I have one little Question about your Power source for anoding How many Ampere is needed to get a nice color ?
I can get a Power suply with 0 - 120V and 0-1 A for about 120€ the step up to 5 A is very expensive
Is 1 A enough ? or do I realy need 5A to get nice and clear colors ?
thx a lot
Chris
 

Andrew Biggs

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Hi Danae

The last knife you are referring to.............If you remove the background and texture it will emphasis every mistake that you have made on it. Sometimes it pays to just leave things as they are and I would suggest that this is one of those occasions.

An exercise that would be well worth doing is to trace the design and fill in the background with pencil. Then you will see what I'm talking about. This is called negative space, weather blackened or not, and it's an integral part of the design. You will also hear it referred to as white space.

The problem with the knife is not the background to be relieved or not. It is the overall design. It's starts well enough on the right but ends up getting stretched as you go along the knife. This makes all the negative space looked stretched which further emphasises the look. Your borders aren't consistent around the edge/holes and you don't utilise the full shape of the knife. You have also made some huge leaves to fill some areas.

This is how we all learn. By making the mistakes. If it was easy then it wouldn't be a skill. :)

Cheers
Andrew
 

Dani Girl

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Is this one any better. Design about 5min. Cutting 4hrs maybe.
 

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don hicks

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Andrew certainly has an eye for good design and execution. After reading his critique and you go back and look again, I all seems to jump out at you. I'm thinking he will like this one better than the last. I like the look with the border and the foreground and background are better balanced. I can't believe you drew that in 5 minutes. Is X US president Bill Clinton getting that knife or someone else?
Cheers
Don
 

Dani Girl

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A mate whose dad just got diagnosed with cancer. Friends from church. We are not really really close but I just wanted to say thanks somehow for their friendship this year.

Not the president:) for me that would be ex prime minister john Howard.
 

Dani Girl

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I think maybe it stands out more on that little Ckrt because that's a really tight complex pattern fir a knife that tiny. As you say now Andrew has poined it out it really stands out. Thanks Andrew for helping me to become a better engraver.
 

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