First attempt at English Scroll

thughes · Jul 23, 2015

My first try at English scroll on anything other than a practice plate. I tried to follow all the tenets in Mr. Hunts great book, but there are obvious screw ups. That middle scroll on the right is too big, and my outside work (which needs lots of work) is growing the wrong way on one scroll. I had trouble working around the big pivot screw, and after letting it jack up two or three scrolls, I finally took everything back out of the thermo-loc and got it out by heating it. Went much better after that. I know my design is really lacking on that left side, I just found that a hard space to work with. Any critique is welcome.

Eugene Carkoski · Jul 23, 2015

I like the overall look and work but the tendrils are to consistent you need a little more variation there.

thughes · Jul 23, 2015

Thanks for looking Eugene

Todd

monk · Jul 23, 2015

i quite agree with eugene. i'd sooner see a few curls on some of the ends. and not all leaning in one direction. i do like the look you have achieved.

thughes · Jul 23, 2015

Thanks Monk. I guess ya'll are talking about the "outside work". I tried to follow Marcus's rules, and he says that the outside work should always grow off of the scroll in the direction the scroll is flowing, which, probably due to my poor design, made for a lot of em leaning in the same way. I tried to do some different squiggles at the top, but I guess I didn't vary them enough because your right, they do look kind of boring.

gcleaker · Jul 24, 2015

my untrained eye says good job. I hope to be were you are at some day.
don't drink and drive you might spill your drink!

KCSteve · Jul 26, 2015

At a quick glance it looks pretty good overall! :thumbsup:

You (and the others) are right about the outside work though - per Marcus it's supposed to soften and break up the edges. What you have is so consistent it just extends the edge. More variation in type and size should help.

thughes · Jul 26, 2015

Thanks for your thoughts Steve. Looks like the outside work is the top of the list to fix.

Todd

Andrew Biggs · Jul 26, 2015

Hi Todd

Looks good..........and you are identifying and thinking about what needs to be improved for the future. Being your own worst critic is a key to improving your work...........just keep at it and keep looking at ways to improve your work. So far, so good

Perhaps next time, don't actually cut the single line border. Use it as a guideline only.........let the tips of the outside work be the border. That way it would give a little bit of "air" to the design and not give the appearance of being cramped in. Hopefully that makes a bit of sense

Cheers
Andrew

Doc Mark · Jul 26, 2015

Overall nice cutting. Andrew is spot-on about the cut border line. It "confines" the scroll too much. You do have variances in the outside work "leaves", but a bit more prominent changes could be made to trick the eye.

thughes · Jul 26, 2015

Andrew and Doc, thanks for taking the time to look and comment. You know, y'all are dead right. I guess I've always thought, or read, to always frame your work with a border. But, in this case, with such a small space to start with, it really does seem to cramp it in. It would look totally different without it.

As for being a self critic, I notice something else wrong in the photo that you don't really notice in the hand. My scrolls look unbalanced, if that's the right word, right side compared to the left. I think my inside work is consistent, but it's consistently bigger on the right side than the left. To be honest, I did one side of scrolls and the flower bouquet one night after work, and did the other side of scrolls and the outside work and shading the next night. Between nights sessions I guess my eye for spacing changed a little but it didn't jump out at me until I looked at the photo. Oh well, file that away for next time.

Again, thank you all for taking the time to look.

Todd

Thierry Duguet · Jul 26, 2015

Actually the main problem is the outside border line, the tendril are suppose to create a softer transition between the scrolls and the outside "white". The border line contradict the purpose of the tendrils and confine the work. English scrolls usually terminate with a well define ball, the engraving look flat, the main outline of the scrolls need to be lighter than the feeling and the base of the scroll can be shade. The scrolls need to spiral more on themselves
If I may say so you should not confine yourself to what one engraver demonstrate, regardless of the quality of his work, English scroll are done in a lot of different way, look at Purdey, Holland & Holland, Boss, Westley Richard from the 50's and 60's. you will find difference and commonalities.

First attempt at English Scroll

thughes

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Eugene Carkoski

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