Sketch

Andrew Biggs

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Go with what you have got and stick to your original plan...........if you try to change things now that you have cut all your main lines then you are in for one big headache and potential screw ups.

No.........you can't shade your way out of basic design flaws. You just have to live with them. :)

Cheers
Andrew
 

henningssom

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Andrew thanks!
I have altered the last picture from the original design because all the good feedback I got.
The changes is doable for sure, the backbone is still the same but it shows better this way.
What I meant by shade my way out of this was because I can't do more with it than shade.
But tell me, is this last picture better than the original?
I really appreciate all your help.
Mike
 

Mike Fennell

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As usual, Andrew is giving great advice here, and this has been a good lesson for all of us. As you had already cut the knife before I looked into this thread, please understand that my comments are only suggestions for future reference.

Take your original scroll backbone sketch, the one without the leaves, and draw onto it the outline of the knife, and then draw in the border to be cut.

You will see that the four scroll backbones on the left do not touch the border and are inconsistent distances from the border. atexascowboy2011 noticed that this has an unsettling effect.

Now you can simply adjust the size of each scroll so that all of the scrolls consistently touch the border . This will give better flow and balance to the design. If you draw your border first, then design your scrolls to fill that space, you will usually avoid the types of issues you have experienced here. There will be times when the shape of the knife requires you to violate this rule of thumb, but at those times you will be able to consciously decide how and why you must do so.
 

Andrew Biggs

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But tell me, is this last picture better than the original?

I hate to say it but...........No, not really.

Your leaf work looks fabulous. It's your basic scroll structure and flow that is the problem and you can't disguise that with any amount of good cutting unfortunately.

But you are committed now and all you can do is complete the job and learn from it.

Cheers
Andrew
 

Andrew Biggs

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There's nothing wrong with complicated it just has to make sense to the naked eye.

Your problems started right at the beginning with your scroll formation and the leaves and gold just added to the problem.

Think of it this way.......when you build a house the foundations and framing have to be perfect otherwise everything you add to adds to the problem. And so it is with scroll work because that is the foundation of your design.

If you get the scrolls correct then everything else starts falling into place.

Borders are the other big issue........make your work conform to the borders of the canvas you are working on otherwise it looks like everything else is an afterthought, which in most cases it is.

You obviously have the drawing, design and cutting skills. What you are lacking is the basic foundation. Once you have that then you will fly :)

Cheers
Andrew
 

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henningssom

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Oh, wow!!
Yeah exactly this is what I have been missing.
I have learned on YouTube (Steve Linsay and Sam Alfano) when they makes some cuts.
What I have been missing is how you actually make scrolls work.
Sketching portraits, nature scenes and what not I can do all day long but I have to find my way into scrolls.
I see the magic in your scrolls and I love it. I don't want to copy your stuff so I try to find my own style and that's when it gets all wrong. But if I just can learn the basic rules... Then I think I can be on my way.
Thanks for all your help.
I will try my best with the design I got, tweak some here and there but I'll keep you updated for sure.
All the best,
Mike
 

Andrew Biggs

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What you have to remember is that you are talking to engravers here who see things differently..............the clients see it differently again and sometimes that is a good thing :)

It's like anything we do in life.......get the basics right and everything else flows from there. After that, the sky is the limit :)

Cheers
Andrew
 

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