Critique Request I'm not even sure if this is Bulino!

Christian DeCamillis

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Nov 9, 2006
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639
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Traverse City, Michigan
Marcus, I am sure that your reasoning of how the word bulino became synonymous with the technique used in game scenes on guns is correct. I have witnessed this in person. Someone asks how did you do that ? and the answer is with my bulino . Of course the person asking doesn't understand the language so all they hear is bulino . I did however find while doing some research that in an older version of Italian language the word might have meant "little beautiful" which make a lot of sense as well. But today as has been stated it means graver.

As far as the technique being not so important. I would have to respond. The dot technique is easy to understand which has been stated .It is pointillism on metal. However the characteristic when viewed in person is completely different than what is seen in photos. It's like a hologram card that many saw as children it disappears when moved a few degrees from the optimum viewing angle. The line technique is much more sophisticated when it comes to engraving on metal not for the purpose of printing. That which may be called banknote or Intaglio differs greatly from engraving on metal for game scenes and such.

Just cutting lines randomly and in any direction may produce decent results but if you want a properly executed engraving there are may factors to be considered and learned. The depth of cut the crossing of the cuts as to how many times and the angle at which they cross are all very important. The direction of the cut as it pertains to the orientation of how it's viewed can make a difference as well. So to say just cut and don't worry about the technique in my opinion is a disservice to those who are just getting started.

Like it or not the word Bulino today is considered a technique . There are three forms Dot, Lines and a combination of the two. There is a third one that has developed in recent time which is a combination of lightly sculpting and then adding texture to the object with dots or lines. It's very dynamic looking.

The last thing I would say in response to what has been discussed is that the technique is not the same as drawing on metal but rather using lines and crossing them as well as cutting contoured lines to give form . The results of the crossing of lines is to give relief to the engraving making it sort of micro sculpting . This can be seen when looking at actual examples of these kind of works.

I hope this help.

Chris
 

Marcus Hunt

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The Oxfordshire Cotswolds, England
Thanks for putting it so eloquently Chris. That's what I was trying to say i.e. bulino isn't necessarily just dots or short lines it can incorporate line engraving too.

And thanks Lee for illustrating the technique you use.
 
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sinan

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
63
Location
Istanbul
I use onglette graver for bulino. They are easy to sharpen and no need any template etc. I use pen eraser as a holder of the onglette graver. I remove the eraser in the pen and replace the onglette graver and easy to make dots and lines with it.
 

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Mike_Morgan

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Mar 17, 2016
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359
Location
Spencerport, NY
I use onglette graver for bulino. They are easy to sharpen and no need any template etc. I use pen eraser as a holder of the onglette graver. I remove the eraser in the pen and replace the onglette graver and easy to make dots and lines with it.

The work looks great, but it's not close enough for me to see and understand what's happening at a macro level... that's the problem I'm having... there are tons of pictures... the work is amazing, but How can a beginner begin to understand unless I can see what it looks like under the scope? I KNOW it looks amazing to the naked eye, and that's the point of it, after all, but unless I can see what the engraver sees while doing it, then it's nothing more than a guess as to how the metal looks "close up".
 

sinan

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2012
Messages
63
Location
Istanbul
The work looks great, but it's not close enough for me to see and understand what's happening at a macro level... that's the problem I'm having... there are tons of pictures... the work is amazing, but How can a beginner begin to understand unless I can see what it looks like under the scope? I KNOW it looks amazing to the naked eye, and that's the point of it, after all, but unless I can see what the engraver sees while doing it, then it's nothing more than a guess as to how the metal looks "close up".

I have never seen any bulino engraving on any gun, knife etc. and I've learned it from seen on photos. I have no camera mounted on my scope I will try to take close up with my camera tomorrow and will send it to you.



I had posted below message for bulino which I had learnt by myself.


I am not expert about bulino and trying to learn it. These are mentioned below which I have learned from the forum and by myself. Maybe some of them wrong or missing. I'll be appreciate if do the bulino masters to correct the wrongs and add missing.


1- Learn picture drawing rules (perspective drawing, drawing from reference photo, drawing what you see, anatomy of the object what will you draw and many others) and practice pencil drawing.
2- Don't transfer whole picture. Transfer only the silhouette. It is difficult to work with whole transferred image under the mag. I usually transfer very little amount of the picture and I do the rest of it by see the reference photo.
3- Always keep graver in sharpest to ensure that all the dots and lines keep the same depth and thickness and use graver geometry of like Phil Coggan, Dario Cortini's.
4- Use magnification as microscope (3,5 – 22,5) or two or three loupes (10x , 6x, 3x) You can't realize the borders of where are you engraving if you continuously engraving under higher magnification and need to look at it often by lower mags. and naked eyes.
5- Engrave dots and lines only visible under magnification. Every single dot or line should not be visible or barely visible by naked eye. Use graver point to gently touch the metal and do not make deep dots or heavy deep lines thus your bulino engraving no need the sanding or inking after finish and view close to photorealistic by naked eye.
6- Watch pen and ink drawing close up photos and videos and learn pen and ink drawing techniques which consist of lines and dots. You will be learning the creating tone with cross hatching and stipple by this techniques which will be easily adapt to bulino engraving.


[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRo1o-tONrQ[/video]
 
Last edited:

Mike_Morgan

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2016
Messages
359
Location
Spencerport, NY
Sinan, Your list of rules will be very useful, Thank you for that, and Lee... the close-ups of the plates are VERY helpful, thank you for posting them.

I've set this practice plate aside until after the holiday weekend. I'll revisit it next week. Thanks to everybody for your input!
 

RDP

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Joined
May 19, 2012
Messages
569
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Mike, there are inexpensive castings from FEGA and also from Chris DeCamillis on Tira's website that are the best way to see not only all the cuts and dots but also what Chris refers to micro sculpting if you don't have access to the real thing, well, these are the real thing, the best investment I have made is Chris DeCamillis tutorial DVD on bulino.
http://www.engraver.com/basic-bulino-engraving-study-casting/

http://www.engraver.com/basic-technique-for-bulino-engraving-dvd-by-christian-decamillis/

Worth every penny.

Richard.
 

Memorymaker

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2016
Messages
361
Location
Baltimore Md
Marcus, I am sure that your reasoning of how the word bulino became synonymous with the technique used in game scenes on guns is correct. I have witnessed this in person. Someone asks how did you do that ? and the answer is with my bulino . Of course the person asking doesn't understand the language so all they hear is bulino . I did however find while doing some research that in an older version of Italian language the word might have meant "little beautiful" which make a lot of sense as well. But today as has been stated it means graver.

As far as the technique being not so important. I would have to respond. The dot technique is easy to understand which has been stated .It is pointillism on metal. However the characteristic when viewed in person is completely different than what is seen in photos. It's like a hologram card that many saw as children it disappears when moved a few degrees from the optimum viewing angle. The line technique is much more sophisticated when it comes to engraving on metal not for the purpose of printing. That which may be called banknote or Intaglio differs greatly from engraving on metal for game scenes and such.

Just cutting lines randomly and in any direction may produce decent results but if you want a properly executed engraving there are may factors to be considered and learned. The depth of cut the crossing of the cuts as to how many times and the angle at which they cross are all very important. The direction of the cut as it pertains to the orientation of how it's viewed can make a difference as well. So to say just cut and don't worry about the technique in my opinion is a disservice to those who are just getting started.

Like it or not the word Bulino today is considered a technique . There are three forms Dot, Lines and a combination of the two. There is a third one that has developed in recent time which is a combination of lightly sculpting and then adding texture to the object with dots or lines. It's very dynamic looking.

The last thing I would say in response to what has been discussed is that the technique is not the same as drawing on metal but rather using lines and crossing them as well as cutting contoured lines to give form . The results of the crossing of lines is to give relief to the engraving making it sort of micro sculpting . This can be seen when looking at actual examples of these kind of works.

I hope this help.

Chris


Chris also has a GREAT dvd on this type of engraving......... Just finished watching it
 

Mike_Morgan

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2016
Messages
359
Location
Spencerport, NY
Mike, there are inexpensive castings from FEGA and also from Chris DeCamillis on Tira's website that are the best way to see not only all the cuts and dots but also what Chris refers to micro sculpting if you don't have access to the real thing, well, these are the real thing, the best investment I have made is Chris DeCamillis tutorial DVD on bulino.
http://www.engraver.com/basic-bulino-engraving-study-casting/

http://www.engraver.com/basic-technique-for-bulino-engraving-dvd-by-christian-decamillis/

Worth every penny.

Richard.

I shall buy these things immediately, thanks so much!
 

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