Critique Request Tonight's practice

LVCIAN

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St. Louis, MO
This is a pocket knife scale.
My art drawn, printed, and transferred.

I'm so having issues with intersecting lines. Any thoughts on technique?

If also like to hear your thoughts on design.
 

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monk

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i would say that you need a bit more practice drawing the spine or backbone of the scroll. yours have a couple of flat spots. they should be a graceful curve, without flat areas. the leaf structures , lower left & upper right just don't work. the border is somewhat uneven. that requires a bit of touchup too. the center scroll, i think you have it going in the wrong direction. that destroys the idea of graceful flow to the design. i'd advise more pencil work, and a little less cutting. not easy to learn, but practice with the pencil will bring it all together. just keep at it. thanks for showing.
 

dhall

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My preference regarding borders is to generally respect that margin, perhaps with an occasional violation of the margin for a specific part of the design that would suffer if it were constrained by the border. Your approach seems to be much more casual in regards to honoring the concept of a margin, to the point where I almost wonder, "Why bother?". Some folks don't like using a border at all. I like how a border frames the scene, so I know this is definitely a personal preference, and not necessarily a hard and fast rule. My opinion is that your approach in this example loses any effectiveness a margin brings to your design. I think your artistic development would benefit at this stage from working within the constraints of a margin. Later, when you have a more experienced and skilled hand, you will know how to handle a situation like this more skillfully. There are also special examples where an artist has a design flow from bolster to scale, or bolster to blade, or maybe touch on all 3, and it takes an extremely skilled person to carry this off well. It's not something to start out with, though. I think this design would benefit from paying attention to the border more scrupulously, if you were to redraw it with this in mind.

Regarding intersecting lines, you might try stopping just short of actually intersecting, leaving a very small gap and not having the lines actually intersect. They will have the appearance of intersecting without actually doing so. This can help enhance the perception of layering, with one part seeming to be "on top" of another. This must be done consistently, and can almost be as challenging as actually having intersecting cuts. Of course, if you have lines actually intersect, the least desirable outcome is to overshoot the line and leave a gouge in the opposite wall. Again, a light touch is the answer here. Establish the intersection slowly, with a light touch, pulling back as the point begins to break through to the existing line, then following up with multiple light cuts to enlarge the intersecting cut to its appropriate weight/width. Try to not use the opposite wall of the existing line as your backstop when your graver plows through that last little bit of metal, opening up the two cuts. Done well, you'll know when you truly have good graver control.

Best regards,
Doug
 

LVCIAN

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Joined
Sep 1, 2016
Messages
88
Location
St. Louis, MO
Doug, thank you. That was an honest and well thought out critique. The information you provide has actually convinced me to restart this drawing instead of moving in to the next.
 

vdrum4250

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May 17, 2016
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Irvine, California
My preference regarding borders is to generally respect that margin, perhaps with an occasional violation of the margin for a specific part of the design that would suffer if it were constrained by the border. Your approach seems to be much more casual in regards to honoring the concept of a margin, to the point where I almost wonder, "Why bother?". Some folks don't like using a border at all. I like how a border frames the scene, so I know this is definitely a personal preference, and not necessarily a hard and fast rule. My opinion is that your approach in this example loses any effectiveness a margin brings to your design. I think your artistic development would benefit at this stage from working within the constraints of a margin. Later, when you have a more experienced and skilled hand, you will know how to handle a situation like this more skillfully. There are also special examples where an artist has a design flow from bolster to scale, or bolster to blade, or maybe touch on all 3, and it takes an extremely skilled person to carry this off well. It's not something to start out with, though. I think this design would benefit from paying attention to the border more scrupulously, if you were to redraw it with this in mind.

Regarding intersecting lines, you might try stopping just short of actually intersecting, leaving a very small gap and not having the lines actually intersect. They will have the appearance of intersecting without actually doing so. This can help enhance the perception of layering, with one part seeming to be "on top" of another. This must be done consistently, and can almost be as challenging as actually having intersecting cuts. Of course, if you have lines actually intersect, the least desirable outcome is to overshoot the line and leave a gouge in the opposite wall. Again, a light touch is the answer here. Establish the intersection slowly, with a light touch, pulling back as the point begins to break through to the existing line, then following up with multiple light cuts to enlarge the intersecting cut to its appropriate weight/width. Try to not use the opposite wall of the existing line as your backstop when your graver plows through that last little bit of metal, opening up the two cuts. Done well, you'll know when you truly have good graver control.

Best regards,
Doug

Doug,

you inspire me to do better. your language in your writing is smooth and supportive yet firm.


Duc
 

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