Critique Request First firearm! I need some shading guidance.

Wew0001 · Apr 10, 2017

So I know my shading needs help and I did not do a lot of coverage. I'm sure there are other areas I need to sharpen up on as well. All my lessons have either come from this forum or videos. I am trying to save up for some classes but in the meantime I am trying to absorb as much as I can from every resource available to me. That being said any words of wisdom are incredibly valuable to me and are extremely appreciated. This sound crazy but I feel very lucky to have found this beautiful form of art and would like to thank everyone who has helped me find it as well as those who post work for people like me to study. Again my hats off to this forum and all of its members. Thank you guys for all of the help!!!

John B. · Apr 10, 2017

Well done for an early effort.
Yes, there are things you will learn to do better after more experience but this is a good. clean and simple job. Not overdone.
Just keep going and studying and it will all work out. As you say, a lot of good people and information on the Cafe forum.
Look forward to seeing more of your engraving.

jerrywh · Apr 10, 2017

Shading is something that is a life long study at least for most engravers. In my opinion what you have done looks fairly good. I would say you need to shade the main stems of the scrolls all the way around also. The stems look flat. The leaves look pretty good.

Wew0001 · Apr 12, 2017

Thanks guys! I will definitely keep on working at it. and shading the main stem is a great tip!

monk · Apr 12, 2017

the forum owner, sam alfano, is the resident expert on shading. didyoung runs a very close second. studying the work of these two gents is probably all one would need to become very proficient at this phase of engraving. until joining this forum, i never fully realized the function of shading on an engraved design. not just "surface decoration" as i once thought. instead, it emphasizes highlight and shadow. such produces the illusion of depth on a relatively flat surface.
sams' videos on the subject are probably second to none on learning the technique.

Wew0001 · Apr 20, 2017

Thank you Monk I'm a huge fan of of them! Thank you for the references.

tim halloran · Apr 20, 2017

Wew0001: There Is A good tutorial on fine shading on this forum. It's by Sam and is in the tips section.

dave gibson · Apr 20, 2017

A good simple thing to remember in scroll shading is darkness translates to distance and depth, so to make something seem further away it's darker, closer equals lighter. As said above, a lifelong study.
Good job on the gun, I think any customer would be happy with that.

Critique Request First firearm! I need some shading guidance.

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