That would be 620 film, in my own dark room. Here is an attempt at a closer look at the sculpting, through a magnifying lens.
Reason for the darker color of the side plate is because the plate has been case colored and the colors mostly polished off. More to do on that bit as well as casing the rest of the action...some day.
Here is a look at how I tackled this rather complicated scene. The background was removed by hand and flattened by scraping. Rather time consuming but this was not the place to learn acid etching! I logged 254 hours on the sideplate and have about 700 so far on the project with maybe 400 or 500 more to go. It may sound silly but this is somewhat of a "practice" plate for me, being a real learning experience.
Counting tops of heads, there are 34 individuals in the scene.
I have also enjoyed seeing this piece in person and it is one of the finest pieces I've seen. The sculpting is not deep but wonderfully effective. The execution is absolute top shelf kind of like all of Sam's work. I'm sure it will be at the guild show in January. It is one of the must see items. Kudos Sam.
I think Lee, you could call this my version of Bas Relief with bulino overtones. That much background by hand causes one to think maybe China is just a scrape or two away!
Through the years, I have been told I am very patient in my work - I will be referring those commentors to you in the future.
Amazing work - undoubtedly a labor of love.
(This is one of the highlights to see at the FEGA show).
Thanks folks for the comments. Gordon, patience is a requirement for our line of work. As I tell people, engraving isn't just what I do, it is who I am.
By the way, Bodmer and his brother were taught, by an uncle, drawing, painting AND copper plate engraving...yes, he was one of us!
Hi Dave, yes, a water color/copper plate print. Bodmer did the original after returning to Paris based on several sketches and portraits he accomplished while at Ft. Clark the winter of '33-'34. The danger and hardships endured by them on that trip up the Missouri river were tremendous...well beyond anything I could have ever endured much less attempted!
Sam
I finally got the opportunity to hold and look at that original Bodmer print book my neighbor has that I told you about. Amazing stuff and you could just spend hours exploring the details. Quite large in size actually
Whenever you feel up to it By the way all the prints are in black and white not colored She bought it a number if years sgo in santa fe at an antique store I also enjoy looking at her Bierstadt landscape engraving hanging in the wall
And i did show her your 1873 engraving like you asked me to and she was very impressed