Knife/engaving/picture project

This is a knife I spent about three years working on. I better not quit my day job. I practiced shading for the running wheat pattern (straight from the tutorials) trying everything from course to fine. I settled on this since it's 1/4" wide and thought fine shading would look out of proportion and my fine shading didn't look too "fine". I used my pantograph to lay out the pattern on the guard, much better than just using a ruler. I didn't attach the guard to the knife yet since I haven't decided if I'm done with it yet, maybe an extra nick or two on the boxes. The counter sunk screws were originally going to be a little more detailed. But, the metal, probably 300 series, cut horribly and has lots of flaws from the manufacturing process. I bought some compact fluorescent bulbs to take the pictures, but couldn't get the white balance right. So, I made them B/W, the handle it black micarta anyway. Wa-da-ya think?

Some very clean looking cutting on that knife. The checkering on the guard looks perfectly done. On the running leaf you did on the tang, I think if you cut the shading lines a bit deeper from fine to thick it would give more dimension to the leaves.

Looks great as is however.

Peter

Nice job on the wheat!

So, did you also see the diamonds & dots in the Meeks book? I used it to fill in on a bracelet. It doesn't look like it should look as good as it does when you draw it but it's pretty compelling after it's cut.

The screws are nice - it's a good, straightforward knife so it doesn't need the engraving to be too fancy.

Robert,
Nicely done...
I am NOT a Professional, mine you.
When you are finished engraving...
Color the engraving with Black Speedball oil-based printers ink and use a piece of white paper to cast a shadow on the entire knife for your next photo. You will see a BIG difference in the finished product...
Thanks for sharing,
Stephen

Peter, I practiced thin to real thick shading but my consistency wasn't good so that's why I went with this.
KC, The pattern was inspired by Jim Small's beautiful bolsters. I'm not ready to do the gold dots though!
http://knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43915
http://knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40154
Stephen, Cast a SHADOW?? I worked hard to get rid of them! ;{ ) The pictures don't show it but the heat treating and $4.00 Cryo treatment left the handle with a gold irridesence. So I just sanded the surface and left it like that. The HT usually leaves a dark gray finish and is dark enough to highlight the engraving and it won't rub off any time soon.
Thanks for the comments!

Robert,

Ah, as you can see on your own example the dot's don't have to be gold.

And stepping in for Mr. Cox, yep, you want the 'shadow' of the white paper. Actually what you're doing it controlling your reflections along with your light. You'll get a much smoother, more even look.

Well, what I did for this, I have three pieces of 1/8" white plexiglass salvaged from X-ray readers. I had two standing up and one on top. I surrounded the back two sides and top with the compact fluorescent bulbs and one in my free hand behind the camera with a piece of paper over it to tone it down. It was quite a contraption, I was tripping over cords, tripods and the dog to boot! The picture of the guard is reflecting the background and made it dark, I could try other backrounds. I do need to go back and read the tutorials on taking pictures. I'm engraving a script "M" on an old brass door knob that I'll use for my vice allen wrench. Talk about a pain to photograph, I'll post when I get further along. Thanks

Sweet work Robert, you're doing good, but you're gonna have to speed up a little Thanks for sharing, Dwayne