new pendant

John Cole · Sep 1, 2009

Thought I'd share this latest piece.
This is a small pendant that I just gave to my daughter for her 11th birthday today.
This is one of my first scrolls from beginning to end, and the first time that I've tried to shade the scroll.
comments and critiques are welcome.

John C.

jetta77 · Sep 1, 2009

Very nice Jon, very nice job on the piercing, shading is a little off but overall it looks great.

Jeff

KCSteve · Sep 2, 2009

Not bad!

I can offer one very small suggestion for future pendants like this: try to put the hanging hole in center of a scroll or the curl of a leaf so it doesn't interrupt the flow.

Other than that, just keep practicing. :thumbs up:

John Cole · Sep 2, 2009

I've found the best part about beginning engraving is that your kids don't know how much you still have to learn. :thumbs up:

My scrolls are getting a bit better, but the shading is still giving me issues. I realized on this piece that it seemed that my poor scroll design really hampered the shading process. I also found out that I probably should have practiced the shading on paper *before* just trying to cut it on the piece itself.

John C.

monk · Sep 2, 2009

i'm sure your daughter will really love wearing that. nobody else will have one like it ! that's what's so great about this form of personal expression, is it not ?

Jude · Sep 3, 2009

Nice piercing work. It will be admired for many years but only a few will appreciate the time put into it.

Jude

jr hoot gibson · Sep 3, 2009

John
The Traditional Cowboy Art Association annual show and sale will be opening on Sept 26 at the Cowboy Museum. There will be a couple of seminars during the day that are free. If you have any interest it would be a good chance for you to hear from several very respected western style engravers. Bring some of your work and get some helpful criticism. There will be other engravers at the seminars, and they are a helpfull bunch.
Hoot

John Cole · Sep 4, 2009

Thanks guys for all the nice comments. My daughter loved the pendant, and loved it more when her friends at school turned green.

Hoot,
thanks for the heads up. If I remember correctly the Cowboy Museum is the old Cowboy Hall of Fame isn't it? It definately sounds like a good way to spend a saturday.
thanks

John C.

Willem Parel · Sep 4, 2009

A nice piece of work John, as a starter in engraving i 'm not able to judge the engravingwork, it looks really nice.
But with the next one you can consider instead of drilling a hole to solder an little curved wire at the back where the chain will going trough.
Your pendant will look better at the front without a hole at the top.
Willem

jr hoot gibson · Sep 4, 2009

John
You are right, its at the old Cowboy Hall of Fame, dressed up with a new name. Hope to see you there. I'll be the old grey haired guy with boots. Hee Hee !!!
Hoot

Marcus Hunt · Sep 4, 2009

Hi John, well done and I'm sure your daughter is proud to wear the pendant you made for her.

As far as critique goes I second Jeff's comments on the shading but would also add that it's probably better not to shade off the edge of the scrolls. For future reference, with something like this it's better to have a clear spine to your scrolls. Keep cutting!

John Cole · Sep 5, 2009

Hoot,
The old grey haired guy in boots describes about 70 percent of the guys in the OKC metro area. hee hee

Marcus,
Thanks for the advice. One question is the spine that your speaking of different than the main cut spine of the scroll? I'm not quite understanding what you're talking about.

thanks,
John C.

Marcus Hunt · Sep 6, 2009

Hi John, I'm talking about the main spines/spirals of the scrolls. If you keep them blank I think it would give far more punch to the pendant rather than running shading across them which breaks the flow. Also, ask yourself what exactly it is you are shading? Shading is there to define certain areas and to give them shape and dimension. There isn't any point in shading for the sake of it as it can be detrimental to the overall design. But knowing this is the sort of thing that only comes with experience. I look at some of my early pieces and cringe now (thinking of how if I had my chance again I'd change certain things), and I dare say this happens to the vast majority of engravers as they gain experience.

I hope this helps.

John Cole · Sep 6, 2009

thanks Marcus

new pendant

John Cole

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