sketch

pilkguns

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Nov 14, 2006
Messages
1,874
Location
in the land of Scrolls,
This would be an absolute nightmare to cut.

I would never recommend that you even draw something this complicated until you have been cutting normal scrolls for at least a year. Only with that experience, could you begin to design a complicated scroll like this in a “graver cutting friendly” manner. AND more importantly, you would have the cutting skills built up with your hand to do the fine control of stop and start needed to do all this crossover stuff.
 

Andrew Biggs

Moderator
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
5,034
Location
Christchurch, New Zealand
Hi Shawn

I can see what you are trying to achieve..........but you are not quite pulling it off. With a bit of extra work the design could be a lot more pleasing.

The leaves........At the moment your leaves are all bunched up and in a big tangle.........Give them some breathing space. In other words create some clearly defined black spaces between them and weed them out a bit. Shading will help a bit........ but not a lot.

The large top and right bottom leaves..........break them down a bit more as they are too chunky.

The flowers/buds..........You have too many of them..weed some out and make the design flow a little better. To many is also very distracting. They are also short and stubby. Try and make them a little more flamboyant.

The scrolls.........The left, centre and right hand scroll shape.....extend them and spiral them a bit more. This will add a bit of dynamism to the flow of the design.

Thick spots and thin spots...........You have some really thick bushy areas with the leaves and some very thin areas that look a little weak. Try for a little more consistency otherwise the design looks out of balance (sort of like someone with a fat leg and an anorexic leg, it doesn't look right)

It sounds like a lot but in reality is not much. Go back and redraw with all of the above in mind.

Cheers
Andrew
 

didyoung

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
2,253
Location
Laurel, Montana, United States
this met with some mixed reviews.........knew it would.
thanks everyone for your thoughts and ideas of how you might try to fix it.
i am listening to you.
this will be a bracelet........so i will get to cut this design twice:shock:
and if i am still alive:beat up: i am planing on another dragonfly with a flower or two to be placed in between the scrolls.
this will give me a few good hours of practice:beat up:

jim... i draw out the design with a pencil on plain paper...trying to work it to what i have pictured in my mind. once i am sick of it.....:beat up: i trace it using tracing paper then go over that with a fine point marker.
this is what works for me.

andrew...... it would be great if you could sit down with me and walk me thru all of your ideas. why dont you come on up and spend an hour or so coaching me then we can go and i will give you a quick lesson in fishing....lol...fair trade i think!
thanks again
shawn:tiphat:
 
Last edited:

monk

Moderator
Staff member
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
10,857
Location
washington, pa
parts of your design are about to fall off the edge of the metal ! not good imho. whatever the design, don't be too lavish going over the border, esp that far. i agree with scott completely about skill level. it's ok to draw beyond your cutting ability, but if you don't have the skills to actually cut the design, drop back to something simpler to actually cut.
 

monk

Moderator
Staff member
::::Pledge Member::::
Joined
Feb 11, 2007
Messages
10,857
Location
washington, pa
well, that goes to show i'm a --------------. you can fill in the blank ! my humblest apologies, really. one of my specialties is speak first, think later. one day i shall submit a tutorial on just how i do this.
 

didyoung

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
2,253
Location
Laurel, Montana, United States
View attachment 11993 pilkguns and monk........i am on to you guys:cool:
i am willing to bet that you two were using reverse psychology on me.:tiphat:
either way here is some shading....still not sure how to do it right but i feel like i am getting closer.:confused:
it is very hard to get good pictures at anytime.
shawn
 
Last edited:

Paulie

Elite Cafe Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2009
Messages
306
Location
Belgium
i guess that i am about 1/5th there?
maybe 1/6th.....:yes
well back to work:tiphat:
shawn
:tiphat: Shawn, although I very much like your bracelet design:thumbs up:now...viewing the real engraving progress, I really can see that you've got the skills to cut it, but I also understand the positive/up building critical points that Andrew made, which are now very visible in the finally engraved bracelet;) I'm sure Andrew gave you some very good tips concerning 'bushy leaf' parts and design/background balance etc. Never the less I like your 'free style', because that's the way I like to draw myself! Greetings, Paulie:beerchug:
 
Top