first scroll practice

[John Cole]

After Bob has been so brave working out his issues with layout work, I figured that I had no where to hide.
Here is a small set of scrollwork that I worked on today. I marked out a set of 1 inch squares to help me with consistancy, but the rest is freehand.
Comments and tips please.

thanks guys,
John C.

 

[monk]

you appear to have a nice and steady hand for the spines. now, don't forget to think about adding some details. the 2nd from the bot. comes out too abruptly. try to make it "flow" out more gracefully. your bot. one starts too flat. needs to be constant curve.
for a 1st. drawing, i'd say this deserves a "rather well done". a good foundation in drawing is your greatest weapon in the battle. keep your dwgs. in a looseleaf or something. this will allow you to keep an eye on your progress. this also helps in developing more advanced scroll design.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Hi John, first off, a good attempt. Whilst learning scrollwork though, forget using S shaped starter scrolls. They are confusing and you'll have your inside work growing against itself. There is a way of using an S shape scroll but a) it's not usual in this type of scroll and b) you have to learn the 'rules' first before you can break or bend them.

So, start by using a starter scroll that has the tail turned in on itself or by growing it from an edge. All scrolls need a point of origin. Next, when they grow they alternate in direction so, if you have a clockwise scroll the one that grows from it grows counterclockwise. You can't just have a scroll butting up against another scroll when it's grown from nothing or thin air, as you've done with the top left hand scroll.

I've said it a hundred times before and I'll say it again to you, all novices should get hold of, read and comprehend Ron Smith's book on scrollwork. It's pure gold to any engraver.

 

[pilkguns]

Yep, what Marcus said!

 

[John Cole]

Thanks Marcus and Monk! I've been working with the James Meek book, The art of Engraving.
The basic problem that I've found with the Meeks' book is that he tells you to draw scrolls till the cows come home, then connect them all together like so many building blocks, very little about things like origin, and flow.
I'm sure a lot of these issues will clear up once I get Ron's books to study.
I've got the basic book on order already, and will be purchasing the advanced book once I can afford it.
back to the drawing board
Next question, what size of scroll should I be practicing with? A size that I'm comfortable with and work them down smaller, or just start small (ie. half to quarter inch or smaller) and work on technique at that level. Does it really matter.

John C.

 

[Ron Smith]

What Marcus said and plus this.

It looks to me like the leaves that are going to go into this design are going to be small and many. By making fewer revolutions in your spiral, you can get a little more space for leaves. The distance between spine lines within a spiral determines the size of the leaf structures and this design will be very intricate. If you are just starting to engrave, the small designs take extremely good tool control to accomplish with skill, so keep your designs within the boundaries that you can accomplish with good results. Your work will shrink almost automatically as time goes by and you gain the control.

Study spiral design, then go on to leaf structure, then to composition.

Aside from that, not a bad design, well balanced and such. The backward spirals are a no no.

Keep rockin'

Ron S

 

[monk]

hey, marcus: i've broken the "point of origin" rule for so long, i didn't know it existed. thanks for turning on my lights ! are there any schools for old, blind, dumb engravers ?

 

[John Cole]

Thanks Ron,
Long story short, my order from GRS hasn't been shipped yet. However, I used the lemons to make lemonade and was able to add the advanced scroll book to my order. :banana:
I've been reading with great intrest all the posts that you, Marcus and the others have been posting, and using these to help with my scrolls.

John C.

 

[John Cole]

Here is a new set of scrolls.
My books should be in tomorrow, so I can sign off on the release forms
In all honesty, I can't wait for the tools and books to get in, but like Marcus said, give it time
I'm sure patience should go along with that. I know I still have a jar with a little patience left in it around here somewhere.

John C.