gun layout help

[d.soileau]

im trying to lay out the design for my first big gun engraving project. here are my results so far. im still not happy with the point where the frame and the barrel meet and the pattern transitions from one part to the other. any input is welcome. since i will be cutting this as a demonstration of hand engraving at a local art festival at the end of the month i want it to really catch peoples attention and let them know out art is not dead.
thanks.

damon

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Damon

Heres my thoughts with the usual disclaimer that it's only my way of looking at things.

I can see what you are trying to do but I personally think that you should take a bit more conservative approach.

The way you have cut scrolls off and taken some over the border line is going to give you all sorts of grief when you start adding leaves............basically it'll start getting messier and messier the more you carry on with the design the way it is now.

The transition area that you have noted would possibly be better served by breaking down your scrolls and taking them to the top of the frame...........then let the leaf coming out from your top left scroll morph into a running border that you have drawn and alternating the leaves one up, one down, one up, etc.

I've marked the areas that need some looking at.

You have the basis for making it look good and you have very nice scroll proportion..........but they need quite a bit of refinement to make it all work.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[SamW]

Looks like Andrew pretty well covered everything! S

 

[Marcus Hunt]

I agree 100% with Andrew. Often folks with little experience are desperate to make their mark and have their own unique style they forget the basics. With something like this get back to the basics and you can't go far wrong.

Make all the scrolls fit within the border and use smaller scrolls to fill the gaps. The worse thing you can do with something like this is fill it with huge leaves. Work on keeping your tendrils and leaves in proportion with the scroll that they fit within. If you extent outside of the border and have to continue in an imaginary fashion until it comes back to the frame again chances are you'll mess it up and it's not like a pencil drawing that you can just erase.

Wise words indeed from Andrew.

 

[Roger Bleile]

Gustave Young Examples

Damon,

Most period Colt Navys and 1849 Pocket Models were engraved in the shop of Gustave Young. While Young was famous for the most elaborate and sophisticated Colts of the period, like the Sultan of Turkey Dragoon, he and his team turned out lots of the more routine engraved pieces. These are what I like to study when working up ideas for a percussion revolver because those designs have a "period" look to them and are not overly sophisticated. By today's standards these period guns look crudely engraved when viewed closed up but they exude a sort of "character" at arms length. In any case they are a good study as to how Young solved some of the lay out issues.

If you don't have a stack of R.L. Wilson Colt books, a good source to find examples are the gun sales and auction sites, the best of which is probably James Julia's site because of the excellent close up photos.

Below are some examples of work from Young's shop on revolvers similar to yours. I am not suggesting that you copy this work but it will help to stimulate design solutions for correct period style work.

CRB

 

[d.soileau]

here is what i worked on last night before i got your input.
i redid the portion that needed the most help this morning before work, but want to do another. im still not feeling great about it yet. im really having fun with the sculpted leaf work. ill keep sketching till i get this good enough. im quite greatful for tracing paper.

Hi Damon

Heres my thoughts with the usual disclaimer that it's only my way of looking at things.

I can see what you are trying to do but I personally think that you should take a bit more conservative approach.

The way you have cut scrolls off and taken some over the border line is going to give you all sorts of grief when you start adding leaves............basically it'll start getting messier and messier the more you carry on with the design the way it is now.

The transition area that you have noted would possibly be better served by breaking down your scrolls and taking them to the top of the frame...........then let the leaf coming out from your top left scroll morph into a running border that you have drawn and alternating the leaves one up, one down, one up, etc.

I've marked the areas that need some looking at.

You have the basis for making it look good and you have very nice scroll proportion..........but they need quite a bit of refinement to make it all work.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Damon

Yip, tracing paper is great stuff alright!!!

Your pencil lines look very thick...............are you drawing this gun in actual size?.............if you are, then can I suggest that you draw it bigger and enlarge the original gun outlines on a computer or photocopy machine if possible. It will make the drawing a lot easier.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[d.soileau]

actual size. didnt have access to coppier over weekend. just added 40% to it just now.

 

[d.soileau]

am i on the right track?

im liking the botom one better.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Damon

Yes, you're on the right track.

But.........

There are still some problem areas with the scroll work. You will find that the areas I've marked are going to be hard to fill with leaves and still make it look good. Try breaking these areas into smaller scrolls.

I've also noticed that you are treating the two parts of the gun as separate areas. You've already started filling leaves into the rear area where I've outlined with a question mark..................you will be better off treating it all as one area...........get your scroll backbones all in place over the whole gun ............and then fill in leaves. One area flows into the other and you will find yourself constantly reworking both areas.

If your scrolls are correct then everything else will flow from that..........if your scrolls are not right you will be constantly battling with the design.


Cheers
Andrew

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Damon Maybe this will give you some ideas. This is just a quick sketch I did in photoshop. Maybe it will help.