Critique Request My first Elephant Bulino...

[Donny]

While I am waiting to get my English Scroll packet from Marcus I wanted to try a bulino elephant...this about 16hrs or less...my grandson knocks on my shop door often...If you have a few ideas on things I'm missing or if I'm going in the wrong direction please say so...it is of course just for practice..I am far from done but would like your thoughts...be nice only if you mean it.
First 8 hrs

This morning

 

[rayf24]

Donny looks fine on my phone better than my first try at bulino.
you will love marcus,s book and dvd iam half way reading the book and the dvds are excellent
as are the castings
ray

 

[JJ Roberts]

Don, Notice in the photo how dark it is around the elephants face and jaws need to put more detail in the ears darkening them making the face and trunk stand out. The face and trunk are the closest to you, I hope I explained this right, J.J.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

I love elephants. Like humans, no two seem exactly the same but like humans certain anatomical features always apply. This isn't a bad attempt at bulino but a couple of things need defining better. Your image is a bit flat and that's because the area behind where the tusks grow from needs more contrast to give depth to the head. Also, at the area at the top of the skull where the ears join the head there are 2 D shaped dimples. These are more pronounced on some elephants than others but they are there none the less and they define the shape of the African elephants head.

You need to study your anatomy a bit more. Never just look at one picture of an animal; always chose several and often from slightly different angles. This helps give you a feel for the creature you're portraying. Also, (and I say this in my book) as an engraver you need to learn to "really see" what you are looking at and then replicate what you are actually seeing rather than what you think you see - there's a huge difference and it's not an easy skill to learn. My father taught me by using the old fashioned grid system. In the old days we used to use this to scale down artwork and it's a useful exercise because you concentrate on the exact shapes you are replicating into a smaller square rather than the whole bird or animal.

You are on the right track and this engraving can be worked on to bring it to life. Quite often when I'm bulino engraving animals I work in layers e.g the first going over lays the foundation, the second starts to define the shape, the third starts to bring definition into certain areas and the fourth adds detail. This isn't necessarily the only way of engraving bulino but it works for me. Too often I see novices trying to do everything with one pass and very often this just doesn't work. I just takes a little more patience, that's all.

 

[Donny]

JJ,
Thank you and yes I totally see what you mean...honestly I tend to jump around a bit when I do game scenes...I try to lay the darker areas down in a way to highlight muscles, folds, and bones... then I start adding the rest of the "depth"...

Donny

 

[Donny]

Marcus,
Thank you for taking the time to respond...I greatly appriciate the feedback, insight, and the information. Like I told JJ, I have a bad habit of jumping around...I guess I get bored after a thousand dots in a half inch square But I have read about others who use a index card with a small hole cut in the card and do their work through the hole so they are not distracted/tempted by the rest of the design. This (bulino) and English Scroll are my personal "passions" within the art of engraving. They are what I will be spending most of my time learning to execute well.

Again thank you for your time and words..

Donny

 

[Beathard]

Really nice start!

When Marty Rabeno was teaching me bulino he kept saying jump around, put a little her and there to build it up. Sounds like you are doing it correctly. If you get tired of dots, throw in a few dashes or lines. Loll at your photo, there are dark shadows in the ears outlining the face and trunk. Also observe the folds and veins in the ears.

 

[monk]

i'm thinkin it looks rather nice. like to see it when finished.

 

[Donny]

Beathard,
I was looking at going to one of Marty's classes...just hard to do with my schedule...I am hoping to meet him in January at the FEGA Show if he is there.

Monk,
Thank you. I will show a couple more progress shots as I go...Marcus gave me some pretty good insights so I'm looking forward to applying those in my next elephant to see if I can gain "life" in the scene.......

Donny