The Meek's squirrel

[GTJC460]

The following is my attempt at the Meek's squirrel. I worked on it off and on for the past two weeks. Probably put about 20-25 hours into it in total.

Learned a lot about this style of engraving doing this project.

 

[bthomas]

Bert, good job. I like how you have created hair and color of body curves.

Won't pretend that I can make any suggestion from a photograph , would enjoy having in hand...bet it looks great.

I am curious whether you worked on a section at a time or sort of developed it all together (i.e. continuously darkening the overall picture or "completed" an element at a time). Shading simplier scroll projects I find the viewer's eye tends to be drawn to dark sections. Having hunted squirrels may years ago I think you got it right (you see trees before your eye settles on the little tree dwellers).

Bill

 

[thughes]

Man that's pretty awesome.

 

[GTJC460]

Bill. I studied the photographs in the booklet that comes with the GRS kit and basically followed the recipe in the video.

The workflow was done in sections, starting with the body of the squirrel. It's mostly fine lines with some dots and dashes thrown in to make certain areas darker as needed. The fine line method is way quicker than just dots and it's easier to develop form and tones of light to dark in the engraving.

I will also note that last week I spent several days with Mike Dubber learning this technique. I started on the squirrel before going to him. Finished it today. I also have spent quite a bit of time practicing on simple shapes like circles, boxes, ovals, ect...learning how to shade them to give them 3d form.

This type of work really interests me, so I've been dabbling with it off and on over the last year or so. Basically I've spent a lot of time watching Chris DeCamillis's bulino DVDs and practicing simple exercises.

As for graver geometry I just use either the Lindsay universal or detailing points with minuscule heels. The primary grind and heel is both polished. I use carbide.

 

[golden forge]

Looks great, and you are braver than me, I have had the kit for three weeks now, have watched the DVD, and still haven't had the nerve to start scratching at it.
Good job!

 

[Christian DeCamillis]

Bert,

You have done a good job on this overall.

On thing that is bothersome to me is the plate seems to be sanded very course. Is this how it comes? Is the design outline lasered on the plate or did you transfer it? I am asking because for bulino the plate needs to be sanded to a fine finish Having to work through such a course finish will not give you the best result possible.

Chris

 

[Kerry Bogan]

I just bought both Chris's bulino DVD and the GRS bulino DVD, and just received them, and haven't had time to look at either of them.
To answer your question Chris, the pendant is both coarsely sanded and lazer profiled.

 

[monk]

soon after getting the gravermeister, i tried mr. meeks' squirrel. mine looked more like a sick possum. yours way, way better. i believe mr. meeks looks down with pride that his legacy goes beyond the "book". few in my lifetime left me with such a great gift.-- mr. meeks and john rohner are 2 such men.

 

[g.rohrbaugh]

You did a good job there engraving that squirrel. I agree with Chris about the finish on the plate. I have Chris's DVD on doing this type of work. Meek's squirrel is something I always wanted to do.

Gary

 

[Mike Dubber]

I saw this work in progress when Bert was in my studio for some advanced training two weeks ago. Good job Bert - you finished off the detail just the way I hoped you would !

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Looks great. You've done a good job of it. Well done and keep it up.

The finish on these things is a satin finish and the harsh lighting in the photo makes it look worse than it is. I've engraved a ton of these as practice plates and they are a real pleasure to work on and the finish doesn't look out of place to my eye.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Christian DeCamillis]

Andrew, Kerry called it coarsely sanded. You are calling it satin. In my opinion it looks course. If its anything courser than a well sanded 400 grit it's too course for engraving with the bulino technique and have the best result. If it's the same satin as the many I have worked on then it needs to be sanded much finer for this exercise.

 

[GTJC460]

I'd call it a #2 emory grit. I used a 400 grit stone to smooth the inlay and it blended in nicely.

Thanks everyone for the kind remarks!

 

[Christian DeCamillis]

Thanks Bert, #2 emery paper is equal to 220 grit sandpaper. #1/0 would be equal to 400 grit .

 

[JAKE N]

Bert,
Thanks for posting this. You have done a really nice job on the squirrel and I hope you enjoyed (and learned a lot from) the video. It is really fun and rewarding for me to see other engraver's progress inspired by the DVD. Gets me even more excited about teaching the bulino class coming up in October.

-Jake

 

[unclejohn]

Looks pretty good to me..

 

[GTJC460]

Thanks Jake and John.

I really did learn a tremendous amount doing this particular exercise. That bulino class sounds like fun.