Critique Request Dainty flower

[Matthew Evans]

Trying to find designs that would be easy to engrave in an hour or two for the entry level crowd. Flowers never go out of style but tell me what you think. Semper Augustus: a flower who’s petals were beautiful because of a virus.

 

[papart1]

very nice...............like the shading too

 

[monk]

looks ok to my eye.

 

[John B.]

Nicely done

 

[AllenClapp]

I must still be sleepy this morning. I am having trouble figuring out what is going on with the flower petals--at least I assume they are petals.
First, the central large vertical petal looks like it has jagged edges that curl around to the OUTSIDE. I don't recall ever seeing petals like that. Is it a particular flower?
Second, the left, lower large petal looks like it may have another petal in front of it--or may be curling to the INSIDE, which doesn't match up with the central vertical one.
Maybe it is shading issues or leaf foldover issues, but I'm not getting it. Having said that, the overall look and feel isn't bad for the intended purpose and I think that kind of thing can work well for that purpose.

 

[Matthew Evans]

I must still be sleepy this morning. I am having trouble figuring out what is going on with the flower petals--at least I assume they are petals.
First, the central large vertical petal looks like it has jagged edges that curl around to the OUTSIDE. I don't recall ever seeing petals like that. Is it a particular flower?
Second, the left, lower large petal looks like it may have another petal in front of it--or may be curling to the INSIDE, which doesn't match up with the central vertical one.
Maybe it is shading issues or leaf foldover issues, but I'm not getting it. Having said that, the overall look and feel isn't bad for the intended purpose and I think that kind of thing can work well for that purpose.

The Semper Augustus tulip was a “broken” tulip that had frayed edges and scattered coloring unlike most tulips. At the time this was one of the most prized flowers and it was a virus that caused its difference and with that they are no longer in existence.
All critiques are welcome, so I appreciate the feedback. The goal will be to eventually inlay with red gold but I know how hard that is with work hardening and a taper to the inlay. All a work in progress =). Note: As well I won’t be trying to copy the image in the future but to derive the leaf style and make new flowers.
-Thanks Matthew

 

[Brant]

I think you have done an excellent job of rendering this tulip!!

 

[AllenClapp]

The Semper Augustus tulip was a “broken” tulip that had frayed edges and scattered coloring unlike most tulips. At the time this was one of the most prized flowers and it was a virus that caused its difference and with that they are no longer in existence.
All critiques are welcome, so I appreciate the feedback. The goal will be to eventually inlay with red gold but I know how hard that is with work hardening and a taper to the inlay. All a work in progress =). Note: As well I won’t be trying to copy the image in the future but to derive the leaf style and make new flowers.
-Thanks Matthew

Thank you for the photo. Makes great sense now.

 

[Goldjockey]

The Semper Augustus tulip was a “broken” tulip that had frayed edges and scattered coloring unlike most tulips. At the time this was one of the most prized flowers and it was a virus that caused its difference and with that they are no longer in existence.
All critiques are welcome, so I appreciate the feedback. The goal will be to eventually inlay with red gold but I know how hard that is with work hardening and a taper to the inlay. All a work in progress =). Note: As well I won’t be trying to copy the image in the future but to derive the leaf style and make new flowers.
-Thanks Matthew

Matthew,

In the original tulip image, I'm seeing a very stark contrast between light and dark with very, very fine gradiations. Your engraving captures the shape beautifully, but not the stark contrast of the original image, and honestly if you want to reproduce the effect in an engraving, I don't know how you'd go about it with single point.

The subject just doesn't seem to lend itself at all to that particular technique. I can see that it might work in a bulino style, but once again - even in that style the subject is extremely challenging because of the stark contrasts, and extremely subtle gradiations throughout.

Just a suggestion, but in terms of ambitious subject matter, I'd personally dial it back a bit at this stage.

 

[oniemarc]

I can't seem to grasp why you chose to engrave the tulip with jagged edges on the main leaf in the front. In the original picture, the leaf edges are "wavy". I might be reading the engraving all wrong though.
BTW...It looks nice nonetheless...

 

[Matthew Evans]

.

 

[Goldjockey]

I tend to agree with you on the effects of the single point not lending itself to shading for this flower or even bulino alone doing it justice, so honesty works best for me = ). At this stage I am likely trying to recreate the flower petal shapes because those are what originally attracted me, but the high minded stuff will wait. Ive got my gun I am working on the design for, but wanted to get some smaller jobs started that could be sold a little easier.

Very ready to take some private instruction and maybe next year it’ll all come together, fingers crossed. As long as you find it beautiful, I’ll take it as a win on not trying to recreate, and appreciate what Allen said about it looking a little confusing. Getting a more recognizable flower other than a rose may be a good bet.
-Matthew

Nothing wrong with a commercial venture. Sunflowers seem to be quite popular right now. They're currently trending strongly in jewelry.

 

[Matthew Evans]

Nothing wrong with a commercial venture. Sunflowers seem to be quite popular right now. They're currently trending strongly in jewelry.

If I start making money from selling sunflowers I’m blaming you.

 

[Leland Davis]

I started putting sunflowers in my engraving 6 years ago because I'm a Kansas engraver. For those that don't know Kansas is the sunflower state. The response was very good and now I get called out if it is not there. I was surprised by that especially customers from other parts of the country. Now Goldjockey explained why thanks.

 

[Leland Davis]

Matthew, Here is a example of what I'm talking about.

 

[Matthew Evans]

Matthew, Here is a example of what I'm talking about. View attachment 48659 View attachment 48660

I like it!