Acanthus leaves

Gargoyle · Feb 21, 2007

Plates 13 through 16; French Renaissance and the three Louis's.

This should translate directly into engraving. If you do some work based on these images, I hope you'll post pix for us to see.

Sam · Feb 21, 2007

Man, if this stuff doesn't trip your trigger I don't know what will! This is some of the best reference material I've ever seen.

Copied to the Tips archive.

~Sam

Jim-Iowa · Feb 21, 2007

Walter: This is just what I needed! Am currently just working with pencil and paper.
Trying to train my eye and hand to coordinate and these will be a great help!

Lee · Feb 21, 2007

This is really good. It's interesting to look at how the light plays on the leaves and is affected by the form. For the truly ambitious grab some modeling clay and spread it out in a pan thick enough to do some sculpting. This is a great way to really sense the 3d of the leaves. Way to go Walter! It is surprising how little relief is sometimes needed to create a 3d look. Pull out a nickel and see how little relief is on the coin on the other hand I saw some really deep stuff by Phillipe Griffnee and Alain Lovenberg and it is incredible and awe inspiring.

Andrew Biggs · Feb 21, 2007

Thanks for posting these pictures as they really get the creative juices flowing. Wonderful study material.

Cheers
Andrew

Mike Cirelli · Feb 21, 2007

Walter really great educational study material. I guess these are to Stone Carvers what engraving castings are to Engravers. Like Stone carvers baseball cards

Thanks for posting them.
Mike

Gargoyle · Feb 22, 2007

Here's the final four. Empire, Belgian Style, Modern Composition, and American Renaissance.

Use them in health.

Mike Bissell · Feb 22, 2007

I think you saved the best for last. Great study aids.
Mike

Sam · Feb 22, 2007

Best for last indeed! They're added to the archive.
#3's my favorite. Looks like something Churchill would engrave or sculpt.

Gargoyle · Feb 22, 2007

sam said:
#3's my favorite.

Do you mean #3 of the last set of four, which is actually #19?

I'm curious which ones are other peoples favorites. I know #1 is popular. I think I'm partial to Florentine and Empire (10 and 17), but I think #4 byzantine could be pretty dramatic when engraved.

Jim-Iowa · Feb 22, 2007

I think #3 in the first group(corinthinc) is really cool.
It seems simplistic on the surface yet shows so much contour and shading.
It will really stretch my skills to draw this seemingly simple form.

Gargoyle · Feb 23, 2007

This might also help in seeing what acanthus leaves can look like in 3D. This is a marble urn which a friend of mine in Italy carved. Note the flow of the leaves and veins, and the way the leaf tips fold and turn; all of that can translate into an engraving. Try to make your shadow work look three dimensional and make the leaves look alive and graceful.

Gargoyle · Feb 24, 2007

Here's another useful example. I spotted this carved marble relief in Florence, Italy. The foliage is nicely handled, with the leaves turning with a consistent movement and bending to fit comfortably into the triangle. The unusual part is the face in the center bud. This can translate directly into a gunstock or knife bolster, giving a delightful unexpected detail.

The leaf tips in the lower corners do seem to tear off a bit thin when they leave the body of the leafs (just before they start folding over). I'd prefer that the whole leaf had remained a bit wider feeding into those corner folds.

pilkguns · Feb 24, 2007

this is a very fascinating book and many thanks for bring it to light. I have already put out feelers to look for a copy, but meanwhile I will have to plop myself down into a library and read the text for each scroll. I am quite curious about the naming conventions, as they do not seem to represent classic ornamanetation names or geographic development as I understand it.

I hope to sometime this spring finish an article about some of these styles and their similarities despite wideflung cultural and continental differences. But I have several writing projects that are still midstream... sigh...

Gargoyle · Feb 24, 2007

Scott,

This book is just plates, no text. I do have an extensive library of 19th and early 20th c. ornament and design books; if you ever get to my neck of the woods, you're welcome to stop by and peruse the collection.

pilkguns · Feb 24, 2007

thanks for the offer, would be delighted to see what you have. You might just see this funny shaped UltraVan pulling into your drive sometime. I have always wanted to visit the Elgin area anyway.

Sam · Feb 24, 2007

Walter: Two more beautiful examples of acanthus leaves. Thank you. I'd love to watch you carve sometime.

If Scott visits your studio, hide your whiskey. / ~Sam

Gargoyle · Feb 24, 2007

sam said:
If Scott visits your studio, hide your whiskey.

Not much whisky here. But, do you think he knows what Grappa is?

Mike Cirelli · Feb 24, 2007

Hillbilly's from Tenn. call Grapa moon shine. Walter I make Grapa & Ouzo.
Great stuff your posting here, Thanks
Mike

pilkguns · Feb 24, 2007

spent too much time in Italy not to know what Grappa is.... but yes, I agree with Mike C's assesment..... too much like raw alcohol taste to me....

Acanthus leaves

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