Bulino craine and cattail
- Thread starter papart1
- Start date
The cattail is a better piece of engraving. But the most important part of that plate is the series of practice cuts on both sides. I do a very limited amount of bulino on gold and silver charms. But I practice a hell of a lot of cuts from the Chris DeCamillis bulino video. The Chris DeCamillis video is seriously what you want. It lays out exactly what you want to do in a series of steps. It may be the greatest engraving instruction video ever.
The hardest part for me is learning to make different shades of gray and then integrating them into what I'm cutting. To do that I don't do a whole anything but just small sections of the complete cut. So instead of doing the whole bird you might just want to do a section of the wing. Not even the whole wing just a row of feathers.
When I taught apprentices I used to compare learning to engrave with learning the piano. You have to learn to finger the keys, then small combinations of notes, then scales and so on. Its hard to get started and its just hard work in general. But its very satisfying when things come together.
So my advice is to cut back your ambitions for a while and concentrate on the small things. For instance here is a drawing of a wing I copied from the web. Its a small section of a larger bird drawing. But notice the difference in color of the individual feather. Work on just a single feather. Draw it. Then practice cutting lines to match the shades in the feather. Then cut the feather. Then cut additional feathers creating a row.
From the plates you've posted I can see you're getting better. And if I didn't think you can do this I wouldn't be spending time writing this. But take your time getting the small stuff right.
For me the strange thing about engraving is that the whole is great when its all finished. But when you get into it, its all about the line. One at a time. There's a lot of satisfaction in being able to cut a single line well and then building on that line, one at a time to create something that you can be truly proud of. And then when you're done you may look at it and see what you could have done better. It takes a lot of practice to get to that point. After 40 years I'm still trying to get things right. But its worth it.
Allan
The hardest part for me is learning to make different shades of gray and then integrating them into what I'm cutting. To do that I don't do a whole anything but just small sections of the complete cut. So instead of doing the whole bird you might just want to do a section of the wing. Not even the whole wing just a row of feathers.
When I taught apprentices I used to compare learning to engrave with learning the piano. You have to learn to finger the keys, then small combinations of notes, then scales and so on. Its hard to get started and its just hard work in general. But its very satisfying when things come together.
So my advice is to cut back your ambitions for a while and concentrate on the small things. For instance here is a drawing of a wing I copied from the web. Its a small section of a larger bird drawing. But notice the difference in color of the individual feather. Work on just a single feather. Draw it. Then practice cutting lines to match the shades in the feather. Then cut the feather. Then cut additional feathers creating a row.
From the plates you've posted I can see you're getting better. And if I didn't think you can do this I wouldn't be spending time writing this. But take your time getting the small stuff right.
For me the strange thing about engraving is that the whole is great when its all finished. But when you get into it, its all about the line. One at a time. There's a lot of satisfaction in being able to cut a single line well and then building on that line, one at a time to create something that you can be truly proud of. And then when you're done you may look at it and see what you could have done better. It takes a lot of practice to get to that point. After 40 years I'm still trying to get things right. But its worth it.
Allan
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mitch
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
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- Jul 23, 2007
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remember that engraving is pretty much just drawing with cuts in metal. the medium & scale is different, but much can be learned from studying pen & ink sketches. engraved printing plates & prints are a good source for bridging the gap between the two.
Mr. Allen I can see that I need to do alot of wings and wing structures. I have Chris's download and study it religiously. He says the same as yourself. The interest that you and Mr. Mitch show is encouriging and a driving force. My ability to hand draw is very limited due to shakeness from medications and an extensive neck reconstruction. The procedure I use is to find the image, print, reduce, send to affinity, tweek and print the final pic. Then transfer to steel etc and to the best of my ability trace the inportant parts with my scribe and take off. But the problem that plagues me is the ability to throttle my enthusiasim, I take off and go blow right by alot of my detailed tracings. SOO I got to do the wing you gave me............pick me out a feather....and commence to do that. Mitch......I went to the local thrift store the other day and picked up a wealth of older books dealing with paintings, etchings, and amphibians, reptiles and birds. They are really nice to study and I have been studying them too. Both of your intructional detailed comments are taken to heart and you'll see the advise taken in postings in the future. Gotta slow up and get a mind set that is comparible to the cuts, real small and real slow!! Thanks gents. paps
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