I have been struggling to learn bulino for several years, working on it in fits and starts. I'm hoping for some insights into technique. This is just a practice plate. I almost always work on this same image of John Wayne because there are subtleties in the tones and he's recognizable. Plus I like doing it. And people can judge whether I've captured the likeness. I am puzzled (to say the least) about technique. I have tried using a point, much like with scrimshaw I do. That didn't yield the right result. For this image I used Phil Cogan's bulino template for the graver. But I was unable to "flick" out the tiny bits of metal mostly. So, they're more like little gouges. The metal is mostly displaced but not removed. It may be related to the material. As I mentioned, this is a practice plate from GRS and it seems very soft. Aside from technique, I also struggle with the coloring and clean up. I'm using Rust-Oleum flat black enamel, which I think is customary. But it gums up and I end up wiping it down with acetone lightly, which may remove some of the black. Finally, the image quality is very dependent on the lighting. In some lighting conditions it's ghosted, in others crisp and clear. This piece is about 1" in diameter. I'd appreciate any advice folks are willing to share to improve the outcome. Thank you.
Bulino...Struggling to learn
- Thread starter Houlihan
- Start date
I have been struggling to learn bulino for several years, working on it in fits and starts. I'm hoping for some insights into technique. This is just a practice plate. I almost always work on this same image of John Wayne because there are subtleties in the tones and he's recognizable. Plus I like doing it. And people can judge whether I've captured the likeness. I am puzzled (to say the least) about technique. I have tried using a point, much like with scrimshaw I do. That didn't yield the right result. For this image I used Phil Cogan's bulino template for the graver. But I was unable to "flick" out the tiny bits of metal mostly. So, they're more like little gouges. The metal is mostly displaced but not removed. It may be related to the material. As I mentioned, this is a practice plate from GRS and it seems very soft. Aside from technique, I also struggle with the coloring and clean up. I'm using Rust-Oleum flat black enamel, which I think is customary. But it gums up and I end up wiping it down with acetone lightly, which may remove some of the black. Finally, the image quality is very dependent on the lighting. In some lighting conditions it's ghosted, in others crisp and clear. This piece is about 1" in diameter. I'd appreciate any advice folks are willing to share to improve the outcome. Thank you.
Houlihan, I like what I see.J.J.
looks to me you may not understand the term, "struggle". this is very nice to my eye. very recognizable ! nuttin else to say tyvm for sharing
Thank you, JJ. I'll keep picking at it.
Thanks, Monk. The struggle has been removing the little bits of metal, versus just gouging the metal. I think I may need to try to do even finer "dots" than I've been doing. Not sure. And probably take another class.
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