KCSteve
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
A little background: Last year at BLADE my ever-indulgent wife bought me an engraving setup from GRS. Took the Basic Engraving class in September.
Like a lot of folks it's safe to say I could draw better. In fact, I've always said that my drawing skills are such that I'm a photographer. But drawing is important for engraving so I've been plugging away working at getting better.
While I've been able to draw the spines of scrolls ok, my leaves... well let's just say the ones downwind from Three Mile Island were much more natural looking.
Got myself a post-Christmas present of the N'Graver Scroll Template system and that helped a lot - now I can do Chernobyl grade leaves.
The ever-indulgent wife and I have our own rules for Valentine's Day presents. To qualify a present must
1) Be a 'traditional' present
or
2) Have something Red.
Most of the gifts she gets me qualify under Rule #2.
This year I told her I wanted the 'Classroom in a Box' from GRS - the version with both of Ron's books on Scrolls. It not only counts because of the jewlery connection (admittedly a bit tenuous) but it's safe under Rule #2 because there are some color plates in the Advanced book with red bits.
So she calls in and orders it. We're two hours away from GRS so it arrives a bit early but that's not a problem. I'm working my way through the first book (Drawing and Understanding Scroll Designs) and having a good time.
Ron spends three pages going over what appears to be one small, simple point: if the lines in your leaves are kept reasonably parallel to each other then your leaf will have a natural harmony and flow. Several examples showing good and bad leaves. Seems sensible. Continue on a bit soaking up lots of good stuff.
Starting to get a little bit late so I decide to stop reading for now and see if I've learned anything. Take my sketchbook and start with the very simple leaf tendril Ron starts his 'flow' discussion with.
Hey, that does look nice!
Do a couple more, then try a slightly fancier leaf. Fair amount of erasing and adjusting. Get one 'Chernobyl' leaf I leave as a reminder.
But you know, these darn things are actually starting to look good!
Sketch a bit of a scroll and see if I can put a leaf cluster on the outside. And it works!
Less than a quarter of the way through the book and I've already got a major improvement.
Ok, it's like those organizations that brag about being 'fastest growing' - something they can do because getting that third member means they're up 300%, but still.
Great job Ron!
Like a lot of folks it's safe to say I could draw better. In fact, I've always said that my drawing skills are such that I'm a photographer. But drawing is important for engraving so I've been plugging away working at getting better.
While I've been able to draw the spines of scrolls ok, my leaves... well let's just say the ones downwind from Three Mile Island were much more natural looking.
Got myself a post-Christmas present of the N'Graver Scroll Template system and that helped a lot - now I can do Chernobyl grade leaves.
The ever-indulgent wife and I have our own rules for Valentine's Day presents. To qualify a present must
1) Be a 'traditional' present
or
2) Have something Red.
Most of the gifts she gets me qualify under Rule #2.
This year I told her I wanted the 'Classroom in a Box' from GRS - the version with both of Ron's books on Scrolls. It not only counts because of the jewlery connection (admittedly a bit tenuous) but it's safe under Rule #2 because there are some color plates in the Advanced book with red bits.
So she calls in and orders it. We're two hours away from GRS so it arrives a bit early but that's not a problem. I'm working my way through the first book (Drawing and Understanding Scroll Designs) and having a good time.
Ron spends three pages going over what appears to be one small, simple point: if the lines in your leaves are kept reasonably parallel to each other then your leaf will have a natural harmony and flow. Several examples showing good and bad leaves. Seems sensible. Continue on a bit soaking up lots of good stuff.
Starting to get a little bit late so I decide to stop reading for now and see if I've learned anything. Take my sketchbook and start with the very simple leaf tendril Ron starts his 'flow' discussion with.
Hey, that does look nice!
Do a couple more, then try a slightly fancier leaf. Fair amount of erasing and adjusting. Get one 'Chernobyl' leaf I leave as a reminder.
But you know, these darn things are actually starting to look good!
Sketch a bit of a scroll and see if I can put a leaf cluster on the outside. And it works!
Less than a quarter of the way through the book and I've already got a major improvement.
Ok, it's like those organizations that brag about being 'fastest growing' - something they can do because getting that third member means they're up 300%, but still.
Great job Ron!
