Eye of the Dragon

[Doc Mark]

The is the second time I've tried to do a dot style Bulino. I doubt if I'll do another! It is extremely time consuming. I think that Chris De Camillis's technique of line work is far easier and more satisfying. I spent 5.75 hours on this disk and I "cheated" towards the end. After about 3 hours of hand cut tiny dots, I put my bulino tool in my 901 handpiece and began to darken the image with more of a stippling technique. By keeping the handpiece at a very low angle to the work and holding the point of the tool just slightly above the surface of the metal, I could get the tiny cuts rather than a mere displacement of the metal that normal stippling can give you.

The "model" for the eye is from a photo of a crocodile eye that I modified in Photoshop to more resemble the eye of "Smaug" from The Hobbit.

I apologize for the photo. Even with my macro lens, I couldn't get a really crisp detailed photo. Much of the subtle shading has disappeared!

The disk is a 1.5 inch .999 Fine Silver bullion coin. Critiques are welcome.

 

[Weldon47]

Awesome!!!

Weldon

 

[sam]

I think it looks great!

 

[monk]

looks kind of scary, so you must have done a good job here.

 

[thughes]

Really cool Doc.

 

[didyoung]

wow that is great!!!!

 

[mdengraver]

Doc you hit your Mark on this one! Not necessary to repeat your last name. Your work is your Mark!

 

[Dani Girl]

Really well done

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Looks great to me Doc, indeed very time consuming.

arnaud

 

[Doc Mark]

Thanks for all the nice comments and "Likes". It was a bit tedious to do but I'm reasonably happy with the results. I do feel that line style bulino is faster to do and more durable. I said that I wouldn't do another one using this technique again, but who knows. Maybe if someone really wanted that style and was willing to pay.....

 

[KCSteve]

The key is that now you can do this style so you can mix it in as needed.

 

[RDP]

Congratulations Doc, this is so good, it's scary!!,
thanks for sharing,

Richard.

 

[Marrinan]

Silver being a very soft wear prone metal. Supper Fine shading, bulino may be a waste of effort on anything that gets a lot of wear. Bracelets, Horn caps, carry knives are just not prime subjects in my opinion. Beautiful job and scary Doc.-Fred

 

[Chujybear]

Silver being a very soft wear prone metal. Supper Fine shading, bulino may be a waste of effort on anything that gets a lot of wear. Bracelets, Horn caps, carry knives are just not prime subjects in my opinion. Beautiful job and scary Doc.-Fred

So is there a variant process that would last on a cuff?

 

[Mike Fennell]

Very scary and very nice, Mark. I like the effect.

 

[Beathard]

Awesome!!!

 

[LVVP]

As I said before, it looks very real, thanks

 

[Marrinan]

Chujybear, Coin silver, Stainless, surgical stainless, nickel silver will all last longer but bulino is generally cut so finely that all will loose the detail just slower. They will be so beautiful when purchased but I think customer will be disappointed by items that is subject to wear. This type if shading is display only. Some items like necklaces will last longer but my Ex just used to drop everything in the jewelry box. super fine work wont hold up to her. Take the horn cap on a western saddle. Hand (often gloved) rubs the hand on each mounting and dismounting. Often ride with one hand on the horn or rest their hands on the horn cap while waiting. -Fred

 

[amcarter]

That is extremely cool.