Fine line shading

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi everyone.

I’ve been approached a couple of times about the subject of fine line shading which can be quite a mystery to a lot of people. So I’ve started a new thread on the subject hoping to help them along the way a bit.

Metal is a flat(ish) surface just like paper but instead of using a pencil to draw on our canvas we cut the surface to create our lines. Because the metal has no high or low points therefore no shadows are created by our main cuts. When light is reflected off the surface of the metal it is reasonably flat to look at, just like paper.

So we have to create the illusion of shadows which gives the engraving a 3 dimensional look. It also helps create texture.

The first picture shows shadows when things are layered. If we were to cut out each leaf from another piece of metal and stack them onto one another it would be a true 3 dimensional object like in real life and cast its own shadows. Because we can’t do that, we have to create the illusion of doing it by creating our own shadows with lines cut into the metal.

The second picture shows the effect of line spacing and thickness.

The third picture is how you put it all together in actual practice.

Now I must emphasize a couple of things…………The first is that this is my way of doing it. Others will think differently and approach it another way depending on their own experiences. Second, the best way to get your head round it is with a pencil and paper and draw till you drop!!! After a while it’ll just click into place.

Hope this is of some help.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Jim-Iowa]

Yeah it do shed some light. Andrew That is a great illustration and is very helpful

 

[Jon C. Dake]

Hey Andrew, more great stuff. I've printed these drawings out and put them with the other one you were kind enough to give me. I think that part of your success with engraving is your artistic abilities. Obviously a left brain type of guy. I've ordered the book "Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain". I don't know if it will help but it can't do any harm.

 

[Gemsset]

hey thank's alot for those drawings. They sure are helpfull.

Regards,

Carl

 

[AllanFink1960]

Wow Andrew, cool illustrations of your point. The only thing I would add is also true of shading a drawing anything in general, and that is that the illusion is most successful when you have one clear direction of light...you should be able to look at a drawing and tell where the light is coming from. There might be secondary sources of light, or reflected light, but again, its most clear when you have one main light source.

To Jon, I dont yet know much about engraving, but I have been drawing all my life, and I cant say enough good about Betty Edwards and "Drawing on the right side of the brain." The ability to draw comes from the right side of your brain and some people are born "with talent" -- meaning they have a strong right brain. But the good news is that drawing is a skill that litterally anyone can learn, once you know how to THINK when you are drawing --accessing the part of your brain that actually does the drawing. I have seen people who could never draw more than stick figures start to draw photographically in as quick as three weeks! It really does work. So buy the book, commit to drawing ALL the excercises in the book, and try to do a little bit each day. Before you know it you will be able to copy ANY photograph in pencil, or oil paint, or carve it in gold or steel or burnt match sticks. The best part is, once you know how to think when you draw, the rest is just a matter of technique and learning to use materials.

And as you might expect, people that can ALREADY draw...they get the book and read it and their response is..."well, yeah, I do that already". But the interesting part is you learn WHY it works, so its easier to make it happen on command.

Good luck with all your efforts with that

 

[sam]

Andrew: Thanks for taking the time to make such a nice explanation of shading. I've added it to the Tips archive. You've really broken it down well, and I'm sure this will be of great help to those learning to shade.

I would like to echo your statement about 'draw 'till you drop'. If you can't draw good shading, you certainly can't cut it.

Alan: I don't think of the direction of light when shading scrollwork. While that applies to drawing and painting, scrollwork is often shaded without regard to light direction...more of an omnidirectional light source you might say. Winston Churchill was asked about light direction in scroll shading and he said the same thing, that he didn't think of the direction of light. I'm not saying everyone approaches shading this way, but it's often the case.

 

[KSnyder]

Andrew, G'day, thanks for the great tutorial, it will be a great help for me. Very clear info.I'm lucky I can draw, I try to get in about an hour per day. Don't know if its hereditary but my dad was a sketcher and my mom a wonderful watercolor painter.
Kent

 

[Marcus Hunt]

A very well presented tutorial Andrew, if it helps some guys get the hang of shading then so much the better.

I must admit to being of the Sam, Winston (and dare I say it, Ken Hunt) school. I never think of the direction of a light source when it comes to scrollwork. I was taught that the shading helped form the scroll and shape of the leaves and nothing was mentioned about light source. However, when it comes to engraving game scenes or imagery then its a different matter and the light source is very important indeed.

I know it's slightly off beam but here's a tip, if you look at a colour picture of a bird or animal that you're going to engrave you have to think in monochrome. Squinting at the picture helps because you start to see tones and the brain seems to stop thinking in colour. This is important because as engravers we need to be able to think and cut in black and white and it can mess up the representation of an animal if we get these tones wrong; this can include getting the light source out of whack which can destroy a scene.

cheers,
Marcus

 

[sam]

Good point Marcus. I did freehand pinstriping years ago, and a fellow I learned some technique from would squint and blur his vision to see less detail and get a feel for the overall shape of the design he was painting. I find myself doing that from time to time, and it's interesting to hear your comments on the subject. ~Sam

p.s. Pam McKenzie (Lynton's widow) sends her best regards to you and your father.

 

[Marcus Hunt]

Thanks Sam, I'll let Dad know. He's agreed to help me out financially so I can have my operation done privately (hopefully in a few weeks time) so I'm seeing him this Sunday. I'm sure he'll be chuffed to bits to hear from Pam.......last time I saw her I was knee high to a grasshopper. They'd come to England for a visit and if my memory's correct they were living in Arizona at the time....so when would that be, late 60's early 70's???

cheers,
Marcus

 

[Rick Eaton]

Marcus,
Something I do if I have a color photo is scan it on the computer convert it to a grayscale then reprint it in black and white, helps alot so I get the right tones.

Been studying old engravings that have directional light shading and it helps give a flat engraving alot more depth, though I'm used to not thinking about where the light is coming from. Try adding a directional shadow on the scrollwork and you will see it pop out. It just something I've been experimenting with lately.
Rick

 

[jacques herbst]

shading

thank you andrew,this helps.

 

[sam]

Lee Griffiths added a shadow below scrollwork on a shotgun action, and it was killer. The shadow implied directional light, but I can't remember if the scroll shading did...maybe Lee can comment. Fracassi has done some killer work with drop shadows under scrolls and it looks like the scrollwork is hovering over the metal. Amazing stuff!

 

[Magnus Jensen]

Hi Marcus,
Would you be so kind to give me a better picture of what you mean by "squinting". I can guess but I want to get it right.

Magnus

 

[AllanFink1960]

Well I stand corrected. I learn stuff on here everyday. (I am going to make a point to go back and look for a LACK of direction of light on all the engraved scroll stuff that comes my way).

 

[John B.]

Allan F. and Andrew B.

Allan.
There are two different schools of thought on this IMO.
Most modern scroll is shaded to bring out the shape and depth of each leaf or element as stated by Sam, Marcus and others.
Without one direction of light source overall, but correct light for each individual element.
However, much early banknote scroll engraving is done to show one constant light source, such as upper right.
As in much art, never say never.
Just my thoughts.

Andrew, great post and very helpful to so many. Well done and thank you.

Best to all, John B.

 

[AllanFink1960]

Marcus
Skwinting = one eye closed, the other half shut..to intentionally blur your vision.

"If your structure is off, all the shading and detail in the world won't help you." -- a voice in my head from my formal art education. Skwinting helps you see the structure and filter out the details...

It also helps to step back from your work and view it from a distance. Another trick is to look at it in a mirrior, which automatically increases the distance by a factor of two and also (to refer to right brain theory a bit) the reflection will cause your left brain to have trouble recognizing it, allowing your right brain to step in and notice the relationships of line, form, balance, color, light/dark and a host of other things, which will reveal problems with structure.

Years ago I was in an oil painting class working on a 2x3 foot landscape of trees along a lazy river. I was painting with little tiny brushes that my friend referred to as "allan's needles". I did photorealism so I used tiny brushes with my nose pressed against the canvas. So one morning the instructor comes in to find me working all bunched up close to my picture...and over my shoulder he says, "Allan you have elephants in your picture!". And I reponded with, "whaaaaat?" and I stepped back to where he was standing, and sure enough...big as life...a row of circus elephants marching across the grass. I thought I had been painting a row of weeping willow trees along a river. Nope. African elephants. "Well, trees have trunks, elephants have trunks.." We both laughed and laughed and he taught me about using mirrors and getting your face pulled back from your work.

 

[Magnus Jensen]

Thanks for straightening that one out for me and at the same time help me further up the road!
(some time its hard to get the exact meaning since English is not the language I use every day)
Thanks Again!
Magnus

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi everyone

As Sam and Marcus say for scroll work, I really don't think about light source to much but I do try to keep the shading consistant. The object is to create light and shadow along with texture and movement. You get a lot of lattitude when it comes to straight out designs that really don't resemble anything.

For pictorial work then as Marcus says it's absolutley essential to get the shadows more life like. The reason for this is we are so used to seeing real life everyday that when the shadows are wrong our brains automatically pick it up. Wrong shadowing on real life objects can also make muscles etc look weird.

A real master at directional light engraving was Karl Klimsch. The book "Florid Victorian Ornament" by Dover publications has beautiful examples of his work that are well worth studying. You can get it from www.amazon.com or maybe a good local bookshop. It's cheap and worth it's weight in pure gold.

I've attached another picture that demonstrates the two types of light directional shadowing. One is a drop shadow and the other is a cast shadow. A drop shadow on anything will make it realy POP out from the surface of the drawing/metal and make it look suspended above the surface. There is another type of shadow but it really doesn't apply to what we're doing.

I've also included a bit more on cross hatching which is something that needs as much attention as all the rest of the cuts you make.

I'm glad that it's all of some help to you and thanks for all the nice comments

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Dave London]

Thanks Andrew. Great info. Have a grand time in the States and Reno. Looking forward to the vidio as I can not make it to the show