Critique Request Mr. Bulino, am I ready for the real deal?

vilts

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Here's my next go at that ever-popular bulino thingy. Last time I did only the portrait part of that image and it wasn't that big of a success.

This time it's the whole butterfly-angel-lady in her beauty. Height from tip of the wing to the shoetip is 5cm (about 2"). Please keep in mind that the practice plate is only 50% finished, because I probably should start the Zippo now.

Or what do you think, is that good enough?

For face I used 'less is more' principle and it looks much better than last try. The finished arm and leg have too visible/strong cut lines, probably should tone them down a bit? What else?
 

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santos

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Hi Viljo ,
I'm shure you're ready . Her skin is neat now and she's really beautiful . Bravo !

I specially like the way you cut the hair.


Jean
 

Brian Hochstrat

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Viljo, that is a cool figure, who is the original artist, or did you draw it? In either case I like it. And yes I would agree with all the others, start cutting.
 

dbrodhagen

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I'm just starting to work with bulino, so technically I cannot say anything about technique, but for sure it looks great, take that next step and get off the practice
plate. Thanks for showing your work. Dave
 

Arnaud Van Tilburgh

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Vilts, sure it looks good, but I think you shading can be improved.
Perhaps using less wide shading lines. And for example, the upper arm, you almost shade it equal both sides. And I think the shading for the arm must also be on the body, left to the arm.
Of course, who am I to tell you this as I still have to start my first bulino engraving.
Anyway, I think the shading needs more tone wide, from light grey to black.
I expect some bulino expert will tell us the how.
I hope to learn some more from you tread.
arnaud
 

gluckie

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Great! Can you show the original photo? It would be interesting to compare with your work and have multiple points of view. saludos.
 

Sam

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Vilts: You are definitely on the right track. It's looking good, but Arnaud is right, the lines need to be finer. Check out http://www.igraver.com/forum/gallery/photoplog/images/512/1_ROD8.jpg by Simone Dainelli of Italy. I saw this in Reno and couldn't tell it was line work until I looked at it with a 10x loupe. The lines are extremely fine which allows great control of shading tones. It's a brilliant example of what can be achieved with lines.

You're getting better and better, Vilts. I enjoy watching your progress! / ~Sam
 

vilts

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Thanks for the comments and critique.

Viljo, that is a cool figure, who is the original artist, or did you draw it? In either case I like it. And yes I would agree with all the others, start cutting.

I wish I could draw like that :). The original artwork is by Armando Huerta. I attached the source too. As you can see, I didn't do engrave exactly like on the photo, because some of the dark-light areas didn't make much sense to me.

Vilts, sure it looks good, but I think you shading can be improved.
Perhaps using less wide shading lines. And for example, the upper arm, you almost shade it equal both sides. And I think the shading for the arm must also be on the body, left to the arm.

You're right about shading, Arnaud. As I'm starting to get the hang of how small the dots have to be, these lines look huge and too rough there. I'll re-watch Chris' bulino DVD and see how he does it. About the rest of the body - it's not shaded and probably won't be too. I will do the whole shading on a real piece :)

Vilts: You are definitely on the right track. It's looking good, but Arnaud is right, the lines need to be finer. Check out http://www.igraver.com/forum/gallery/photoplog/images/512/1_ROD8.jpg by Simone Dainelli of Italy. I saw this in Reno and couldn't tell it was line work until I looked at it with a 10x loupe. The lines are extremely fine which allows great control of shading tones. It's a brilliant example of what can be achieved with lines.

Now that is one amazing engraving, something to strive for. For me the problem is, if I make such fine lines, I have to know where to put them... Which I usually don't :)

Finer lines, I will make.

And thanks again. I hope I can post the real deal in coming weeks.
 

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vilts

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Well, looks like I won't finish this engraving after all. Customer saw this engraving and said that it didn't match up with source image in photoshop... Oh well, at least it was a good practice and I learned a lot.
 

pilkguns

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Customer saw this engraving and said that it didn't match up with source image in photoshop...

Sounds like Customer is making excuses becuase they got wet feet for other reasons, probably financial. This is a very good example of why you should get paid a deposit for custom work, I take a third down. If they are serious enough to lay out a third, they are usually serious enough to go through with the whole project.
 

Peter E

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I suspect Scott is correct Viljo. I think what you did was looking VERY good.

Live and learn I guess.
 

vilts

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Thanks for the business advice. Actually I'm going to do for him that same Zippo with regular scrollwork.

But a little more general question about charging and payments. If and how do you charge for artwork? Say customer comes and says - I want my initials in the middle and scrollwork around it. You make one, and it has some flaws. You make another, some fixed some other flaws now. You know that ping-pong... So, do you also charge extra for the time it takes to make these fixed/modified designs or is it all inclusive (just that price must reflect that)?
 

Andrew Biggs

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Hi Vilts

I think there are a couple of issues here that you will need to address.

The first is your customer expectations:

When they hand you a piece of artwork and say they want that image on something…………..they generally mean that they want that “exact†image on something. Not an interpretation of the image and not something close……but the exact image. We live in a day and age where all of that can be done by various processes from etching to laser engraving, digital printing and a whole lot of other methods.

This is compounded by the fact that usually these types of sexual fantasy figures strike a certain chord with the customer. I think that you get my meaning on that one.

This brings into question your skill level. If you don’t understand the original artwork then you havn’t a hope of ever getting it right or making the appropriate cuts to pull the job off.

Communication with your customer:

If you can’t make an exact copy then you should say so right from the start. Show them samples of your work and what skill level you are at. Make it very clear to them that you can only interpret the subject according to your level of skill and artistic expertise. Knowing how to do something and being able to do it are two different things.

Customers will treat you how you let them. Make it very clear that they are paying for artwork at $X per hour. That includes any alterations etc that they want made………….you will find that will stop a lot of customers from mucking you around.

Some customers will have you running around in circles just for the sake of it. They are picky for the sake of being picky. Get rid of customers like that!!!!! You will lose them anyway so you may as well save yourself a lot of grief!! One or two alterations are acceptable but endless changes to satisfy picky clients is just wasting your time.

Don’t let the clients involve themselves in the artistic artwork. It will drive you insane. It is your expertise that the client is after and if they don’t like your style of work…….then they should move on and so should you. Don’t be afraid to hold your ground and say “no†to people. One or two alterations are acceptable so long as it suitable to what you are doing…by that I mean alter initials slightly or something like that………but do not let them start dictating the artistic side of things like where scrolls or leaves should go………… endless changes to satisfy picky clients is just wasting your time.


I would suggest that you finish the piece that you started because it’s a good exercise and practice for you. Put some nice border work on the plate and keep it as a sample for future clients.

Cheers
Andrew
 

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