My first Bulino / banknote portrait engraving

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

I have a client who what an engraving on a round gold plate to be add to here bracelet.
Normally I would have done this by the one who has the Photoengraving machine.
But at is for a bracelet, the dots will be ruined soon.
And as I like hand engraving, I thought I will do it by hand, its a good practice and I get paid for it.


From Marcus I learned that he once made a “bulinoâ€￾ that was not accepted because none could see the lines.
But if you look at a banknote, with a loop X10, witch is standard to inspect fine work , you see lines.

So my idea is, why not engrave scenery / portrait that looks like engraving, with lines that can be seen.

The way I think these scenery / portrait is engraved the best, is the deeper the better.
These engravings, like al the others, need to catch light.
So the most durable ones are the ones with the deepest cuts.

My portrait can’t be compared with what I’ve seen here like the ones from Phill, Ron Marcus and all the other masters.
And this can be done with more and finer lines of course, but that means more time to engrave and less durable.

I have engraved this for practicing in about 6 ours on a polished plate, the engraving itself, not the plate, is from top head to bottom 26 mm
I used a 60° cabide with a face of 50 and a heel of 10.
I will have to redo it on the golden one

I’m also sure that portrait is perhaps the most difficult there is as it must look like the person.
I only had a small photo, so not that much detail

What do you think?

arnaud

This is the small photo I have with not much detail

This is the engraved portrait in approximately real size

This is how it looks with some magnification

 

[Cloudy]

Really slick- you are doing fantastic work- quite an inspiration! Thanks for showing this!

 

[Kevin P.]

Arnaud, that's impressive! You've got talent. The thumbnail engraving is so like the photo. The enlargement is great; we can see the detail. Very educational for us wannabes. I don't know the details of 'bulino' but maybe you've developed your own style of 'bulino'. Thanks for showing; it's a tutorial.
Kevin P.

 

[mdengraver]

Arnaud awesome work!

I guess that's line bulino as opposed to dots?

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

I guess that's line bulino as opposed to dots?

As far as I know, bulino is lines and dots, but file dots are fragile and don't look good been seen from different angles, line bulino looks good in all light directions.

The beautiful scenery on the firearms and knives are done with lines, but so thin one can't see them.

But I agree that one calls a dot engraving of a scene calls it bulino.
And I'm not sure if I may call mine bulino, but to me it is "rough bulino"
Bulino is just the italian word for the tool I used, burin.
That is why banknote engraving is a better word for line engraving

arnaud

 

[KCSteve]

Arnaud

I think that starting with the small photo might have helped - putting in too much detail would have left you with something that only looked good under magnification.

 

[sam]

Interesting technique Arnaud, and similar to the engraver plug-in for Photoshop which makes wavy lines of various thicknesses. Personally, I think the lines should follow the contours of the various shapes as opposed to all of them being horizontally oriented. Just my opinion, and I applaud your efforts.

 

[canadian]

Arnaud,

Great job on the engraving. Very impressive for your first!

Boris

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Sam, this is the Indian ink plug-in.
Indeed it is thin and wider lines, and as I thought, using an 60°, I can go deep enough to have the wanted wide.
This is really deep cut, so even on gold it will stay longer than the machine dots engraving they make.
I had to find a way to have a good detailed print I could transfer. And using thickness of lines to have enough tonal wide. The eyes you can't see on the photo, so there is only a little part that shines in the eyes.
I have been looking at the Euro banknotes, you see the lines as well there, but not the way you mentioned. I think the older banknotes, especially the dollar ones, I suppose they have portraits with lines like you subscribed.

I also thought instead of cutting deep lines, I could fill them with more thinner lines, but then again it would be more fragile. But perhaps somewhere in between.

When I have the time or a client, I could try another pattern.
But I'm still convinced this technique has possibilities that is why I wanted to share it.

Perhaps cross hatch also looks better.

arnaud

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Thank you all for your compliments, and I think it is not obvious to engrave a portrait.
I don't mean that an animal is easier, but lots of feathers or hear makes it more easy.

arnaud

 

[mdengraver]

I agree with you Arnaud.........

I agree with you Arnaud......... When I do portraits in woodcuts I have trouble interpreting the shapes (as Sam suggested shown as contours) of the face since the shapes are more subtle. It's hard enough to pick up the subtle changes in the lighting on the face which I think you captured quite well.

 

[maryw]

Arnaud - you have done an amazing job!! What talents you do have!! The engraving looks so much like the photo. Wow!
Mary W

 

[Kevin P.]

Given Sam's comments I have to ask did you run a photo through Photoshop to get your engraving plan?
Kevin P.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Yes Kevin, I can perhaps draw a rabbit in the size of a post stamp, but not a portrait of that size that is recognizable.
I'm even not good in drawing a caricature, that could help.

So I still need a good transferable pattern to do the cutting.

arnaud

 

[Ron Smith]

Getting accurate likenesses in that small size is extremely hard.

That is an excellent likeness.

Bravo!!

Ron S

 

[Kevin P.]

I really like the character of your portrait. It reminds me of Chuck Close's portraits.
Kevin P.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Thank you all, thank you Ron, indeed there is no doubt about likeness.
And again I want to make a point about fragile.
This engraved portrait, you can even use some sandpaper 1000 grid, and the image will still be on the silver plate.
So if one do a finer portrait in soft steel, it could be more resistant than silver.
I also like the more heavy metals than gold and silver to engrave, because they are harder.

In my opinion as making jewellery, jewellery is only jewellery when you can wear it.
And when it is to fragile, it is an “objectâ€￾ to put in a protected room.

In this portrait I really have deep cuts, it could be less, and it would look finer. So I will look for something in between.
As I mentioned Marcus, I think is was Mike C. who told about the scenery that was to fine, they thought it was not engraving.
The man on the portrait is died, so the widow want a plate with his portrait. I always wan to do the best for my clients, and the woman, like the most of my best paying clients, are old. They most of the time don't even have there glasses with them, but even if they do, they don't know what I'm doing.
I'm try to learn them something about craftsmanship if they are a little bit interested, I take them sometimes in my working place, show them a 1mm brilliant under the microscope telling them it has 57 facets. On the design I make them to make a jewel, I don't draw 57 facets of course, so I tell them the small stones are brilliants. Okay, I have the job.
And than when the jewel is finished, they tell me OHHH, these are diamonds, I thought it where white points. I don't have to tell you how I feel than.

And I have read the same in Ron's books, only us, who know about craftsmanship can appreciate real high end work. There are also some collectors of course, but I don't know any till now.
And of course, we can fool all the world, except our self.
And that is probably why we try to make things no one understands.
So this first plate I made, in my opinion it is a success, it is durable, the widow recognises here husband, and after a year or more, when there are scratches on the plate, I just use some fine sandpaper and polish it again. And it will look good for 100 years.

And in my opinion, the firearms like Phill engraves them, they are absolute high end, but I don't think one may touch them, as the acid in the sweat may ruin the scene.

And that is the same problem with jewellery, I really can make master pieces, but as we say in Dutch, "pearls for the boar" So most of my clients like my jewels where they can see it is done by hand. In other words, "not well done" The design on the other hand has to be good, but if I work one day longer to have a jewel perfect, that don't sell better, and not only because it is more expensive, they want to see the "hand" in it.

This is of course only my philosophy about it, but I would like to read some other points of view.

arnaud

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Arnaud

That is very well done indeed!!! I particulary like the way that you have thought it through with the practical considerations for your client by cutting deep so it never gets worn off.

I personally think that all of this kind of thing boils down to personal taste, budget and all sorts of other things. You did a great job in quick time and the client is happy...............that's great!!!

Not everyone has a large budget and to put food on the table and pay the bills we have to do the work in front of us.

What you have done would suit some things and not others. It certainley has a very pleasing commercial value.

I can see what you have done here could be applied to all sorts of things with quite pleasing results. It's certainly worth having a "wee play" and experimenting with a bit further. After a while you may refine it even further................or go off in another direction altogether.

Well done for giving it a go and trying something different.............Really, really interesting!!!

Cheers
Andrew

PS. One bit of adise I wuld give you is to try and put a small highlight (reflection) in the pupil or iris of the eye. That small spark gives something life................by doing the eyes completley black they look dead. You can do this at the time of cutting or burnish it back after cutting.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Andrew, thanks for your support, indeed we are all different although in the Café we have the same interest.
Sure I'm an all round professional, and I like it.
But that also means I can't get perfect, and for me life is to short for that.
My creativity and interest is although in jewellery, whatever that means.
And I think if one want to survive, one must think a bit commercial, and most of the time I don't get paid for my work. That is because I went it to bee like I want it, but the price for the job is than already a deal.
But even than I can't stop when the time is up.
When I bring the photo and the golden plate to the one with the photoengraving machine, he will charge me 20 euro, but only good traders can do that, I prefer to please my clients with something that is worth the money.
And we all have to make some, being only an artist , my wife would have left me some years ago, I know she really loves me but love ends soon when one gets out of money.
But even than, to make that money I want my clients to be satisfied, and me in the same time. For me is is difficult to sell something that is not worth its price, and that is not commercial, and as you said, everyone has the rights to buy "art" or nice jewels.
And in my experience, people who spared for something I make for them, are the most content customers.
And of course, this is just my opinion and the way I make a living.

arnaud

 

[kcrutche]

Arnaud

Thanks for the Information.

I have been trying to learn Bolino myself for quite a while now.

I have been so busy with other projects, I haven't had time to start practicing yet, however I store away each bit of information that I run across.

I think you are onto something with your shading cuts.

See my reply on your Website for Italian Engravers Post.

Ken