New try on Kershaw Leek

[Leland Davis]

I finally got a chance to try again on a design for the leek knife as suggested by John B. Am I getting closer to a usable design? This one was done for my wife she liked it and trust me she's not like asking your mother for a review.
Thanks,Leland

 

[TFACARVING]

I personally really like what you've done with this piece and the leek is actually one ive been wanting to work on myself. I say keep up the good work

 

[John B.]

Looks good, well done.

 

[allan621]

Overall it looks good. The composition is well done and has a lot of interest. What keeps it from being really good is the buffalo. In the Meek book he had a section on making sure the anatomy of the animal drawn matches real life. I think he had an illustration of an antelope running and the abdomen was in the wrong place in relation to the forward movement of the hind leg.

I have attached a photo from the Alaska hunting and fishing bureau. It's to help hunters get the shot right so the animal is taken without too much suffering. First rule - no long rifle shots, get closer to get a more clear target.

Anyway, it has the basic skelton overlaid on the animal. Compared to your animal there are quite a few differences. I think what you may have done is draw the animal from memory.

When I teach lettering, the hardest part is teaching apprentices not to sketch the letter from memory but to actually look at the sample provided. It takes a while to get the hang of it and part of it is just learning to look. That's a hard thing. It takes a while before you can start to pick apart the elements of anything instead of just seeing the whole.

 

[pkroyer]

I took both images into Photoshop in layers, resized them to get as close to the same as I could. It looks to me that the bodies were pretty close. The angle of the heads are different, causing a difference in the length of the neck making it hard to compare.

This reminds me of the old Far Side cartoon where two bears are looking at a mount over the fireplace, and one says 'That's Vince alright but there is something not quite right about the face'. If I had done it, there would be a lot not quite right about the whole thing.

I would post the Photoshop file, but it requires layers to compare the two. I agree with John B , looks good.

 

[allan621]

Its not the angle of the head. Its the front foot curving forward, its the abdomen in a reverse u shape, it the beard coming from the neck instead of the chin, its the rounded shape of the head, its the nose at the chin. A lot of little things. But having these little things pointed out hopefully, means the next animal engraving will have more correct detail. It just takes time to get used to seeing. And I'm hoping that there will be more engravings.

When I'm asked how to learn to engrave well, my answer is always to practice continually and grim experience. In my 40th year, I still practice about a half hour a day, trying different approaches. And I've had my share of grim experiences leading me to be sure not to make the same mistake twice, to check the layouts more than once, to make sure the spelling is right.

Allan

 

[monk]

looks fine to me. the design is in balance, should be good to go imho

 

[Leland Davis]

Thank you all for your insights they are appreciated. I don't draw from memory I draw from limited talent mostly. Calm down Allan I agree with you played around last nite with a sharpie I can fix some of the problems.
Thanks again,Leland

 

[mdengraver]

I don't have to ask where's the beef? I can tell it's a Buffalo!

 

[Leland Davis]

Allan, here is a photo of a bison I used for my reference. While I agree that my effort on the bison is not well done some of the things you pointed to as wrong weren't. Most bull bison under about 5 years old do have an inverted U shape to the belly after 5 years time and gravity takes it's toll,just like us. Bulls in the 3-5 year range have rounded head. The front foot is in the proper orientation for where the front leg is in the step. I over did the beard that's for sure. I have learned from my archaeology work that making absolute statements about nature can bite you, especially when your talking bison they have so many variables.
Thanks again for your insights,Leland

 

[quickcut07]

Nice job .

 

[dcurrie911]

Nice work. I agree though that the proportions of the bison are a bit off. I was able to complete a quick outline of the model and then transposed it to your engraving. I use Procreate but,there are probably other tools to use as well. Starting with a good outline will make a big difference. To avoid copy right issues I either contact the original artist for permission, find a non-copy right photo, or make a significant change or two before use.

 

[dcurrie911]

Hi Flintdoubles. After comparing the overlay it appeared that the proportion was mostly off between the head and front shoulder and then the height of the back. I did a quick tweak to your engraving to illustrate. I changed nothing other than the proportion. Keep up the good work.

Dan

 

[papart1]

It STILL looks quite nice to me.............and low and behold a bunch of others. nice job mister!!!!

 

[allan621]

flintdoubles - I agree with the belly comment, at least my wife does. I hear about my circumference on a regular basis. Age maybe; age plus McDonald's - definitely.

What dcurrie did is incredibly useful, and the way to refine sketches going forward. And its something I've been doing for a long time. It works.

Allan

 

[Leland Davis]

dcurrie, thank you. That is a great Technic with Procreate something else to buy. I took another try at it last nite. I took Allan's suggestion the beard started in the wrong place by moving that I was able to get the beard off his neck and define the head a little bit better. Probably can't do much more to help this one but with Allan and dcurrie's help maybe the next try will be good.
Thank you all for the comments,Leland

 

[Leland Davis]

I personally really like what you've done with this piece and the leek is actually one ive been wanting to work on myself. I say keep up the good work

Thank you for the comments. The Leek cuts pretty well I anneal the scale cuts down on sharpening. Be sure to show what you come up with.
Thanks,Leland

 

[cossan512]

I finally got a chance to try again on a design for the leek knife as suggested by John B. Am I getting closer to a usable design? This one was done for my wife she liked it and trust me she's not like asking your mother for a review.
Thanks,Leland

I am just barely starting out. I bought a leek on sale just recently to have something around to screw up when I start feeling confident. I was thinking some basic scroll or a Celtic design. But clearly I'm going to have to up my game. Small issues aside, that came out VERY nice. You are well on your way from the look of it. Cheers!