Not an Elephant, but a Whale of a Tale

[Brian Hochstrat]

Here is one I finished up a while back. Its a Joe Kious, handle length is 3 3/8" long. The theme is Moby Dick, which correlates with the antique whale tooth handle inlay. I tried to catch as much drama in the scenes as I could and depict the shear rage in Ahabs' face in the left hand scene and his determination in the other scene. Besides the drama it was key that I gain as much depth in the scenes as possible. To help gain that illusion, I added the small boat and man flipping into the water, this clues the viewer into the size and distance of the whales tail, waves, etc. The scroll work is liberty scroll, and I thought the dots, which sort of look like bubbles, played well with the theme. Any comments good,bad, or other wise are welcome. Thanks for taking a look. Brian

 

[Andrew Biggs]

WOW Brian.......awesome!!!

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Brian, looks perfect to me. What a job on the inlay too.

Thanks for showing :thumbs up:

arnaud

 

[ARM2]

SIR BRIAN "THE TALENTED"
We would have bestowed Knighthood on U long ago in lieu of these magnificent pieces of endeavour.
'Tis not too late Sire.
Just go on with these exquisite creations.
All the best
aRM

 

[Peter E]

That goldwork on the scrolls is absolutely amazing Brian.

Pleasure seeing it.

 

[Ken Hurst]

Now that's a piece that Joe would most certainly call the best engraved knife he ever made.

 

[Cloudy]

phew! Any chance of posting a close-up of the water details???

 

[eastslope]

Superb! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Kevin P.]

"To help gain that illusion, I added the small boat and man flipping into the water, this clues the viewer into the size and distance of the whales tail, waves, etc."
Brian you could have added some scrim to Ahab's leg to add even more dimension.
Just kidding, no I'm not.
It's a monumental piece of work.
Kevin P.

 

[vanknife]

Brian That is stunning work

Cheers

"VAN"

 

[jetta77]

Brian, it's always exciting to see your work, those gold clouds really add alot.

 

[Christopher Malouf]

Nice knife Brian .... there's only one little thing missing that would make it a tad more dramatic and distinctive of your work and that would be to get Captain Ahab on some steroids. Maybe a smokin' hot babe in the skiff too but that might be going overboard (no pun intended). Seriously ... you nailed it ... I can just hear Ahab calling "....for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"

 

[docmike]

Beautiful work. Your work inspires me to work harder and become better. Thanks for showing us.
Mike

 

[ddushane]

Beautiful work as always Brian!

Dwayne

 

[Brian Hochstrat]

Chris. yep, there is an upcoming committee investigation to look into the allegations of performance enhancing drug use by some of my characters, as well as the supposed augmentation of other characters. In their defense, I will officially state the products used are totally natural and FDA approved. Yes, Poseidon nickers like a horse and tears up the locker room occasionally, but that is not roid rage.....it's.....it's.....phsycosnatisism....yeah that's it and DD's are natural on a 115lb woman, happens all the time.

I will admit, I have a pretty fun job, and feel fortunate to be given a loose rein, so to speak, by my clients, to use my imagination. I love engraving knives because most anything goes, if it is well done, it will grab somebodies attention. I have had thoughts that I would like to engrave the occasional high end double gun, but after all the fun of putting together my various scenes of sex and/or violence on the knives, depicting birds and dogs may seem pretty bland.

Thanks all for the kind reviews. Regards. Brian

 

[Christopher Malouf]

LOL!!!!!!!!!! There's definitely nothing bland about silicone or saline and in all my years of thorough "investigation" .... I'll be darned if I can tell the difference. :thumbs up:

 

[Gemsetterchris]

That is superb

I just wonder.. did you draw your scrollwork on by hand? can`t imagine how difficult getting a smudge free transfer on something like that might be.

 

[bronc]

Wow! Incredible.

Stewart

 

[Brian Hochstrat]

That is superb

I just wonder.. did you draw your scrollwork on by hand? can`t imagine how difficult getting a smudge free transfer on something like that might be.

Being I have to submit designs for approvals prior to starting, all the work is pre-drawn then transfered.

 

[silverchip]

Hey Big B,I saw this when you first posted this and held off commenting till I just couldn't resist.I have to agree it is one whaleofablade,I couldn't believe how complex the inlaid scrolls and lively the scenes are. As always,beautiful work Brian.wish I could have a knife that you engraved someday!!!!