Critique Request Please use other door

[chris]

Hi Cloudy ,
yes to the inside of your letters,the shadeing is always on the inside so ive always done and understand but there would be better people that know more about lettering here than me. i hope that makes sense .
Chris

 

[Kevin P.]

Cloudy from what I've read the 'o' is cut flaring out; as in, you are cutting the oval you laid out you would follow the line rolling your graver outwards as necessary.

"Engraving on Precious Metals" by Brittain, Wolpert, and Morton is the most comprehensive treatment of lettering I've come across.
What I attempted to explain above is my paraphrase from that book.
Kevin P.

 

[Tom Curran]

Cloudy, you'll see traces of scribed lines on old script pales; it's how it was done before we had transfers.

Suggestiuon: instead of a scribe, make yourself a teeny burnisher to make your guide lines. The bright line will show under the scope, but does not remove metal. Much easier to polish out later.

I like your design for its old timey look.
Tom

 

[nhcowboy1961]

Hi Cloudy,
You've gotten some great advice from some very talented engravers, this forum is just the BEST!!! Don't put too much weight on my two cents as I'm still learning myself
In those "Dover" books that have clip art in them I've seen old fashioned pointing hands like that with some nice "pen and ink" shading done to them that would translate well to engraving. For something like what you have I personally would need that reference since I'm a 3-D guy first and still new to thinking 2 dimensionally and drawing, but I'm learning and getting better with practice (Thanks again for your book Ron, it's indispensible). That being said, if you carried over single line shading engraving into the scroll that comes up under the wrist it would add highlight and seperation and also anchor the hand a bit more by drawing the eye toward the bottom where a shadow would be to give it more dimension. You could put a really cool looking curl down there with shading. Rather than the all black shading you have at the back of the hand, some fine line sinlge point engraving would give it the old style look that people recognize right away. Similarly, some fine shading lines and not one long cut one would look nice where the curled up fingers that go under the thumb are, it looks a little naked there right now. Done with a light touch it would give it depth thrrough perspective.
All things considered I think it's a nice looking plaque and one I'd be thrilled to see in use. It has the hand made look that's far more appelaing than anything scratched by a machine. I've learned some helpful tips from other's who have posted so thnaks for sharing your work. It's always a treat to see what other are up to.
Paul

 

[Cloudy]

another workup

I have redone the lettering part, bearing in mind the advise I've received- I think it came out much better, with always room to improve! Thanks again!

 

[Jim Sackett]

You saved it, much much better!

Jim

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Cloudy

That looks even better.

Was the layout done on the computer or by hand?

I have a couple of suggestions. The first is to buy a book about lettering. Speedball used to print them but I'm not sure if they are stilll available...........there are plenty of cheap books on the subject. Try and avoid calligraphy books as they are not basic enough. Have a look around second hand book stores as well as you will often find lettering books there. You just want something that covers the basics showing acenders, decenders, spacing, etc etc.

The second is avoid "Times New Roman" like the plauge. It's an incredibley hard style with a lot of subtle naunces that is hard to layout and get looking right. And when it's wrong it is glaringly obvious. It is far more complex than it looks.

If you want a serif Roman style go for something a bit less complex. There is a series of "Engravers Roman" that is much easier and still looks fabulous.

"Engravers MT" true type font will probabley be on your computer but if you don't have it then I can send it to you.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Cloudy]

Got it! Thanks, Andrew! When I'm carving signs, I far prefer Trajan rather than Times!
And on we go!