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KevinCunningham

KevinCunningham

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2022
Messages
74
What am I looking at here? Is this glazed ceramic? I see the dog starting to come out and the amount of detail increasing but I’m not sure which part is engraving.
 
M

mdengraver

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
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Location
Rockville, MD
Kevin, I used and applied melted glass crystals in this particular case, applied to thin copper foil. The technique is called enameling, and requires many firings in a hot kiln at about 1450 degrees. Many hours of work, editing, and refinement may be required, often too many to account, to achieve the desired results. Many technical and artistic skills are employed. Helpful personality traits must be developed further, that include patience, perseverance, mental and physical stamina, and an aptitude for attention to detail, and a longterm artistic vision. A sense of composition and an appropriate level of detail must be considered, to obtain desirable results. These characteristics are also helpful in allied artistic pursuits such as hand engraving, woodcuts, intaglio, jewelry, etching, drawing, pen and ink, etc. Enameling in this particular case, is not specifically related to engraving, but the detailing and design problems are universal. Engraving can be combined with opaque, transparent and opalescent enamels, etc, when applied to metal on the surface or under enamels in texture, ornamental design and lettering, in such techniques as Champleve Enameling, and in the process of etching, and printmaking. Many enameling techniques are greatly enhanced by engraving. Many engravers, and other artists, work in more than one medium, to cross fertilize and pollinize their skillsets, with multimedia work. It is important to be open to other influences, other areas of art, such as enhancing one's drawing and technical skills. I hope this diatribe answers your question !
 
B

Blockhead

New Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2023
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4
This link has been posted before but worth repeating, for those unfamiliar. This is one beautiful book. Unfortunately the author
Phll Barnes died shortly after its publication.


Check this out! https://a.co/d/eTEjYfN
 
KevinCunningham

KevinCunningham

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2022
Messages
74
mdengraver said:
Kevin, I used and applied melted glass crystals in this particular case, applied to thin copper foil. The technique is called enameling, and requires many firings in a hot kiln at about 1450 degrees. Many hours of work, editing, and refinement may be required, often too many to account, to achieve the desired results. Many technical and artistic skills are employed. Helpful personality traits must be developed further, that include patience, perseverance, mental and physical stamina, and an aptitude for attention to detail, and a longterm artistic vision. A sense of composition and an appropriate level of detail must be considered, to obtain desirable results. These characteristics are also helpful in allied artistic pursuits such as hand engraving, woodcuts, intaglio, jewelry, etching, drawing, pen and ink, etc. Enameling in this particular case, is not specifically related to engraving, but the detailing and design problems are universal. Engraving can be combined with opaque, transparent and opalescent enamels, etc, when applied to metal on the surface or under enamels in texture, ornamental design and lettering, in such techniques as Champleve Enameling, and in the process of etching, and printmaking. Many enameling techniques are greatly enhanced by engraving. Many engravers, and other artists, work in more than one medium, to cross fertilize and pollinize their skillsets, with multimedia work. It is important to be open to other influences, other areas of art, such as enhancing one's drawing and technical skills. I hope this diatribe answers your question !
Click to expand...
Very cool. I’d love to see some enameling in the context of engraving! Obviously this is too hot for tempered hardened tools but are the temps involved hot enough to leave forge scale or ugly oxidized mess on steel or other non gold metals?
 
M

mdengraver

~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Joined
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Messages
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Location
Rockville, MD
Best to work in certain metals that permit enameling in various degrees of effectiveness and limitations, copper, gold, sterling, certain types of steel, etc. Oxidation and firescale must be managed and controlled along the way, with special fluxes to reduce Oxidation. Edges and other areas of the piece must be constantly rendered free or controlled of these conditions so the enamel adheres properly, and remains mostly free of contaminated which effects the appearance and color of the enamels.
 
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