PS_Bond
Elite Cafe Member
Do get the casting at the same time - it gives a lot of context to the DVD that completes the package.
tell me about bulino, please
- Thread starter KatherinePlumer
- Start date
Do get the casting at the same time - it gives a lot of context to the DVD that completes the package.
Katherine,
My comment about using ink, or not using it was to describe that the engraving would have the same tonal value without using ink. As a matter of fact, until you put the pieces together, it would be hard to tell which one had ink. It is just that it enhances the work a bit for photography. Another thing is that even though you wipe the ink off of the surface, the oil in the ink tends to do something to the contrast of the work. To reveal this, put a little vaseline on the surface after engraving and you will see that even the oily vaseline causes the engraving to show up better, particularly when there are gold inlays and you want to line around them. The oil or vaseline makes the inlay more visible.
I use fingerprint ink in my castings, and like Marty said, It is easier to photograph these than it is metal. Fingerprint ink is very durable when cured.
The suggestion of getting ahold of a plastic copy, or even a collection to study will do you good in beginning to understand the scale, the very visible cut lines, and things including depth of work, background textures etc.
I have a very good collection myself and am very proud of it. I have works of all of my friends, the only way I could ever afford their work. That is pretty good when you find that your work is worth more than you are, and you can't afford to do it for yourself, huh? .........Can you guys relate to that problem?......................
They (plastic copies) are excellent studies, much better than photos, and one with your talent Katherine, should adapt quickly. They are an exact duplicate of the actual engraving and to describe the detail that they will pick up, I will tell you a story.
Some years ago I had done a very nice knife with some very detailed work and thinking I should get a copy of that, I went about making the mold etc. The knife had mother of pearl handles, very colorful with hues of pink, blues, and yellow tinges.
I made the mold, made the copy, and when I pulled the casting copy out of the rubber mold it had picked up the colors of the mother of pearl. It almost looked like the knife itself, except the bolsters were white and not metal.
Now explain that one for me, and all I can say is, I was so astonished with that, I realzed that it even picked up light reflections. It will pick up your fingerprint that you cannot even see on the piece.
So like I said, excellent studies and worth your while!!! They are sort of "the baseball cards" of the engravers.
Ron S
My comment about using ink, or not using it was to describe that the engraving would have the same tonal value without using ink. As a matter of fact, until you put the pieces together, it would be hard to tell which one had ink. It is just that it enhances the work a bit for photography. Another thing is that even though you wipe the ink off of the surface, the oil in the ink tends to do something to the contrast of the work. To reveal this, put a little vaseline on the surface after engraving and you will see that even the oily vaseline causes the engraving to show up better, particularly when there are gold inlays and you want to line around them. The oil or vaseline makes the inlay more visible.
I use fingerprint ink in my castings, and like Marty said, It is easier to photograph these than it is metal. Fingerprint ink is very durable when cured.
The suggestion of getting ahold of a plastic copy, or even a collection to study will do you good in beginning to understand the scale, the very visible cut lines, and things including depth of work, background textures etc.
I have a very good collection myself and am very proud of it. I have works of all of my friends, the only way I could ever afford their work. That is pretty good when you find that your work is worth more than you are, and you can't afford to do it for yourself, huh? .........Can you guys relate to that problem?......................
They (plastic copies) are excellent studies, much better than photos, and one with your talent Katherine, should adapt quickly. They are an exact duplicate of the actual engraving and to describe the detail that they will pick up, I will tell you a story.
Some years ago I had done a very nice knife with some very detailed work and thinking I should get a copy of that, I went about making the mold etc. The knife had mother of pearl handles, very colorful with hues of pink, blues, and yellow tinges.
I made the mold, made the copy, and when I pulled the casting copy out of the rubber mold it had picked up the colors of the mother of pearl. It almost looked like the knife itself, except the bolsters were white and not metal.
Now explain that one for me, and all I can say is, I was so astonished with that, I realzed that it even picked up light reflections. It will pick up your fingerprint that you cannot even see on the piece.
So like I said, excellent studies and worth your while!!! They are sort of "the baseball cards" of the engravers.
Ron S
FANCYGUN
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Katherine
To give you another good idea how exceptional these castings can be. I was redoing some of my old photographs and i noticed the up close detail of one of my rifles really didn't look all that good. it was slightly blurred. I took a scan of the castings for this rifle and in photoshop, I resized them to an extact overlay fit to the rifle image. Then with playing with the color hues and contrast, i got it looking like the real thing. I wasn't sure if this would work but it actually did to my surprise and the composite photograpgh now looks great and nobody will ever know the difference. At least until now.
The point is that these castings are as good as it gets short of holding the real thing.
Marty
To give you another good idea how exceptional these castings can be. I was redoing some of my old photographs and i noticed the up close detail of one of my rifles really didn't look all that good. it was slightly blurred. I took a scan of the castings for this rifle and in photoshop, I resized them to an extact overlay fit to the rifle image. Then with playing with the color hues and contrast, i got it looking like the real thing. I wasn't sure if this would work but it actually did to my surprise and the composite photograpgh now looks great and nobody will ever know the difference. At least until now.
The point is that these castings are as good as it gets short of holding the real thing.
Marty
Hi Katherine,
Most of the old timers already know this.........
But as far as the oil used to accent engraving goes many old engraves just touch their finger to their dirty, oily sharpening stones and rub it gently into the engraving work. This gives them an instant impression of how the engraving will look when it has had a little exposure and use.
It's a little trick that was much used by the old Belgium FN engravers and I passed on to many students.
In class we called it " the dirt of ages."
The same thing works by touching a diamond lap if any lubrication was used on it.
Works to show up shading lines, banknote, bulino or game scenes.
Just another idea. Best regards, John B.
Most of the old timers already know this.........
But as far as the oil used to accent engraving goes many old engraves just touch their finger to their dirty, oily sharpening stones and rub it gently into the engraving work. This gives them an instant impression of how the engraving will look when it has had a little exposure and use.
It's a little trick that was much used by the old Belgium FN engravers and I passed on to many students.
In class we called it " the dirt of ages."
The same thing works by touching a diamond lap if any lubrication was used on it.
Works to show up shading lines, banknote, bulino or game scenes.
Just another idea. Best regards, John B.
Leonardo
Elite Cafe Member
Reflections.
Hi Katherine,
I would like to comment some concepts about the light behavior or, to say it better, about the way in witch our eyes receive the visual information.
I think that the point here is more about what we can see and what we can not see.
When you draw something with a pencil on a paper what you are doing is masking the surface with the graphite and doing so you are introducing areas in witch the light will be absorbed. We can see the light that is reflected by the objects, so we will see all the white areas and will not see the darker ones.
In the case of the engraved surfaces, the cuts that have been made on the material will be able to reflecting the light anyway but these reflections will have different trajectories than the reflections produced on the main surface. We will be able to see only the reflections that reach our eyes in their trajectories and will not see the others generating in our brains data that will be processed as darken areas corresponding with the ones that we can no see.
The scrimshaw is a particular case because of the material characteristics. This materials that are almost always white reflect the light quite well but diffusing the rays in all directions. I mean, these surface do not behave as a mirrors and you can not see your image reflected on they. When you make a cut in these kinds of materials the light is reflected in the same way that is in the main surface (diffusing the light) so, we will be not able to see that refection.
I guess that if you would be working under your microscope illuminating your scrimshaw work with a ring light you will see almost nothing. In the other hand, if you use a side lamp in a way that the light rays “wash” the material surface you will be able to see the light reflecting on the cuts much better than the light reflecting on the main surface. This is the reason because you must darken the cuts made on those surfaces in a way to mask the cuts inhibiting the reflection on the engraved lines/dots.
I am attaching a simple sketch to illustrate the reflections. We will be able to see the reflections represented by the green lines and will not see the others.
I have did my best to write this with my limited English vocabulary, so I hope that this bare explanation will bring some light to these dark points.
Regards, Leonardo.
Hi Katherine,
I would like to comment some concepts about the light behavior or, to say it better, about the way in witch our eyes receive the visual information.
I think that the point here is more about what we can see and what we can not see.
When you draw something with a pencil on a paper what you are doing is masking the surface with the graphite and doing so you are introducing areas in witch the light will be absorbed. We can see the light that is reflected by the objects, so we will see all the white areas and will not see the darker ones.
In the case of the engraved surfaces, the cuts that have been made on the material will be able to reflecting the light anyway but these reflections will have different trajectories than the reflections produced on the main surface. We will be able to see only the reflections that reach our eyes in their trajectories and will not see the others generating in our brains data that will be processed as darken areas corresponding with the ones that we can no see.
The scrimshaw is a particular case because of the material characteristics. This materials that are almost always white reflect the light quite well but diffusing the rays in all directions. I mean, these surface do not behave as a mirrors and you can not see your image reflected on they. When you make a cut in these kinds of materials the light is reflected in the same way that is in the main surface (diffusing the light) so, we will be not able to see that refection.
I guess that if you would be working under your microscope illuminating your scrimshaw work with a ring light you will see almost nothing. In the other hand, if you use a side lamp in a way that the light rays “wash” the material surface you will be able to see the light reflecting on the cuts much better than the light reflecting on the main surface. This is the reason because you must darken the cuts made on those surfaces in a way to mask the cuts inhibiting the reflection on the engraved lines/dots.
I am attaching a simple sketch to illustrate the reflections. We will be able to see the reflections represented by the green lines and will not see the others.
I have did my best to write this with my limited English vocabulary, so I hope that this bare explanation will bring some light to these dark points.
Regards, Leonardo.
Attachments
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Reflections.jpg
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