Carving Critique wanted

[xaman]

Hello fellas,

Been a while since I posted (been too busy to do anything new or trying...)

I got a little time and decided to have another go at carving. I think this is my 3rd or 4th attempt at anything other than straight lines (simple cross designs.) I just free-handed a simple vine design an went at it...

I have a few ideas of how to imrove it next time, but wanted to get some other opinions and suggestions.

I know I definitely need some other tools (not even sure what's available, but I'm pretty certain I was handicapped with my limited set-up.)


BTW, this is a "Retribution" model knife from Jerry Hossom -- as light, fast and mean as anything I've ever held. Just incredible :thumbup:

Thanks for looking

 

[dazr4]

Got no critiques for ya' brother! that's nice work, I'd be proud to let my knife ride in that!

 

[Greg45]

Holy cow, that's nice!! I wish I could critique that - I'd be a pro for sure!

I like how the carving is not limited by the stitching - no border, in other words. Looks cool that way.

PS - As I was typing this, my postal lady brought me a package - Thanks, Eli!

 

[sheathmaker]

I personally like a cut and beveled border about 1/4 to 3/8 inch inside the stitch line and the carved portion within that boundry. It is perfectly okay and in fact looks very good if a leaf tip or some portion of the pattern overlaps the border here and there and is beveled to appear it just grew that way, but it still would be well inside the stitch line so there is no sewing through any portion of the carved pattern. The same rule would apply to the retention strap which in this case is really too narrow to support any carving at all and I think would have looked better just plain with creased edges. Also you might consider swelling the end of the retention strap so the snap does not over lap the sides at the tip.

This is all given in the spirit of POSITVE criticism and i hope you take it as such.

Paul

 

[Dave Kelly]

Looks great xaman!

I've done quite a bit of carving practice and would be very happy to share what I know, pm if you'd like

Very nice Hossom btw

Dave

 

[mtnfolk mike]

wow.. that is gorgeaous.... i have yet to try leather tooling...

 

[xaman]

I personally like a cut and beveled border about 1/4 to 3/8 inch inside the stitch line and the carved portion within that boundry. It is perfectly okay and in fact looks very good if a leaf tip or some portion of the pattern overlaps the border here and there and is beveled to appear it just grew that way, but it still would be well inside the stitch line so there is no sewing through any portion of the carved pattern. The same rule would apply to the retention strap which in this case is really too narrow to support any carving at all and I think would have looked better just plain with creased edges. Also you might consider swelling the end of the retention strap so the snap does not over lap the sides at the tip.

This is all given in the spirit of POSITVE criticism and i hope you take it as such.

Paul

Exactly what I'm hoping for :thumbup:

I already decided that I would border the next carving inside the stitch line. It doesn'tlook bad as is when you are very close, but at a distance it just looks like sloppy edges...

And I'm probably going to replace the strap, it's just too busy.

Thanks for taking the time to look and respond :thumbup:

 

[xaman]

Looks great xaman!

I've done quite a bit of carving practice and would be very happy to share what I know, pm if you'd like

Very nice Hossom btw

Dave

Thanks Dave, I'll probablly be in touch next go-round (waiting on a new side of leather from W&C now...)

 

[mikeymoto]

First off, great work and congratulations on making a really nice looking pattern.

This is a matter of style but you might consider using a backgrounding tool to differentiate between the background of the carving and the objects (stems and leaves) in the foreground.

Do you have a modelling spoon? It can make a huge difference to go over all your work when the carving and tooling is finished, smooth all the edges and rub out any fingernail nicks or other accidents. I don't see any nicks here, but the edges do look crisp and might look nicer to my eye with some rounding.

To make the leaves really jump off the leather I would recommend at least two things:

1) Before bevelling use a pear shader or other tool to add texture inside the leaves.

2) Have more areas of overlap on your pattern and when bevelling go around the top-most things first, then later bevel around the lower things, if that makes sense. It will help the overlapped carving stand out.

With the textured interior and deep, ordered bevels the leaves will really jump out and grab you.

Bevel all the way to the bottom of your cuts, and make sure the cuts go at least half-way into your leather. This will result in great dimensionality.

Personally I like the carved strap, but I don't like its pointed end. It would look awesome if it matched the carving on the body when laid down on top of it!

 

[Swivelknife]

I agree with Paul in all respects. The face of the sheath looks to have been cut from a larger piece of carved leather and has lost the "flow" of the piece. As a rule, carving always looks better if it appears to have been fashioned to fit the available space allotted. This aids in the custom appearance of the sheath. You are well on your way to an addiction you will find difficult to break!! ---Sandy---

 

[xaman]

I agree with Paul in all respects. The face of the sheath looks to have been cut from a larger piece of carved leather and has lost the "flow" of the piece. As a rule, carving always looks better if it appears to have been fashioned to fit the available space allotted. This aids in the custom appearance of the sheath. You are well on your way to an addiction you will find difficult to break!! ---Sandy---

Yep, I was chicken to committ to a border, because I was afraid after it was all glued up and sanded that my stiching and carving borders would not line up straight with my edges.

That's also the reason I couldn't do a foldover design with carving --- how in the world do you know exactly what "fits" before you form the leather?

I think I may just go with a larger welt all the way around next time to give me more room for straightening up the lines once glued up...

thanks for the tips :thumbup:

 

[xaman]

First off, great work and congratulations on making a really nice looking pattern.

This is a matter of style but you might consider using a backgrounding tool to differentiate between the background of the carving and the objects (stems and leaves) in the foreground.


I really thought a lot about this. Do they make one that would match the texture of my beveler --- that I used to outline the leaves and stems? Or does it matter that it matches?


Do you have a modelling spoon? It can make a huge difference to go over all your work when the carving and tooling is finished, smooth all the edges and rub out any fingernail nicks or other accidents. I don't see any nicks here, but the edges do look crisp and might look nicer to my eye with some rounding.

I think that's what I have -- isn't that what I used to press one side of the cuts ( a modeller?) Not sure if that's the same as a modelling spoon.

To make the leaves really jump off the leather I would recommend at least two things:

1) Before bevelling use a pear shader or other tool to add texture inside the leaves.

cool, I'll have to look up a pear shader to see what that is. I definitely thought I needed more texture.


2) Have more areas of overlap on your pattern and when bevelling go around the top-most things first, then later bevel around the lower things, if that makes sense. It will help the overlapped carving stand out.

I definitely want more overlapping leaves next time. The few that do overlap look nice.

With the textured interior and deep, ordered bevels the leaves will really jump out and grab you.

Bevel all the way to the bottom of your cuts, and make sure the cuts go at least half-way into your leather. This will result in great dimensionality.

Are you bevelling with a mallet, or just pressing?


Personally I like the carved strap, but I don't like its pointed end. It would look awesome if it matched the carving on the body when laid down on top of it!

seriously, thanks for taking the time to reply :thumbup:

 

[mikeymoto]

Sure it matters if your bevelling and backgrounding matches. Some people may not care, but I would prefer they be matched personally and I do it on my work when possible. From my bad eyesight and the size of your images I can't see your bevelling clearly but it looks like you used a smooth-faced bevelling tool. I don't know of a good way to keep the background smooth but still depress it down. On the other hand you can get bevellers that match the pattern on background tools.

When you press the leather down on one side of the cut you should be using a beveller, which is a wedge-shaped tool. It keeps one side of the cut straight and makes the other side angle up from the bottom of your cut to the leather's surface height - it creates a bevel.

A modelling spoon is just that - a miniature spoon-shaped tool. It has many uses but I use mine all the time to go over the ridge of bevelled areas to smooth it out and slightly round it.

A pear shader is like a tear-drop in shape and is convex. It makes pear shaped impressions in your leather and you can use it to make the edges of leaves look like they're curling up. You can get plain and textured pear shaders.

Always bevel with a mallet. You want deep clear impressions.

I'm no leather master like other folks who have replied in this thread, but I am gaining lots of experience with this hobby with every project. Following are two examples of my work. The first example is my first carving/tooling piece straight out of Tandy's "lucky 7" kit. You'll see that the bevelling is generally shallow and to me it looks very flat except in a couple places. Lots of things wrong with that piece; looking at most of the cuts you can still see a cut penetrating lower than the bevelling. The second example is more recent and I think I did a lot better making sure those bevels got nice and deep. It makes a big difference to me!

Note deeper bevels and more texture on the foreground items on this one. I also made heavy use of a modelling spoon to round off the edges of the leaves. I could have done a lot better with the acorns!