Practice for major project

While I was working away on my last Marquetry piece I was pondering the way 'pictures' can be made using wood veneers and my mind drifted to decorated antique boxes. The thought processes went round and round, as they do, and I thought it would be nice to buy a couple of small plain wood boxes to decorate. From there, how do you veneer boxes; veneer the sides first or the top; what designs could I do; what to do with the finished boxes ... and on, and on. 

Out of the melee of sparking brain impulses came the idea that I'd like to decorate a box for my 6-year Granddaughter. Knowing that I didn't have sufficient knowledge or experience to just dive in and produce a nice box, I decided I'd have to do some practicing first. My final target was to produce for her a jewellery box with a picture of her favourite cuddly toy on the lid, with sides decorated with Unicorns, Ice Skates and her name. So the first objective was to have-a-go at creating the cuddly toy.

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out but there's a technique called Sand Shading that would help give the face more definition. I'll have a go at that when I'm doing the box proper. 

Here are previous posts on Marquetry

Marquetry
First attempt

Second attempt
Different technique

Flower design
for drawer front

Steam engine 41218

Once upon a time, as a teenager, my friends and I used to go train-spotting. Sometimes, as a special treat, we would take a packed lunch and catch a train ride to another station a stop or two down the line so we could 'spot' other trains. One very regular engine on those runs was an Ivatt class 2MT 2-6-2T No 41218.  It was built at Crewe works in September 1948 and remained in service until July 1965 when it was withdrawn and ultimately scrapped.

Talking about trains with my brother-in-law, who used to do the same runs and is immensely enthusiastic about steam engines, we reminisced fondly over 41218. Fired with interest I did some googling and found a couple of photo's of similar engines of the same class. I used them for reference to recreate the engine in graphite.

While drawing this engine I took photo's along the way and created a Work In Progress page for anyone interested.

Other Work-In-Progress drawings on my site

Sunset over Venice
(Pencil)

Eilean Donan Castle
(Pen and Ink)

Gorilla
(Charcoal)

Flowers design for drawers

A while ago I bought a small set of plain wood drawers for my study. I'd originally thought I might paint them, or maybe varnish them, but my new found interest in Marquetry has opened up another option. 

For my next adventure into Marquetry (every project is an exploration at the moment) I decided to decorate one of the draw fronts. I chose a photo of a Fuchsia from my considerable collection (what do you expect from a keen photographer and Fuchsia grower - LOL) and used image editing software to create a suitable design.

I found choosing a nice mixture of veneers was more difficult than I'd expected and with the benefit of hindsight I think my choices weren't the best. Still, I cut out the various elements of the design, pieced them all together, applied them to one of the drawers, sanded and finally polished and waxed. 

The remaining drawers offer me plenty of future practice opportunities but I won't be sticking to a coherent floral theme. The finished cabinet will be a mish-mash of whatever takes my fancy and will be an eclectic record of my Marquetry progress.

Here are previous posts on Marquetry

Marquetry - My first attempt

Second attempt - Different technique

Nothing ventured....

I did this Pen and Ink Wash drawing some years ago. Although it hangs on the wall in my study, it has been largely forgotten, which is a shame because it was one of those special, 'first attempt' revelations, like we've all had at various stages along our art journey. Rather than write about it again, the experience for me can be summed up by the opening and closing comments I made at the time on my Work-In-Progress page.

I begin:-

I've never tried using ink washes but it's something that appeals, probably because of my love of Pen and Ink. I haven't done any research nor watched anything on YouTube so I'm very much making this up as I go along. What I've decided to do is draw a building using Fineliner pens and then add shadows and shading using diluted ink applied by brush. I have no idea how it's going to turn out ... could be a disaster.

and I close:-

Well, what a learning experience that was. Like every 'new' medium we try, the unexpected can be a pain or a joy. Overall, though there are many things I've learned about working with ink, this experience was more joy than pain. The way the neat ink bled into wet pale washes was superb. A few areas are darker than I wanted but learning to control the ink was half the fun, and I love the way some patches have purple hues in them. This is certainly something I will do again and I'm keen to try different inks .... Sepia might give some interesting results.

Here are some more Pen and Ink Drawings

Arches at Knaresborough

Bungalow

The Old Water Mill

Harley Davidson

Having gone through a long spell of not drawing anything significant, I fancied trying something challenging and something that I haven't tried before. I've always liked the way silver and chrome can be easily replicated using graphite pencils and I had the urge to find a chrome subject to play with. I couldn't get inspired by the numerous pictures of silver teapots, cutlery, and shiny ornaments but I eventually found something that hit the spot. I chose this picture of a classic Harley Davidson motorbike.

The picture isn't very large. I decided on A4 size (8.3"x11.7") Daler Rowney Smooth Cartridge paper and it's the first time I've used it. For a smooth paper it took many layers of graphite quite well. With the benefit of hindsight I wish I'd used something larger but that's only because it might have made some of the complex areas a little easier. For anyone interested I've put a better explanation and a step-by-step Work In Progress page on my main website.

Here are some more Pencil Drawings

Force Ten

Radiating Fog

Flamborough Lifeboat 1971

Pyrography - Second attempt.

I was so pleased with my first wood-burning attempt that I decided to jump straight in and have another go, this time at something a little more ambitious.

Not knowing which is the best wood for burning I thought I'd try anything and found an offcut of feather-edged fencing board. The wood was a bit rough so I sanded it to smooth up the surface. For a subject I chose the Clumber Park Boat house from one of my forums old Monthly Painting Projects. I've drawn this subject a few times in pencil and pen, and it felt like the sort of thing that might work well with a wodd burner. I'm very pleased with the way the 'drawing' turned out and, as usual, learned a great deal from the process. In particular, I was surprised by how much the burner 'caught' in the grain of the wood despite being smooth to the touch. I also found areas of the wood that burned easily and others that didn't. I think wood selection is going to be very important if I decide to a serious drawing.

Pyrography is certainly something I'm enjoying. 

Trying my hand at Pyrography

Pyrography is the posh name for Wood Burning. While searching online for information about my new-found hobby of Marquetry I came across several videos on wood burning. I became equally interested in having a go so dropped a hint in my annual letter to Santa. As always, he came up trumps and presented me with an inexpensive Wood Burner so I could dip my toe in this particular pond. 

I grabbed a scrap of hardboard from my garage, gave it a light sanding, and marked out a rough outline of a Hare in pencil. Once my burner was up to temperature, I set too burning the wood with a fine pointed tip. As a pen and ink artist I found the process of 'drawing' quite familiar and was very pleased with my first effort. There are obviously lots of differences to drawing with a pen. The slower you move the burner, the more burnt the wood so the darkness of line is achieved by the speed of the nib. 

Lots to learn, that's for sure, but I certainly enjoyed this first effort.

Iris

I moved into my present house in the winter when the garden was as 'dead' as it could be. I could see that I had inherited many Iris plants, and that pleased me as they are one of my favourite flowers. What I hadn't expected was the range of varieties in the garden. Some with small flowers, many with regular size flowers, and one with giant flowers. And the colours range through bright yellows, cold blues, warm oranges, autumn colours and deep Indigo's. 

That first summer I couldn't wait to get outside with my camera and as each bloom opened I was delighted to discover 16 different varieties. As a fairly useless, uninformed, wanna-be gardener I have no idea what the names of them are so I lump them all into one category ..... "Gorgeous". 

It was obvious that I'd have to paint them at some point, and the one above is the first.

 

Second attempt - A different technique

I've now had a second go at marquetry using a different technique. Without getting technical, the first one was done using the "window" method and this one using the "Double Bevel" method. This technique involves cutting two veneers at the same time, but that ensures the shapes fit together better, with much fewer gaps and a much tighter fit. So that I had a sound comparison between the two methods I used the same Robin picture as before, but reversed. What I hadn't expected (though I should have) was the huge effect the veneer choices had. The two Robins look quite different from each other and although I'm happier that this piece is more technically sound, I prefer the overall look of the first piece despite its faults. Lots to learn, that's for sure.  ;)

Marquetry - my first attempt

I've always liked the look of wood, especially polished wood with pronounced grains. I have a very old wooden model boat that I wanted to restore and while researching online how I could strip it back and polish it up, I stumbled across Marquetry. Though I put it out of mind initially, the idea of making pictures from wood veneers kept niggling at me. Obviously it was an itch that just had to be scratched.

Many hours were spent watching online video's and reading articles on the subject, but I've never been one to learn that way. I'm very much a hands-on, trial-and-error, figure-it-out-as-you-go sort of guy, so I sent for a small pack of mixed veneers so I could have-a-go. Though many sites suggested very simple shapes to begin with, I thought I'd learn more by trying something a bit more testing. 

From my own collection of photos I chose a picture of a Robin that I've painted and drawn many times, and I traced over it just in very approximate outlines. I played with various veneers considering the direction the grains should run and the overall 'tonal value' of the wood. Viewing the photo in greyscale helped a lot when choosing lights and darks.

There are a number of different techniques with Marquetry. As a beginner I chose the "Window" method as it looked the easiest. The first thing I learned when cutting is how easily the knife slices through the wood when going with the grain, but how hard it can be when cutting across the grain. Cutting irregular shapes proved harder than I'd expected and the very thin veneers often split. I'm hoping experience will help me get better at that.

Finally I had all the pieces taped together and I glued the whole thing onto a scrap of wood. I gave it a good sanding and several layers of Shellac varnish to finish it off.

Though this isn't an accomplished piece of work, I'm not disappointed in it. The gaps between the  various pieces leave much to be desired and the veneer choices could have been better, but I learned so much from the process. Next I will try a different method to see if that suits me better. If YOU have experience of Marquetry I'd love to hear from you.

As for the model boat.... I'll be covering that in a future post.