a few patterns that you might try

[pete]

PLEASE bear with me- this isn't a vanity posting- I KNOW that I can't draw but I'm trying really hard to get the feel for it. I see so many things in my head but I can't seem to get them down on paper like most of you all.

So here goes- a few leaves and thoughts. The one marked with an "X" I thought would be interesting to carve with the back 2 normally and the front most one as the BACK of the leaf. I'm going to try to pear shade or emboss(push from behind?) the front leaf on the outer curves and pear shade the upper two normally. I THINK that it will show as the back of the leaf as it should.

Thoughts?????

ps- David G., Clay(s), and all you others that could do this left handed while watching the superbowl.. PLEASE feel free to re-draw these and make them better and more realistic. Thanks

pete

Edited February 15, 2008 by pete

[David Genadek]

Pete,

These are excellent! Your pulling off some tough bends and curves really well!! Now try to just let it fly and don't worry about perfect. If you don't like what you have throw another piece of tracing paper on top and trace what you like and fix what you don't. Next step is to create a flow line and stick them in as fill. It is that simple. You can draw!!!

David Genadek

[bruce johnson]

Pete,

The leaves all look interesting. You are doing fine. On the one you want to have the 3 leaves, and make the front one showing the back. I have done that some. Not much of what I do lends itself to embossing, althought that is a really neat idea. What I do is to tool the back leaves totally opposite of the faced leaves.

In other words. On the leaves I show the front of, I usually pear shade the convex scallops, some guys go out to the edge, I still leave a little halo. I vein "tip down" usually, with the veiner blending and flowing into the leafstem, not "cupping". I undershot the concave scallops of the leaf margin.

On the back facing leaves I pear shade the concave scallops and do go to the edge. I make my veiners "cup" and not do as "long'' of an impression to give the illusion of roundness. I undercut the convex scallops and then lightly lift them with an undershot. Deeper at the tips and fade from there to each concave scallop.

I normally use a lined shader on the front leaves, and smooth veiner for the back to further separate the look.

[pete]

Thank you both very much. David-I have a new hope and energy from your remarks!Bruce- that's exactly what I was going to attempt.

I'm very grateful for your comments as I greatly respect your work.

Bruce- why do you vein down on the front leaves and vein up on the backwards leaf? Wouldn't the backside be a mirror image of the front?

pete

Edited February 15, 2008 by pete

[bruce johnson]

Pete,

I vein opposite just "because". LOL. It just makes it look rounded and "cupping" away from me. By just making a light short impression (I use the thin scalloped veiners) on the cupped side, it gives me that illusion. When I do it with the veining the same, it makes it a little more "same old, same old". try both ways and see what gives you the effect you are looking for.

I look on veining the same as decorative cuts. You can take exactly the same leaf and totally change the effect of cupping toward you or draping away from the stem by just changing the direction of the veiner or the cuts. My thoughts are that by changing this up within the same piece, can add some dimension of leaves coming toward you and others going away. It can make a pretty flat pattern kind of pop a little. Mix in some front and back leaves, and it will really go somewhere.

[ClayB]

Hey Pete, I do everything left handed, but at drawing patterns, I aint no better than you. I was wondering if you ever carved the leaves? It sounds like a neat idea and I'd like to see how it went. I had never thought of trying to make it look like some of the leaves were backwards. I'd like to see examples of how Bruce does it too, but getting pictures out of him is almost as bad as getting him to sing Happy Birthday :rofl:Hey Pete, I do everything left handed, but at drawing patterns, I aint no better than you. I was wondering if you ever carved the leaves? It sounds like a neat idea and I'd like to see how it went. I had never thought of trying to make it look like some of the leaves were backwards. I'd like to see examples of how Bruce does it too, but getting pictures out of him is almost as bad as getting him to sing Happy Birthday