My First Very Own Pattern

[Rawhide]

Please feel free to critique and give advice. This is my very first attempt at creating my own pattern.

Thanks in advance,

Marlon

[Drac]

looks very nice... and difficult! I think I'll stick things that are a bit easier like the girlies. definitely do that one and post up the results.

[TracyMoss]

looks very nice... and difficult! I think I'll stick things that are a bit easier like the girlies. definitely do that one and post up the results.

"Girls yourself, and it ain't christmas neither."

Looks nice Marlon.

Edited February 24, 2008 by TracyMoss

[Rawhide]

Drac,

It actually wasn't that difficult. I used some of Chan Geer's instructions on drawing Sheridan style patterns. Took a que from him, and off I went.

Marlon

[SCOUTER]

Marlon, I am still new to the understanding the whole sheridan style. I know there are certain rules and criteria that make it "sheridan"... I like your design. Questions- Is your signature on the bottom of the design? (Are we looking at it 90 degrees over?) It looks good at all angles but does gravity play a role in designing sheridan? (or can any sheridan design be flipped to suit?) Thanks!

[Rawhide]

Scouter,

To tell you the truth, I don' know.

That is my signature and it is 90 degrees. I forgot to rotate it, but the pattern seems to be toolable in both directions.

Sheridan style of carving was created by Don King some time ago and it's signature is a very tight usually very circular design. If you'll notice the three main flowers are within a circle of leaf stems. Then you fill in the voids with leaves and such.

As far as gravity goes, I don't think it applies. I think that the main idea is to create patterns that flow from one flower to the next and so on. This pattern flows from one flower to the other two flowers. When designing think of it as a pulley system.

Marlon

[Tina]

Hi Marlon

Be proud, I don't now that much about Sheridan but the pattern to me looks like it flowes really well and I think it looks great:-)

[Rawhide]

thanks Tina,

I don't know much about it either, but I thought I'd give it a go.

Marlon

[electrathon]

Marlon,

First off, if this is the first Sheriden pattern you have drawn, it looks great. I struggle trememdously to draw and create. I am much better at copying others.

As far as critique: The main thing I see is that you started in the bottom left corner (I am assuming that it is rotated because of where you signed it) very tight. So tight in that the leaves were clipped over the edge, That is OK, but no where else in the pic does it overhang the edge. I would say that you should have continued with the overhanging leaves or not had the first ones. You then continued up and to the left more than to the right, it gives the pattern a top heavy appearance. Possibly if the leaf closest to the signature was rotated a little more down and there was a turnback stem (like on the left near the top) it would have ballanced more. There is also a couple spots where the stems turn into lines.

You show great promise in your work of becoming a master at this artform.

[LarryB]

Nice pattern.... lots of work. Hope you show it used on a project.

[Rawhide]

Marlon,

First off, if this is the first Sheriden pattern you have drawn, it looks great. I struggle trememdously to draw and create. I am much better at copying others.

As far as critique: The main thing I see is that you started in the bottom left corner (I am assuming that it is rotated because of where you signed it) very tight. So tight in that the leaves were clipped over the edge, That is OK, but no where else in the pic does it overhang the edge. I would say that you should have continued with the overhanging leaves or not had the first ones. You then continued up and to the left more than to the right, it gives the pattern a top heavy appearance. Possibly if the leaf closest to the signature was rotated a little more down and there was a turnback stem (like on the left near the top) it would have ballanced more. There is also a couple spots where the stems turn into lines.

You show great promise in your work of becoming a master at this artform.

Thanks for the critique. That's exactly what I was looking for. I did notice that I only had one leaf with the turnback on it, but didn't realize that I clipped only one side of the stems and not the other. I also didn't realize the weight balance was off.

Thanks again for your insight. I hope to only get better.

Marlon

[David Genadek]

Marlon,

Your pulling off some cool stuff on this design but your missing a few fundamentals that could really make it look great. The biggest thing is that your loosing the stem in many places and you are visually crossing the stem line. I have attached a picture with comments.

Something to understand is that few saddlemakers are artists and therefore they have not been trained in how artists actually do things. I have attached a copy of the drawing section in Bob Browns book. This is all you need to know. Really there is nothing more to it. Loose the graph paper and get rid of erasers it is just going to confuse you. Everyone is an artist!

If I were just learning to draw patterns today I would be looking toward two people. Paul Burnett and Peter Main. They are artists and have been trained as such.

Hope this helps you get closer to what your seeing in your minds eye.

David Genadek

draw.pdf

draw.pdf

[Rawhide]

Thanks David,

I will definitely try to apply these suggestions.

I am by no means an artist, but would like to be.

Thanks again,

Marlon

[David Genadek]

Marlon,

You are an artist look at what you just did!!!

David Genadek

[Storm]

Nicely done and great go on the Sheridan look. Got to be a little Buffalo Soldier in your soul. Keep it up.

[Rayban]

I don't know jack about Sharidan carving, but like any other art form, I know when I like what I see...

as far as the critiques you have recieved, I have no idea what they are talking about.....

But the one thing that has always impressed me about Sheridan carving is how the artist fits the particular shape with the art work......be it a wallet or a saddle jockey.

Keep up the good work......when can we see your design on leather??

[Rawhide]

when can we see your design on leather??

Don't know, I've been real busy with the honey-do's and haven't had a chance to even smell leather, let alone case some.

I'm taking Peter Main's class this weekend, so I'll at least get to play with some leather.

Marlon

[Vikefan]

Please feel free to critique and give advice. This is my very first attempt at creating my own pattern.

Thanks in advance,

Marlon

[hidepounder]

Marlon.....Great job for the first time out! David gave you some really great comments. I wanted to add to them, but I decided to do something else instead. I've taken your flowers and leaves and the general pattern layout and re-defined the stemwork. I thought it would be easier to show, than to explain the "flow" of the stemwork.

As David pointed out, there were areas where the pattern seemed disconnected...in other words it was difficult to see how the pattern got from A to B. It seems to just appear out of nowhere. There was also an issue of "scale" as well. You'll see in my stemwork that the lines defining the petals in the stem are long and help to create the "flow". In addition I greatly reduced the size of the petals and created more of them, making it is easier to follow how the stemwork travels around the major components which are the flowers and the leaves. I thinks this also makes the pattern more pleasing to the eye (I hope anyway!).

I highly recommend that you get a copy of "Sheridan Style Carving" by Bob Likewise. I think it is invaluable in learning to design your own patterns. In it, Bill Gardner takes you through the fundamentals of Sheridan Style design and there are a lot photos to study! Well worth the money! Keep at it, you made an excellent first attempt and I hope this will be helpful to you!

Bob

[Rawhide]

Marlon.....Great job for the first time out! David gave you some really great comments. I wanted to add to them, but I decided to do something else instead. I've taken your flowers and leaves and the general pattern layout and re-defined the stemwork. I thought it would be easier to show, than to explain the "flow" of the stemwork.

As David pointed out, there were areas where the pattern seemed disconnected...in other words it was difficult to see how the pattern got from A to B. It seems to just appear out of nowhere. There was also an issue of "scale" as well. You'll see in my stemwork that the lines defining the petals in the stem are long and help to create the "flow". In addition I greatly reduced the size of the petals and created more of them, making it is easier to follow how the stemwork travels around the major components which are the flowers and the leaves. I thinks this also makes the pattern more pleasing to the eye (I hope anyway!).

I highly recommend that you get a copy of "Sheridan Style Carving" by Bob Likewise. I think it is invaluable in learning to design your own patterns. In it, Bill Gardner takes you through the fundamentals of Sheridan Style design and there are a lot photos to study! Well worth the money! Keep at it, you made an excellent first attempt and I hope this will be helpful to you!

Bob

Wow! Bob that's fantastic. I do think I see what you mean about the disconnects. I can see the top flower in my drawing seems to not connect to anything. Thanks for the help and modifications. I will get that book and see if it helps me.

Thanks again for the comments, critiques, and help. It's very much appreciated, as I am always trying to improve and learn new things.

Marlon