Bringing Floral Carving To "life"

[figthnbullrider]

Hello, I am having trouble with my floral carving and was looking for some help. I am currently working something and I will post it after my girlfriends birthday (dont want to spoil the suprize). But I wanted to know if those of you that are very good at it have any general pointers in what takes basic or avarage floral carving and makes it great or is it simply practice and doing it over and over. I have seen some really amazing works of art on here and I can't seem to take my work to the next level. I feel its ok and still looks nice but the things i make never seem to have that "perfect" look like many of some of the members on here do. Thanks for any advice i can get.

[TwinOaks]

It's all in the little things. Proper spacing with the veiner, cams, etc. Good clean beveling with no chatter marks. Good clean matting/backgrounding to the same level. Using a petal lifter to lightly increase the height of certain portions. Antiquing the piece to help with the 3d. Choosing the right color to dye the background...or IF you dye the background......and getting it perfect so that there's no bleeding onto the floral design.

....the little things.

I recommend comparing your work to the likes of Bob Park, King's X, Bobocat, Keith Siedel, Troy West, etc. Look at what they put into it vs. what you've got.

[figthnbullrider]

It's all in the little things. Proper spacing with the veiner, cams, etc. Good clean beveling with no chatter marks. Good clean matting/backgrounding to the same level. Using a petal lifter to lightly increase the height of certain portions. Antiquing the piece to help with the 3d. Choosing the right color to dye the background...or IF you dye the background......and getting it perfect so that there's no bleeding onto the floral design.

....the little things.

I recommend comparing your work to the likes of Bob Park, King's X, Bobocat, Keith Siedel, Troy West, etc. Look at what they put into it vs. what you've got.

When I compare anything of mine to bob park its like comparing finger painting to the Mona Lisa. But If i can get half way there i would be happy. Thanks for the advice I am going to try it with the belt im starting tommorow as well as some thing i have read off of the tutorials I just read threw. thanks for the help I think it will help alot. also when you dye the background are u using a small paint brush or something else

[WinterBear]

What I've learned about background dying from my mucking about with watercolor paint, fabric dye, leather dye, and various other things:

Until you are used to your dye and how it spreads/bleeds/absorbs, start by using a small pointed paintbrush.

Never let dye or paint touch the ferule (the metal part)--Once it wicks up under there, it bleeds out at the worst possible moment.

Clean your brushes well, especially between colors. When working with dye, I use a separate brush for each color family, as the dye can cling to bristles and contaminate the next color.

Touch the loaded brush to a scrap of leather before every stroke (it helps bleed off globs), and if you use a piece of the same leather you made your project from, you'll get a good idea of what it'll look like (keeping in mind that dye usually lightens when it dries).

Always touch the brush down in the center of a large area, and stroke into tight areas and towards edges. If you touch down in a narrow spot or near an edge, you run a good change of dye bleeding into areas it shouldn't.

Not only will the dye color your hide, your fingers can easily transfer dye to something else. Wear gloves (Nitrile seem to work pretty well), and wipe or wash any dye off of the surface of the gloves as you work.

Clean any spatter off of your work area so your piece doesn't pick up color in the wrong spot.

Don't dye unless you have a full spectrum light or daylight. It is amazing how much a color looks different under the wrong light--I wound up with a freakish purple carousel horse some years ago, instead of a buckskin.

Penetrating dyes are a lot like translucent watercolor paint. You can always come back and make it darker and more intense with another coat. You can't make it lighter again. Add color in layers to build up what you want.

Intense colors (sometimes dark colors) will tend to come forward, as will those with a warm tone. Less intense colors appear to recede, as do cool tones.

Put the dye into smaller containers. I now eye-dropper dye into a white plastic painter's pallet, like what watercolor artists use. Less to spill or spatter and get all over when the cat sneaks in and hops on the desk to see what you're doing, a fly goes skinny dipping followed by a hike across the piece, or the dog barrels under the desk because somebody let him into the garage. Plus dye is the pits to get off of a cat.

Edited September 22, 2011 by WinterBear

[Bob Blea]

Greetings from another Fort Collins resident!

For me, it has made a big difference to get quality tools. Having good bevelers has really helped, plus having a center shader, leaf liner and good flower centers has made a big difference. The tools that were designed specifically for Sheridan style tooling can really make a big difference in the quality of my work. I have a small set of Barry King tools that are primarily what I use for my tooling now. That plus learning how to case the leather properly and get a good burnish has helped. I used to keep my leather too wet and the leather just sort of mushed around. Once I got better about not keeping my leather too wet, the overall look of my flowers got better.

Post some pictures and we can probably make more suggestions.

Bob