Maple Leaf.... 1St One I Feel Ok About Anyhow:) Comments And Suggestion Welcome!

[chancey77]

Thanks to Jax and Imiketoo this morning for saving my day!

I really am trying hard for some realism so please any comments are welcome! I dyed it with brushes watered down with red orange and yellow then added some dark brown and black dry brush effects... Compared to the pile in the garbage this morning I like this one so far but since this style is not what I do normally could listen to some sound advise!!

Thanks!!! I am all ears!

[mikesmith648]

Looks good to me....maybe a bit of dry brush green??

Mike

[Jax]

Glad to help Chancey, it looks geat!!!

[chancey77]

That's what I was thinking to Mike and I held off until someone else said it hahahaha

On the edges right, just a subtle hint of green...

Edited January 16, 2013 by chancey77

[Bob Blea]

Hi Chancey,

Overall I think it looks really good. Just my opinion, but I don't like the checkering across the leaf. If it were me, I would use a leaf liner or beveler with diagonal lines on it along the stem lines, both the main stem and the ones that radiate off it. I think it gives the leaf a more 3D look and would leave the rest of the leaf surface smooth. I wish I had a picture showing what I mean but I don't have access to my pics from where I'm at. However, I do think your leaf looks good and I like the color.

Bob

[immiketoo]

Chris, here's the leaf I wanted to show you earlier...

Chris, here's the leaf I wanted to show you earlier...

[Cyberthrasher]

Finally got the dang picture to open on this laptop

For the most part it looks good Bro, but I do have to agree with Bob on the matting.

The green would help the coloring, but I think it should be more of a light green leaning toward yellow since there's so much red/brown going on already. I think I should go look at some fall leaf pictures to make sure I'm thinking of the common color scheme right though.

Do you have a pedal lifter? I think I may have gotten an extra one. I'll have to look.

[Northmount]

When you add a hint of green, I would keep it closer to the stem. The outer edges of the leaf dry out first, so shouldn't have any green left. And I like it without the green.

Looks like an inverted carving style, which is fine. Been doing some myself. But as mentioned, reduce the amount of matting. The leaf surface in nature is smooth between veins.

Tom

[chancey77]

Ya this was from the inverted carving book northmount:) Mike that was the one I was trying at first like the picture you posted but I failed at it numerous times to look that cool.... I do not have a pedal lifter:(

So this will be going onto a tele pickguard and I thought that inverted carving would be much better just so there is nothing sticking up as this client only wants 1 lonely leaf in the center of the strings I figured this style would be the way to go....

Do you got some tips on inverted tooling for this application? Thanks for all your comments!!

[chancey77]

So here is some adjustments.... Now waiting on Johan to tell me is he wants inverted or more traditional with pedal lifting..... Arghhhh I hate waiting! I wish I wouldn't have cut the stems but I will flatten them out a bit more with the spoon...like I did on the small veins.

Here it is with the pick guard shape

[Cyberthrasher]

That's looking a lot better with less matting.

I was wrong about the petal lifter. I thought I had two, but it turns out it's one with two different sized ends on it.

The one I have is an Osborne similar to this

http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/search/searchresults/8039-05.aspx

[JLSleather]

Usedta call that a 'deerfoot' modeling tool, if that helps.

[Cyberthrasher]

Now it looks like they're all trying to call it an "undercut modeling tool"

[Bob Blea]

Hi Chancey,

I think the second try looks a lot better. And I agree with Northmount that it looks good with the colors you used.

Bob

[chancey77]

Thanks everyone!!! Y'all have really been a huge help! As always and no I am not surprised:) hahahah

Ya I tried to take the advise to layback on the matting and I got an email from the client after showing hi the difference between inverted and more traditional 3d Western leafs and he chose .......insert drum roll......... The inverted one:) cool! He liked the colors a lot as well and after spending about an hour today with the airbrush on some scraps I got the hang of it pretty fast. I am ready to rock out some new stuff and I very excited of the new possibilities!

So thanks!!! A MILLION FOLKS!!

I will post up a picture of it here when the pickguard is all done.

So now that he chose the inverted style should I Matt some more in the edges with the checkered pear shader?

Or just bevel the leaf ends down??? And add the textures with the dyes? Opinions......

[Northmount]

A natural dried leaf surface is fairly smooth between the veins. So my preference is less matting. But, leatherwork is also art, and it is the artist's interpretation that counts.

Toss a coin!

Tom

[Cyberthrasher]

So now that he chose the inverted style should I Matt some more in the edges with the checkered pear shader?

Or just bevel the leaf ends down??? And add the textures with the dyes? Opinions......

Peter Main went into quite a bit of inverted carving in his books and he just beveled it down then mixed colors for textures. I think you'll be able to get it pretty nice with the airbrush.

[chancey77]

Well that is it in all its wanted simplicity... Some textures with dyes and a bit darker then I imagined but hey it is time to move on:)

[Cyberthrasher]

a bit darker then I imagined but hey it is time to move on:)

You'll get use to thinning the dyes to the right consistency for spraying. It came out great though!! Looks just like those leaves I've been staring at in my folder

[Chavez]

Hi Chancey,

I really like the final leaf!

Can't comment on dyeing, but from the carving point of view:

1) You need lifters/undercutters. Barry King makes good undercutters (he makes a lot of great stuff actually, not just undercutters ) but if you don't have a spare $60-$100 in your budget, you can get an osborne petal lifter for as little as $10ish I think if you check with suppliers...

Also, with a bit of elbow grease,

- Google "Petal lifter tool" for an image of one.

- Choose a few old screwdrivers that you don't mind sacrificing.

- Cut the tips of the screwdrivers off at about 45 degrees.

- file the new tip down so it's smooth (check to the photo from step 1).

- using extremely fine sandpaper & jewellers rouge polish your new lifters!

You can either use them as a lifter or as an undercutter (i.e. hold at an angle and tap with a mallet).

They are not going to be as good as pro tools, but that's cheap, reasonably quick to make, can be made to your liking (any angle/size).

For the carving itself, watch out for your swivel cuts. try not to get any of the lines crossing each other. Practice, practice, practice. There are a lot of tight turns in a maple, but they are not as bad as, say, American oak, so maples are not that bad.

[Ferg]

Ditto on the knife cuts.

You are using too large blade width for the carving you are doing. A wide blade will lift the outer edges and make them look like a bad piece of rubber. Let the knife cut "die out" towards the tip of the leaf lobes. Some cuts you simply started at the wrong end.

ferg