First Attempt At Sheridan Carving

[Toolerlass]

I still don't know much about carving and tooling. This is my 1st sheridan practice piece (i never practice on small scraps, i kinda just dive in lol and see what happens, warts and all) and only my third attempt at carving in total so i'm learning as I go. I did the same design on both sides just for the practice and noticed a difference just from doing one side to the other so if i do something else in future hopefully there'll be more improvement.

Because it took a while, i couldn't bring myself to antique it even though i really want to. Because my first few attempts at staining have gone weird i didn't want to accidentally destroy it :-/ so i opted for a half finished look instead of completely wrecked :-/

[Toolerlass]

Before sewing

[Dwight]

Looks right purty to me, . . . but then again, . . . I don't do that, . . . hardly at all, . . . and it never comes out that nice.

Good job, . . . keep it up.

May God bless,

Dwight

PS: You need to burnish the edges,..................lol

[Toolerlass]

Hahaha since the burnishing convo i'm currently having one custom made for my dremmel in the UK ;-)

[Bob Blea]

I think you are off to a good start. It does look like your leather may be too wet when you are carving. You aren't getting burnishing where you used your pear shader / thumprint on the flowers, and overall the carving looks a little off. Also, you've got some beveled lines that look kind of ragged. You can go over the flowers and leaves with a modeling spoon and smooth out the edges and eliminate any unwanted tool marks.

Hope that helps!

Bob

[oltoot]

Yes and tool control, you are holding many of your tools too vertical, thumbprints especially, most tools are designed so that the full impression is rarely seen and since finish is crucial for the true Sheridan look, that needs a little work too. And finish starts with casing to get the initial contrast on which to build the entire look. Keep up the good work and you might well one day satisfy yourself.

[Toolerlass]

Thanks so much for the replies. Its really appreciated. The left side was definitely too wet, don't think the right side was. I did them both opposite to compare the difference. The left side was cased so much over many different sittings that it started to get water stains on the flowers. I still don't have a modelling spoon yet but its on the to do list.

I'm a long way off tool control lol. I practiced with the sheridan style to get used to curves as there's a he*l of a lot in it :-)

[Dwight]

Not trying to be nosey, . . . but just for instance, . . . what does a piece like that go for in the UK?

Thanks, may God bless,

Dwight

[Toolerlass]

A proper one maybe a couple of hundred pounds, mine would be about 10.00 lol. I don't think sheridan style is popular in the UK? but i could be wrong :-/

Edited February 13, 2014 by Toolerlass

[Toolerlass]

I decided to attack it with antique after all. I've done front and back differently to see what i prefer and i still haven't a clue lol.

Edited February 14, 2014 by Toolerlass

[Bob Blea]

Just my opinion, but I like the second picture with the darker background around the flowers, but that's just a matter of taste.

Bob

[Dwight]

And I like the plain one.

Like Bob said, it's all a matter of taste.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Toolerlass]

Haha thanks guys, i think i'll have to leave it with a split personality for a while, the plain washed one looks nicer up close. The inlay dark one looks cool from a distance. Thanks :-)

[Hooper26]

Nice work

[Mike 257]

wow very nice, I like the one with the darker background better .