Portland Engraving Project

Portland Engraving Project - Update 13

It’s finished and on it’s way to London. Over the last 6 weeks I’ve worked on this project, planning it, writing the updates, photographing the piece and actually engraving it (and some other smaller jobs in between), finally it’s done. You can view a short video clip of it here http://youtu.be/o6vp9mpIKIw  . We set out to educate and inform people about copper wheel engraving and how a piece like this is done, the time involved and the thought that goes into it. The subject was the Portland Vase, an iconic ceramic piece that Wedgwood adopted as their own and features 6 figures from ancient mythology. Many people have done their version of it as the imagery is beautifully ornate but no one (to my knowledge) had dared to modernise it, to take the same figures and re-tell the story in 2014.

The vase is generally seen as having 2 separate stories – one side is love story, the other a depiction of the afterlife or heaven, where the inhabitants are relaxed in a carefree environment. These are everyday themes that you would still come across today and so, should easily withstand modernising.

Who’s who……

Let’s look at the individuals and the changes made to them;

The first figure is Phelis, tip-toeing into the afterlife/scene to greet his girlfriend Thetis. The modern equivalent is a casually dressed guy in a t-shirt and jeans with tattoos, Dr.Dre headphones and offering a hi-5 to his girl.Thetis is posed facing her boyfriend and away from Poseidon, who wanted to marry her; she’s seen reciprocating the hi-5 while clutching her snakeskin handbag (formerly a serpent). Her clothes are street-style - boots, shorts, t-shirt and styled with costume jewellery. Her hair is in a pony-tail with shades also holding it in place. Poseidon is the third figure on this side. His pose is suggestive of a more mature figure, almost father-like assessing his daughter’s suitor. He now wears a 3-piece suit, with one hand in a pocket, the other holding a mobile as he reads texts (or is perhaps looking up the new boyfriend’s facebook page!).   The background alterations are minimal - a dove flies over the couple replacing the Eros figure of the original, the architecture and foliage remains.

Rotating the vase to the opposite side there are three more figures, all seated on rocky pedestals – a reference to them having passed into the afterlife. The first figure, thought to be Achilles sits with his body facing away but his head turned to the others. He’s now dressed in jeans and logoed t-shirt and has a baseball hat, goatie beard and key-chain. Next to him is Helen, sporting a short jacket, jodhpurs and knee-high boots. She’s dropped her Vaio laptop bag to pose for the camera. Her friend, Aphrodite is about to take a group ‘selfie’, capturing herself and her friends. She’s dressed in a mini skirt and layered t-shirts with a short, cropped hairstyle. Her t-shirt is printed with ‘MMXIV’, that’s 2014 in roman numerals. 

I mentioned previously that the faces below the handles presented an opportunity to introduce some people from popular culture. These aren’t portraits as such, just a ‘likeness’ of these individuals done with a combination of diamond point and copper wheel – 3 hrs max. The first guy is Guy Martin, professional road racer and TV documentary maker. The other face is that of actor, comedian and Hollywood icon Robin Williams, who first came to light in Mork & Mindy and went on to a stellar career on stage and screen but sadly died earlier this year. I’ve used an image of him with a beard in keeping with the original faces.

So far we haven’t mentioned the base. It’s been verified by the experts that the base on the original was added at a later date – perhaps to salvage the vase after an accident. Its composition, both in the engraving of the Paris figure and the substance used differs from the rest of the vase. In keeping with the modernising idea and engraving individuals (who I hope are recognisable) I spent some time choosing who to replace Paris with. I’m not particularly religious but The Dalai Lama is a fitting choice on many levels – not only is he posed and dressed similarly to Paris, but being a spiritual person pays homage to the original vase’s spiritual subjects. His simple lifestyle contrasts with the modern figures/version I’ve done; you could broaden that comparison out to include the handcraft versus the hi-tech/mass-produced debate.  

 

Just to cover some outstanding items, I’ve ‘detailed’ the figures with a combination of polishing, diamond point and vibro (a fine carbide point with hammer action) to finish them. The logos on their t-shirts for example are done with a delicate touch of the diamond or vibro as it’s effectively an ink transfer you’re engraving. I shaped out the handles, engraved some ferns onto them and bonded them into place. They are flush with the top of the rim and sit on the shoulder of the vase just above the 2 faces. I didn’t do a great job photographing or videoing it – it’s raw to say the least but I was rushing to make the courier; you’ll get the idea despite the backdrop and background noise. The finished piece will be part of the Guild of Glass Engravers exhibition in Morley College, London opening on October 8^th. If/when it’s sold I will be forwarding an SD card with 200+ images of it in work, 2 short videos and these updates to the new owner. 

Ta-dah……….

So, after hours of drawing, engraving and polishing you’ve washed your piece and it looks well. Look closely though, are there any fine scratches you missed? Have you signed and dated it? Are you photographing it? Should you make a rubbing of it for your records in case you are commissioned to make another? Does it need a plinth? Have you considered the presentation and sourced packaging and a box – nothing will drag your work down as much as delivering it in a tatty shoe box. Now, get it delivered and get paid.

Congratulations………now it’s finished.

 

 

The Portland Engraving Project - Update 12

The Portland Engraving Project - Update 12

With the first 3 figures finished except for detailing and polishing, we can briefly look at the other elements on this side before beginning the second half. I’ve replaced the Eros figure with a dove, recognised in modern society as a sign of peace and/or love and is far more plausible than an ‘angel’. It’s posed a bit like the Anhauser Bush eagle logo and was straightforward to do. It’s not terribly big so if it hadn’t worked out, I could have engraved Eros over it as per the original vase.  

You’ll see from the images that I have done some preliminary work on the handles. The mock-up image gives an idea of how they will appear; there’s a lot of figuring out to do on them - exactly how and where they attach has a bearing on the 2 faces that appear just below them. The handles aren’t exact replicas of the original and will not be attached to the neck of the vase – they are going from the shoulder of the vase to the rim. They won’t have a 90 degree bend either, as I’ve opted for a more subtle curved design.

As part of the plan to modernise the Vase and date it to 2014, the 2 faces under the handles provide an opportunity to engrave a ‘likeness’ of some individuals – we’re not talking portraits here, more of a resemblance to someone from popular culture. The original figures have long hair and beards (that are fashionable now) and are staring at the viewer. Anyone who knows me would be aware I’m a road racing fan, you know, the Isle of Mann TT etc. etc. so the first guy was an easy choice.........Guy Martin. He is a professional road racer, has long hair and ‘sideburns’; he has several TV series behind him (one called ‘How Britain Worked’ that focused on traditional hand crafts) that gives him a public profile so he fits the criteria. Remember, this ‘likeness’ is the result of about 2 or 3 hours work, is not a proper portrait and needs a little more ‘tweaking’ to finish. You’ll have to wait to find out who the other guy is! 

Looking at the other side now, there are 3 more figures and a lot of background items to do. The theory is that they were Achilles, Helen and Aphrodite, who had all passed into the afterlife and so appear on stone islands. On this vase they’ll appear to be ‘hanging-out’, just doing the stuff young adults do. We’ll work them exactly the same as the first side - draw the figures onto the glass, mark out the outlines with a diamond point and then stone out basic depths. Once you’ve done that it’s back to the copper wheels to get the detail, adding some modern clothing, hairstyles and technology in keeping with the updating.  

I got sidetracked with some other projects in the last few weeks and had hoped to have this piece finished today to coincide with the beginning my 30^th year engraving; the revised date is Thursday next in order to make the exhibition deadline so, no pressure!

The Portland Engraving Project - Interm update 11.5

Interm Update

In the last update I said I wasn’t entirely happy with the figures, in particular the girl. I’d also mentioned previously that you need to hide your wheel tracks and even prior to that we spoke about various techniques. I have some work to do to get this vase back on track but before I get to that I want to outline a discussion about an engraving style/technique I had recently with a colleague.

Eamonn Hartley and I used to work for Waterford Crystal and have been friends for years. Back in the late 80’s the Anhauser Bush brewing company had ordered hundreds of items with their logo. Mr. Havel was asked to make a crystal replica of their ‘A’ logo with intertwined eagle as the main piece - this is long before glass glues had been developed and so the pieces had to ‘fit’ together. The logos were sandblasted first to give a workable template. We, the engravers then spent about 20 minutes working on the eagles to give them some depth. In a few cuts you would do its head and body and a few more would ’give you wings’ as they say! One rounded wheel was used to do the head, body and leading edge of the wing; the next (flat) wheel gave you a row of feathers, a smaller flat wheel was then used to do the beak and finally a ball for the eye. The point here was we developed a format to engrave the eagles in ‘one-touch-engraving’, utilising the wheel profile to carve the image. The finished bird was perfectly acceptable as an engraving but underlined the idea of letting the wheel do the work.

On this Portland vase I’m guilty of overworking some aspects of the figures. The girl’s head is not great – she’s more ‘butch’ than ‘beauty’. The bridge of her nose is too strong, the nose itself is too long, the ball on the end is too big, her eye is too far back and her cheek bone is too shallow. Against that we’re now too deep to apply the ‘one-touch’ idea. It’s a bit like doing an oil painting and there are now too many layers of paint to maintain any subtly. I’ve also left some spindle marks where I touched the surface in front of her nose. So, what to do?

Let’s go back to basics and work on the shallow depths first – that means sorting out the nose. I’d like it to be shorter and have a slight curve out toward the end which means bringing the eyebrow lower and deeper. We can disguise a large forehead with a little with a fringe, a few stray hairs (done with the diamond point). With that sorted, let’s focus on the eye. With a deeper eyebrow and by deepening the cheek we’re giving ourselves a higher plateau to rework the eye. Shade off the existing one, redraw a newer one rectifying the issue and engrave it.

There’s a re-occurring theme here – fixing a problem area is done by working the areas around the problem. To shorten a nose you enlarge the forehead; to repair an eye you need to deepen the cheek and eyebrow. It’s a function of intaglio/deeper is nearer style of engraving. The thing is you will eventually loose the finesse of the engraving by going so deep. Your edges will be harsh and the image will distort if not viewed from the centre point. It’s not a disaster, just a lesson.

I don’t really want to make her head any bigger so I need to get this plastic surgery and botox right.  I’m using a fine powder that cuts slower and also gives a smoother finish, perfect for doing a lady’s face. It cuts a finer line so any error will be noticeable; think back to our pencil sketches – a 7B gave a rough line, the 2B was the definitive line.

Now we’re getting back on track……………….

The Portland Engraving Project - Update 11

The Portland Engraving Project - Update 11

OK, I’m a little behind on this project – I got sidetracked with other things this week. Anyway by now you should have a feel for what I’m doing with this piece. Our first two figures are (almost) complete; he’s got some clothes, a haircut, headphones and tattoos while she has also got dressed and styled with jewellery and a pair of shades; their ‘Hi-5’ replaces the awkward arm embrace. I wouldn’t say I was entirely happy with them just yet, there are still some improvements/repairs to be made.  

The next change concerned the serpent. If you go back to the theorists who’ve studied the original, they suggest it was included to represent temptation; no place for a serpent in 2014, so we’ve skinned it and made a snakeskin handbag, considered by some nowadays as an extravagance……….you’re laughing, that’s good!

 

The next issue is the Eros/Cupid figure who is holding a bow (a symbol of love) and a torch to guide the way. It featured on the original to help convey the story of Peleus entering the world of the gods to marry Thetis but I’m not sure how exactly to deal with it now - I’m open to suggestions. I’m thinking he should be included but polished almost clear to make him almost invisible and ghost-like. I could engrave him using the stipple technique making him more of a shadow rather than solid figure. Third option is to omit him altogether as the 3 figures are already posed is such a way to tell this ‘love-triangle’ story.

 

The third figure on this side is considered to be Poseidon, who was to marry Thetis (the girl). He too has been updated and now wears a suit and stands with one hand in his pocket, the other will be holding a mobile phone.

A note on technique

It’s important to finish the figures so there are no wheel marks left; the viewer should be left wondering how the piece was done. You need to work the piece to eliminate as much evidence as possible by smoothening out every cut. The wheel speed is critical, too fast and you’ll carve deeper, too slow and it won’t grind. I’m using a 280 powder, a good all round grit size but switch to a 320 on some parts. It cuts slower but the softer finish works well on details like fingers – be warned though, you have to be incredible accurate.

 

The next update will be next Friday when I’d hope to have made up some ground and have a lot of work done on the other side. Expect the same ‘updating’ with them – clothes, haircuts, technology and styling. The following week we’ll deal with the handles, the 2 heads and the base.

Today’s Tip - Mix the oil and power carefully – too wet and you’ll slip; too dry and it won’t cut.

The Portland Engraving Project - Day 10

The Portland Engraving Project - Day 10

One down, five to go….

Here’s our first figure finished. All the copper wheel work is done but he needs to be polished and some final detailing added. I won’t polish him until the other figures on this side are completed. The final detailing is to add his tattoos and a logo onto his t-shirt, stuff like that.

Light & shade – black & white

The polishing of your work is as important as the work itself. If you polish, or highlight the wrong area of your work, it can take from the piece. Use polishing wheels that are the same size as the copper wheels, going over the same cuts/depths. Using only large wheels will shine up the ridges rather than the depths. Remember, we’re playing with light here - excessive polishing of a single area will make it appear ‘dark’ or black in the context of the engraving palette.

 What now…

Over the coming days I’ll be working the other figures on this side to bring them to the same point - engraved but yet to be polished and detailed. We’ve covered pretty much all the issues you will encounter, drawing the figures, stoning them out, engraving the background and figures and any repairs. We’ve met engravers with different styles and had daily tips. The stuff we didn’t cover (yet) is how to make copper wheels or look at other engraving techniques – drill and stipple. The next update will be a week from today when I’d hope to have this side fully completed. A further update will cover the other figures and the addition of the handles. The last post will show the finished piece just prior to shipping to Morley College.

Today’s Tip - photograph, catalogue and note every piece you do – you’ll appreciate the information in the future.              

Meet the Engravers

If you’ve developed an interest in engraving and want to learn more, check out The Guild of Glass Engravers for info. There are courses in the UK (Morley College and North Lands Creative Glass); The Jiri Harcuba School are running a course in the coming weeks with Pavlina Cambalova; locally Eamonn Hartley is running a course in Waterford College of Further Education. There are lots of other weekend courses organised by professional engravers, you just have to search them out. I might even organise one myself!

The Portland Engraving Project - Day 9

Day 9

Heading for home

Our guy is taking shape so we’ll do a little work on his head. This isn’t a portrait so ‘a face’ will suffice – big chin, small chin, frown or smile it’s up to you. Initial depths are forehead, cheek bone and chin. The smaller features will require some accuracy but try cut them in one go – a narrow wheel for the front of the nose fading back into the cheek bone depth; a really small rounded wheel to cut the lower lip, slightly wider flat to cut the upper one over it. Do the same with the eye, soft line for lower lid, heavier for upper leaving a raised ‘V’ which will become an eyeball. Use a ball shaped wheel to do the nostril and eye, job done.

Oops – what now?

That’s the ideal but usually something goes a little awry, in this case I’m too deep on the cheek and not enough on the upper lip; the eye isn’t great either and top of his skull is too high. What happens next is hard to catch photographically or put on paper – you just work at it until you get the depths correct and the features both located and finished correctly. Luckily there are some easy fixes here. Adding his hair resolves the skull issue; I considered a hat or a pair of shades. I’ll re-do his upper lip and eye as there’s glass to work with. Worst case scenario is having to deepen the pillar ‘behind’ him effectively erasing the finer features of this face and start again.  

Another common error is that you’ve slipped and left a mark outside the outline. The options are;

Polish out the slip using rough then fine polish depending on the severity of the slip. If you use the largest wheel possible and polish a larger area, if will not be noticeable. Small wheels will leave an ‘inclusion’ or distortion on the surface. Always polish into your work.

Re-engrave it with a wider wheel. It depends on the job but is it possible to ‘go big’ and incorporate the error into the image with either a slightly bigger wheel or by going deeper? If you’re confident enough to try again, go for it but ask yourself why you slipped in the first place?

Hide it - assess the damage and consider if adding to the engraving is a viable option. If it’s a deep chip, you may have no choice but to add something (appropriate) to the original image – be creative.

And Finally………

With his head sorted out, take a long hard look at the overall figure – are you happy with it? Are all the depths correct, the folds in the cloths, the feet & hands? If so, good job, if not, now’s the time to rectify them.

Today’s tip; Keep your powder and polish clean – contamination of either will lead to chips and/or scratches.

Meet the Engraver – the Apprentice

This guy has some skill and technical ability and is eager to learn. He needs to develop the patients, knowledge and vision to get to the next level. Right now he works to achieve a basic standard; he makes lots of little errors but learns from them. He’s not afraid to ask. His circle takes several cuts, doing a few degrees at a time; it has some corners, is more oval than round and has visible joints…… but it’s done and better than the last one.

Lesson – Stick with it, you’ll get there - it just takes time and experience

The Portland Engraving Project - Day 8

Day 8

What!

We’ve stoned out our figures, we’ve added some background detail and examined several techniques and styles so it’s time get working on our figures. Working to the principle that the deepest is the nearest our first guy is the perfect starting point.

Our friend here is now wearing a T-shirt, pants & soft shoes and has ear-phones around his neck and been to the barbers, which will outrage purists but I did say it would be modernised! Draw the clothes on the glass. You’ll notice that your pen/pencil has to follow the contours of the depths; your wheels will have to do the same. You can start anywhere but it’s advisable to go with the larger wheels first and work down to the smaller ones - work the whole figure rather than focus on one area.

 

Let’s iron this out….

Take a crease in the t-shirt and examine it; folds and creases in clothes usually run from an extremity (an elbow or knee for example) and fade out gently. You should carve them the same way, starting with a strong definite line and then smoothen out the end as the tension in the cloth eases. It’s important to draw and get the line of them correct as they help re-enforce the figure’s posture.

 

The sleeves present a new challenge – they are wider than the arm. Use your copper wheel to cut the end of the sleeve and smoothen out the muscle it covers. Again the depth will add to the image but the lines you cut for the end of the sleeve and then the folds and creases in it will ‘dress’ the guy. Engraving the clothes means that a lot of the muscle definition will be covered or softened but the depth in the figure remains. In some cases it is necessary to remove a ridge altogether; a good example being a skirt where the legs underneath will be obscured but you have to stone out the depths of the anatomy first to make it look right. Similarly, take care when doing things like the neckline on a t-shirt as it may traverse several contours and depths so accuracy is vital. 

I’ve referenced accuracy in draughtsmanship a lot with clothes, this next part being critical. If you have to engrave a sleeve that’s foreshortened and the internal part is visible you need to use very small wheels to carve the arcs at the top and bottom. They will underpin the illusion that it’s a hollow, tube like form that surrounds the arm. Do the arm first, then cut the sleeve deeper with the internal area last - it only needs subtle shading. 

Today’s tip - The abrasive will eat into the glass and your wheels – file them often to restore profile

Meet the engraver 6 Mr.Techno

Mr. Techno is a master of the engraving craft and doesn’t really feel challenged by this work anymore - he’s looking at the future for a faster way. He wonders how he could marry his is love of computers and new technology to his engraving knowledge. He’d do a circle using computer generated artwork, a mask and sandblaster as it’s faster and can be replicated thousands of times – it makes him popular with accountants and marketing guys.

Lesson – Technology is great but you should respect the integrity of the craft.