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!