The Generations Knife

Now I get to show you the completed photos! :-) I hear the recipient is pretty happy. :-)





Remember, if you click on the "Generations knife" tag at the bottom of this post you can see all the pics together!

December 10 work in progress

Nope, it's not done. This will be the last work in progress photo, because next time you see it, it will be done! But its purchaser gets to see it (this weekend) before the blog does, and I will leave it up to him whether or not I post the finished product before Christmas (this is a gift, after all). :-)

December 8 work in progress

I dunno, you think the guy on the right needs a little more definition? ;-)

December 3 work in progress

I realized I've been neglecting to add the penny for size reference (since I've been photographing instead of scanning). So here's a penny photo tonight. I'm feeling rather pleased with how this is turning out. :-) I have not figured out the background yet, regarding what shade of gray it will be. Nor have I decided if the border will end up being solid black. I decided I need to see how the figures look and how the whole composition comes together.

December 2 work in progress

Tee hee, look at those cute lil old fashioned suits! :-)

December 1 work in progress

December, eek! Actually I seem to be right on schedule, but the mere fact that it's December still startles me.

Amazingly, the compressor oil that I ordered late the night before Thanksgiving arrived first thing Monday morning. Wow. I didn't expect it to ship until Monday. So the air compressor is back in business! Yay!

November 25 work in progress

Today I transferred the image to the knife. And breathed a major sigh of relief when I was done with that. I always find that part nerve-wracking, it's the foundation. A foundation of microscopic dots. I do have kind of a weird life, don't I...

See the dots? They're not much to look at before they are inked.

Gotta be inked!

Do you know it can be very angst-producing to post these WIPs on line? It's really different than a finished piece!

Anyway, we're going to have a slight change of plans here in the near future. I realized tonight that my air compressor, which has been getting a heavy duty workout lately, is low on oil. I ordered more, it's some special thing, you can't just go buy it at the hardware store, alas. Anyway I'm guessing that will take at least a week to get here, and I think I'd be better safe than sorry so I'll hold off on using the compressor (and therefore AirGraver) until then. Soooo... I could do all the hand-tool work on the portraits I guess, though I sure wanted to get that border in first. I started it tonight, didn't photograph that though. Or I may put this aside and start on the next project which is not something I can show in progress, though that one needs some pneumatic tool time as well. Hmmmm.

Right, don't procrastinate on buying compressor oil, especially in Christmas crunch time. I'll figure something out.

Remember, you have until Saturday night to enter to win free art! I need to make that only a seven day thing next time, this is taking forever! Saturday night I pick winners!!! Be sure to check back in or else you lose out on it!

Oh yeah, and Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow! I hope you have an enjoyable day, spend it with people you care about, and don't get into any more family drama than is necessary. ;-)

Here's my very first poultry art, in keeping with Thanksgiving blog tradition:

starting a new project

Okay, so tentatively I'll be meeting with the lady who commissioned the drawing and pendant of "Drum" the horse next Monday. Look for them to be posted in their completed full glory shortly thereafter. This is normally something I would do via email, sending a proof, but alas not everyone has email. (gasp!)

Today was one of those "between projects" days which tends to mean I have 94750987 little piddly things to do, run errands, etc. I did go out to lunch with my neighbor though, which is always a treat.

I am ready to start my next project, which is a smallish but incredibly complex image on a knife. People portraits! I hear the collective gasp. Yes, people portraits are challenging, but I'm trying not to get overly hung up on that. Follow the form, like any other subject. I'll refer to this as the Generations Knife, since the image features three generations of men in a family (the youngest of whom is my friend DC... who is married to JC and lives 3.5 hours north for those of you who will know who I'm talking about). It's a Christmas gift, but I have permission to post works in progress, because the recipient (his dad) won't see this.

To my eternal gratitude, the pre-ban elephant ivory scales have been polished glassy smooth, so no fiddly touchup for me to do! YESSS!!! This is a kit knife. DC made it.

As you can see, it's a lot bigger than the zebra knife! Sorry, not great lighting, I didn't think to do this in daylight today.

The back:

Pretty damascus steel blade:

Pretty colors on the metal, ooooh:

I don't want to accidentally mar any of the surfaces, so I've wrapped it in felt and tape except for the area where I'll be working (red felt, so festive!)

Tomorrow I'll transfer the image, which is going to be REALLY difficult! I need to take that super slow.

On another note, I have to share a photo of Olin, my adorable and dorky cat. This blanket on the couch is his new favorite place to be. He got himself all smooshed in there!

Speaking of adorable and smooshy, did I mention that my niece is not only the cutest thing ever, but also brilliant? Check that out, seven months old and already with the New York Times! ;-)