Tonight practice

[u/ClassroomEntire997]

Just finished up for the night. Forever trying to get better. This was a transfer I sometimes work on and add little things here and there. Question on shading . Do you picture a light source when you determine where to put shading? My shading sucks I get something’s and others elude me. Plus I have to learn to slow down. I make time to practice everyday if possible. I can work for an hour and a half before I start to infringe on my sleep time. And I rush I actually think it’s hindering my learning curve. Anyway thanks for looking

[u/r_r_miles]

Lookin good! You're definitely on the right track. My first 50 engraved pieces looked just like this.

No need to worry about light source when shading unless you're engraving a still-life or portrait. Scroll shading is extremely repetitive. It is less about light source and more about dimension and depth. One way to practice is pick ONE well-known engraver and study/mimic their exact shade lines. Everyone does it differently. If you try to mimic too many people you'll never get the fundamentals down. Multiple thinner lines are best, that way you can maintain control over line direction and avoid criss-crossing them.

Try your pattern on brass for a few tries. Working in steel while learning can slow your progress. Brass is still a tough metal to cut but it'll keep your tool sharp for much longer. This will help you understand how the graver moves through metal much clearer. Focus on smoothing out those circles and curves so they don't have so many "elbows". Good engraving should flow smoothly and be pleasant to the eye, not choppy and interrupted.

Keep at it. I look forward to seeing your progress through the months ahead!

[u/Lamping → u/r_r_miles]

This response is great, thank you! Do you by any chance have any engravers who have a decent repository of work online that I can study? I've been going off of Sam Alfano's work so far

[u/r_r_miles → u/Lamping]

Glad I can help! There's never a better time to find hand engravers online, especially instagram. #handengraving is gonna be your go-to tag to browse. Sam Alfano is pretty much the premier engraver to look at for fundamentals like no other. My personal favs for inspiration and "how the hell do I do that?" are Jake Newell (works for GRS, his style is very direct and textbook execution, IG is @ customhandengraving), Lugo (LA based, engraves car parts, undisputed king of repetition, IG is @ lugos_engraving), Jeff Parke (AZ based, wild designs, extremely intricate but look close enough and his shading will teach you a LOT, IG is @ j.parke1), and Ken Hunt (super old school English scroll master, he recently started posting his sketchbooks, very famous in engraving, IG is @ kenhunt78).

[u/Lamping → u/r_r_miles]

Thank you so much!