my New Years resolution

[heppnerguy]

This year i am working on learning portrait patterns and trying my luck at patterns in general at the same time. This past year I was able to fulfill a couple of my resolutions as i learned to be comfortable with the dreaded spiral blade and pushing my envelope to cut things I was straying from because of lack of confidence. Not everything went as well as I had hoped but progress was definitely made made.  have made three portrait patterns so far. I can see I have a lot yet to learn but I am working on them and I am confident that I will succeed well enough that eventually I will catch on, (at least I hope so ). I also made a fret work pattern of an owl today. Again, I still have a long ways to go, but if one does not try, one will stay stale.  So I will continue to make efforts and we all will see IF I am making progress or if I just don't have the talent for this endeavor. 

 

   I enclosed my efforts of today.  

 

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[Lucky2]

Good for you Dick, stick with it I'm sure you'll master the skill. The owl pattern looks like an owl, so your doing a good job so far. Good luck with this endeavor, I'm sure you'll succeed and become a master pattern maker. Happy New Years to you and your family, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Len

[Scrolling Steve]

You are well on your way, Dick !  

[Fab4]

Hi Dick:

Happy new year, my friend

I'm sure you will master this pattern design thing

Stay with it,

Remember if you get stuck anywhere

there is tons of help here at the Village

Looking forward to seeing more of your work

Take care

Fab4

[Ron Johnson]

You have the right attitude Dick so how can you not succeed. It's like learning how to walk, one step at a time. Pattern of owl looks great. Now take your next step ...

[amazingkevin]

This year i am working on learning portrait patterns and trying my luck at patterns in general at the same time. This past year I was able to fulfill a couple of my resolutions as i learned to be comfortable with the dreaded spiral blade and pushing my envelope to cut things I was straying from because of lack of confidence. Not everything went as well as I had hoped but progress was definitely made made.  have made three portrait patterns so far. I can see I have a lot yet to learn but I am working on them and I am confident that I will succeed well enough that eventually I will catch on, (at least I hope so ). I also made a fret work pattern of an owl today. Again, I still have a long ways to go, but if one does not try, one will stay stale.  So I will continue to make efforts and we all will see IF I am making progress or if I just don't have the talent for this endeavor. 

 

   I enclosed my efforts of today.  

 

 

Dick

heppnerguy

Country girl can always egg you on ,lol,

[wombatie]

Dick you and are alike, we both like to try new scrolling things every year.  You are off to a flying start with your patterns, as for me I am going to try mini bird houses and hopefully boxes with some inlay, but I am not sure sure about the boxes because they have been on my to do list for the last 4 or 5 years.

 

Marg

[Phantom Scroller]

The basic shape is there Dick but sometimes you can over do the holes to cut, think simple designs. I think simple looks best & less is more etc. I know because I've been there, you can over complicate patterns sometimes not that I'm saying it's not a good pattern but you'll look back on this one later and do bigger sections of black. But then what do I know.  Roly

[lawson56]

Dick I Love it.No cut is to long,nor to close,like Roly said sometimes simpler is best,But you did a Fantastic job with this Owl  

[heppnerguy]

The basic shape is there Dick but sometimes you can over do the holes to cut, think simple designs. I think simple looks best & less is more etc. I know because I've been there, you can over complicate patterns sometimes not that I'm saying it's not a good pattern but you'll look back on this one later and do bigger sections of black. But then what do I know.  Roly

 

 Roly,

    I continue to preach to new scrollers" to not start with things that look complicated, but rather start on the 'easy' ones and work into the more complicated ones when you are confident withthe ones you have been doing.. Then jump into something a little more complex and you will be avoiding some disappointments that way"  

  Thanks for reminding me of what I say to others....

 

Dick

heppnerguy.

[heppnerguy]

Dick you and are alike, we both like to try new scrolling things every year.  You are off to a flying start with your patterns, as for me I am going to try mini bird houses and hopefully boxes with some inlay, but I am not sure sure about the boxes because they have been on my to do list for the last 4 or 5 years.

 

Marg

 

 

Marg,

   I know by your posts that you are only holding yourself back, because your skills are already in place. You just need to 'go for it"...Let me suggest that you pick just one thing to accomplish this year and start doing them this month and every month here after....You can do it

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[wombatie]

Marg,

   I know by your posts that you are only holding yourself back, because your skills are already in place. You just need to 'go for it"...Let me suggest that you pick just one thing to accomplish this year and start doing them this month and every month here after....You can do it

 

Dick

heppnerguy

I have already picked THE one I want to do I just need cooler weather and a cleaner work area, oh and some kind of routine with Terry.  He's only been finished work for 2 weeks and already I feel as if I am 6 months out of a routine.  I like routine it's the OCD in me. 

 

Marg 

[WayneMahler]

Dick your off to a great start. Keep in mind Rome was not built in a day and patience is a virtue. Really love what you have shown so far. Keep the faith and diligence. Looking forward to what's next  

[Phantom Scroller]

Still a good pattern Dick there's always tweaks to every skill and I just never stop learning on here. Roly

Edited January 5, 2017 by Phantom Scroller

[SCROLLSAW703]

you're off & runnin', dick! Think about what you want the project to look like in the end. You can always add your own touches & ideas to it. The owl looks great! Portraits are about your ideas & cuts. The pattern is just a starting point. I always tell folks that come to me for help that if you can picture the person in real life while you're cutting the portrait, you can add cuts here & there through out the portrait to make it look more like the person you're cutting. Sometimes it helps to study a good picture of the portrait you're cutting. I've found, especially with older folks & their personality, if you study their likeness that makes them stand out. I'm working on one of my Grandfather. He always wore a cap, & the bill was turned up like they wore them in the '60s. And he wore bib overalls. It's on hold on at the moment, as i just had back surgery, but to get his hat to stand out with his facial features is going to be a job. Good luck to you, my friend. I'm anxious to see some of your work! keep makin' sawdust!!! God bless!

[heppnerguy]

you're off & runnin', dick! Think about what you want the project to look like in the end. You can always add your own touches & ideas to it. The owl looks great! Portraits are about your ideas & cuts. The pattern is just a starting point. I always tell folks that come to me for help that if you can picture the person in real life while you're cutting the portrait, you can add cuts here & there through out the portrait to make it look more like the person you're cutting. Sometimes it helps to study a good picture of the portrait you're cutting. I've found, especially with older folks & their personality, if you study their likeness that makes them stand out. I'm working on one of my Grandfather. He always wore a cap, & the bill was turned up like they wore them in the '60s. And he wore bib overalls. It's on hold on at the moment, as i just had back surgery, but to get his hat to stand out with his facial features is going to be a job. Good luck to you, my friend. I'm anxious to see some of your work! keep makin' sawdust!!! God bless!

 

  Thank you for the really nice encouragement and helpful hints.. I will try to keep this in mind as I continue to work on my understanding of how to make portrait patterns. I love your helpful comments.

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[SCROLLSAW703]

You're very welcome, Sir. I've been scrolling 24 years this year, I'm self taught, as some are. Believe it or not, it was my brides' idea to get into woodworking. I drove over the road 35 years, & at the time she decided I needed to get into this, it was just supposed to be a nerve release when I come in off the road. At the time, I was out 4 - 6 weeks at a time. I run all the lower 48 states, & some of Canada. My Sawbones told me if I didn't quit eatin', sleepin', drinkin', & eatin' trucks, they were going to drop me in a deep hole, & soon. So, my loving bride decided I needed a hobby, which I'd never had time for. We started buying a few odds & ends tools when I was home, I went to the library, checked out books on every tool we bought. I took a few books on the truck with me each trip & read about them. I've been in the trucking business all my life. Never been around wood tools or woodworking. I just kept reading & studying until I felt comfortable enough to start working with some of the tools, & it took off from there. I've been off the road 5 years now due to health reasons. We have a small shop with about all the wood tools I'll ever use, & that's what keeps me from goin' insane. The scrollsaw is my favorite. I make dreamcatchers, & cut my own feathers. You name it on the scroll saw, & I will try it. I just keep sawin'. I use mostly hardwoods, rough cut. And plane it to the thickness I want. 

 

My apologies for the length of words, but it's good to hear a compliment on a suggestion. Like I said before, keep practicin', & I'm anxious to see your work! God bless & keep makin' sawdust!

[heppnerguy]

You're very welcome, Sir. I've been scrolling 24 years this year, I'm self taught, as some are. Believe it or not, it was my brides' idea to get into woodworking. I drove over the road 35 years, & at the time she decided I needed to get into this, it was just supposed to be a nerve release when I come in off the road. At the time, I was out 4 - 6 weeks at a time. I run all the lower 48 states, & some of Canada. My Sawbones told me if I didn't quit eatin', sleepin', drinkin', & eatin' trucks, they were going to drop me in a deep hole, & soon. So, my loving bride decided I needed a hobby, which I'd never had time for. We started buying a few odds & ends tools when I was home, I went to the library, checked out books on every tool we bought. I took a few books on the truck with me each trip & read about them. I've been in the trucking business all my life. Never been around wood tools or woodworking. I just kept reading & studying until I felt comfortable enough to start working with some of the tools, & it took off from there. I've been off the road 5 years now due to health reasons. We have a small shop with about all the wood tools I'll ever use, & that's what keeps me from goin' insane. The scrollsaw is my favorite. I make dreamcatchers, & cut my own feathers. You name it on the scroll saw, & I will try it. I just keep sawin'. I use mostly hardwoods, rough cut. And plane it to the thickness I want. 

 

My apologies for the length of words, but it's good to hear a compliment on a suggestion. Like I said before, keep practicin', & I'm anxious to see your work! God bless & keep makin' sawdust!

Enjoyed reading your post to me. It is interesting story about how you got into scrolling. Here is my story......should you decide to read it........thirty years ago I was in a small Oregon town Celebration where some people had some booths where they were selling different things, now don't get ahead of me here. I came upon a booth filled with intarsia dogs. I was in awe and could not believe anyone could make anything so beautiful out of wood. I never forget them. Twenty some years later I saw something close to them except they were segmentation pieces, in Wisconsin. Shortly after that I tried furniture making and build a large shop. I retired and a year later we moved. I already decided furniture making was too expensive and took up more space then I now had. I now only had a 16 X 16 shop and then I remembered those intarsia dogs again and took up that hobby. After 7 years I started getting a little tired of intarsia but liked the scroll saw a lot. The problem was I thought of scrolling as little block like silhouettes of animals that did not interest me. Then I came across Steve Goods page and saw his heart shaped boxes that looked like they were made of woven material and could not believe that they could be made on a scroll saw. I tried it and found out how easily it was possible to do. From then on I was hooked and never looked back. I am still learning but never stopped loving it. I still do an occasional intarsia piece but scrolling and now trying to teach myself to make patterns keeps me inspired. I started a Facebook page to help make my hobby self supporting and that has worked our very well for me. I am not interested in craft shows because I find I then from doing something I love to making it "work" instead. So as Paul Harvey used to say "Now you know the rest of the story

 

 

Dick

heppnerguy

[hawkeye10]

This year i am working on learning portrait patterns and trying my luck at patterns in general at the same time. This past year I was able to fulfill a couple of my resolutions as i learned to be comfortable with the dreaded spiral blade and pushing my envelope to cut things I was straying from because of lack of confidence. Not everything went as well as I had hoped but progress was definitely made made.  have made three portrait patterns so far. I can see I have a lot yet to learn but I am working on them and I am confident that I will succeed well enough that eventually I will catch on, (at least I hope so ). I also made a fret work pattern of an owl today. Again, I still have a long ways to go, but if one does not try, one will stay stale.  So I will continue to make efforts and we all will see IF I am making progress or if I just don't have the talent for this endeavor. 

 

   I enclosed my efforts of today.  

 

 

Dick

heppnerguy

Dick that owl shows you have talent. Keep going.

[SCROLLSAW703]

Your story sounds close to mine, Dick. Its a matter of finding your interest on the saw, & how far you want to go with it. I guess the main reason I picked up on the scroll saw is because of the end result of the saw work. Our shop has 2 lathes, a table saw, drill press, RAS, jointer, etc. we have spent several years putting our shop together. We have a fb page under Sawdust Haven. I was just released yesterday by my back surgeon to go back to the shop. I'm anxious to get back to it. Hang in there brother, you can do anything ya want to do! God bless!