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Arabian Horse Head Intarsia


Greg Slagle

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1 hour ago, lawson56 said:

Fantastic job!!!!:thumbs::thumbs: You have seem to have found you favorite thing to do,or one that your quite good and getting better at,:thumbs::thumbs:

Thank you very much... I was so close to giving up on intarsia forever but, with the encouragement of several Village members, I managed to buckle down and do what I had to do to get the job done... It is definitely growing on me...  I like not having to drill so many holes... lol   I currently have four more patterns to do (2 by Judy Gale Roberts and 2 by Bruce Worthington) and plenty of hardwood being delivered this week...  I also have a neighbor that builds doors for a living and he is giving me lots of scrap wood such as poplar and mahogany...  It is, without a doubt, much more fun to use natural hardwoods for intarsia than it is to use a softwood and stains...  Honestly, I think I am starting to like it very much... :)

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Another great looking project Greg. You are doing well with it. Now, let me encourage you to do a little more sanding and shaping of the individual pieces and maybe use some shims to add more depth and realism to the projects. Doing so will take yorvprojects to the next level.  Note sanding shims and shims are different. Sanding shims are temporary shims used to sand several pieces together at one time. While a shim is used to permantly raise up a piece or pieces in a project to add some additional depth and dimension to the project.

Some articles/info. That might be helpful include:

https://intarsia.com/blogs/news/using-sanding-shims

https://intarsia.com/collections/dvds/products/ocontouring-intarsiao-dvd 

books by either Kathy Wise or Judy Gale Roberts. 

Also see Brian’s info/tutorial shared here in the Village here:

 

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I think you are doing great.  I think your sanding is fine, in my opinion, and just my opinion and likes, is some people doing intarsia over sand.  I have seen some pieces that to my eyes, look like the animal had been on steroids for many years. 

I'd like to do it but never seem to get to it, same with inlay.  Maybe as I get older I am more comfortable working just in my comfort zone..  Or, maybe getting lazy.  I do know I'd have a hard time spending the money on exotic woods and more sanding gear.

 

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 Meflick is correct with her suggestions. using some depth with intarsia does bring about a more real look to the piece. it does not have to be more then 1/8 to 1/4 inch height increase to do the job. I think you will figure that out when you watch the attached film clip she posted for you. Also Scappile is also correct, in my opinion, as too  much raising of the pieces does make a project to look unrealistic too. I believe on you next project, if you use the suggested raises, you will quickly notice the difference it makes, It is not that much more difficult to do and It is worth your time.  

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4 hours ago, meflick said:

Another great looking project Greg. You are doing well with it. Now, let me encourage you to do a little more sanding and shaping of the individual pieces and maybe use some shims to add more depth and realism to the projects.

I guess it is difficult to tell but some of the pieces in my projects are raised and lowered as suggested by the pattern maker... In this photo some of the horses mane are raised, his left ear (viewer's right) is lowered,.  In my opinion, I should have lowered his nostril a bit even though the pattern did not suggest that... I know I should round the edges more than I do, however...  Perhaps his whole neck could have been lowered a bit as well... I'll get the hang of that as I get more comfortable with the cutting and fitting together of the pieces...  My next project is a Mama and Baby giraffe which has a bit more raising and lowering so perhaps you'll be able to tell more with that one...  Thank you for your comments and tips...  I'll definitely work on them more in the future...

Edited by Greg Slagle
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You are right, sometimes it is hard to tell the depth and dimension from a flat photo. I could tell you had done some sanding and shaping and as I said, it looks good. My main intent was  simply to encourage you to keep looking at ways to increase your depth and dimension of projects so that they look realistic not just a simple cut out of different pieces of wood like a flat puzzle that some people do. You don’t necessarily need to round edges more, sometimes rounding edges doesn’t make it look realistic.

I hope neither you nor Paul @Scrappile thought I was being critical of your work. That was never my intent. I was simple hoping to give you helpful tips and information that would help you as you continue to work to improve your skills in this area. I am far from an expert, having only been doing Intarsia work for a short period myself but have had the opportunity to  take classes with Judy Roberts, one of the preiminent Intarsia artists. She teaches to use sanding shims to sand multiple pieces together to help give them correct shape and dimension and to use raising shims to add some depth when needed. As Dick noted, usually those are not very thick pieces but just enough to add a little more depth like on a nose for example. Brian has been doing beautiful Intarsia work for years now, and had shared his tutorial info. that uses some of the same techniques so I thought it would be helpful to see how he did it to understand what I was suggesting. This is an area that most beginners struggle with, I know I do still. So I was simply hoping to give you that information to help you as you continue to progress. You are doing fine. The key is to do what you are comfortable with as it is your project. You are the one seeing it in person and can decide what you like. We all have different visions, and ideas. Nobody’s is right or wrong or better then someone else’s. That is the beauty of art. Make it your own.Keep working at it, as I said, you are doing fine.

is the Mama and. Baby Giraffe pattern Judy’s pattern? If so, I have done that pattern (well almost - it was her Advanced class pattern last Spring - we didn’t get done in class and I need to finish it. 😱:oops:) it does use a lot of sanding shims and raising shims and lots of sanding for depth and dimension (you take it to class all cut out and spend 3 full days working on the sanding and shaping and you still aren’t done when you leave. 🤨) if thst is it, I will try to share some photos of my work in progress if you want.

Edited by meflick
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38 minutes ago, meflick said:

I hope neither you nor Paul @Scrappile thought I was being critical of your work.

Not at all and even if you were, the criticism would be welcome too...

 

39 minutes ago, meflick said:

is the Mama and. Baby Giraffe pattern Judy’s pattern? If so, I have done that pattern (well almost - it was her Advanced class pattern last Spring - we didn’t get done in class and I need to finish it. 😱:oops:) it does use a lot of sanding shims and raising shims and lots of sanding for depth and dimension (you take it to class all cut out and spend 3 full days working on the sanding and shaping and you still aren’t done when you leave. 🤨) if thst is it, I will try to share some photos of my work in progress if you want.

No, actually it came from Bruce Worthington... Here it is:

Giraffes.JPG

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Ooh - that one is cute too.  I love Bruce's patterns too.  I have several of his to try.   This is the one from JGR that I need to finish (photo is from her website)  As I recall, I am almost done but was still working on the baby's face, in particular the nostrils area.  Maybe I can get it done soon. (Have been working on other things lately.) She did say during the class that this was probably the hardest one she has ever done because it uses a lot of shims and due to the fact that so much of the baby overlaps the mother. Also have Willie Nelson from her Fall class that I need to get out and finish too.  (Yes, I am a procrastinator at times!) 😉😔:oops:

Giraffe-Baby-Intaria-Pattern_grande.jpg

Edited by meflick
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Yeah, that one looks much harder with the baby giraffe looking right at the viewer...  I can see how that would take quite a bit of shimming and sanding...  I'm supposed to start my giraffes today and I hope I can do it justice...  I will attempt to use as much profiling as I can but, of course,  I can't promise anything...

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