Could someone tell if there is a book or books of noncopyright patterns that one can use for practice. would prefer ones like that would be used on guns.
I'very new to this and was thinking that it would help me in learning how to draw my patterns better. I have Ron Smiths 1st book
Thanks
Bob Bullard

Bob Bullard
11/29/2006 9:54:46 AM

Hi Bob, and welcome.
You might want to look at the many Dover pattern books.
Most of these books are inexpensive and copyright free.
They are available from a lot of the engraving tool suppliers, the chain book stores most and art suppliers.
Best of luck. Hope this helps.
John.

John Barraclough
11/29/2006 6:59:05 PM

Bob.
You say you are very new to this.
You might want to order a few castings of actual engravings from the FEGA website.
They are one of the greatest and most helpful tools when you are starting out.
Just another thought.
John.

John Barraclough
11/29/2006 7:07:35 PM

John
Thank you for the help, I have had a lifetime fasination with engraving and since I have retired I now have the time to try it and I find it fasnating.
I tried it about 25 yrs ago but didn't have the time to really give it a good effort
Bob

Bob Bullard
11/29/2006 11:41:04 PM

Hello Bob, welcome. Don't know where you are located but if you can make the Reno show in January it will be a real eye openner and big boost to your efforts, not to mention your enthusiasm. Regards!

Sam Welch
11/30/2006 7:36:12 AM

Sam
I'm in El Paso, Texas I was planning to go to Reno but things things did not work out that way for me this year but there is always the next time.
Bob

Bob Bullard
11/30/2006 12:57:41 PM

Hello Bob... I sure relate to getting into engraving after you retire. Although I have been engraving for 20 years, it sure is wonderful to be able to sit for days and engrave without worrying about going to work.

As long as you are just practicing and not selling any of your work, you can copy anything you like. In fact, you can't do better than to try and copy Ron Smith's work... I sure have tried to!

The only time you could run into legal liability is if you try to profit from copying someone else's work. But even if you did try and copy some one else, even Ron Smith, and sell it, it will be many years after Ron is gone before someone would recognize you were as good as him and copying him.

There is not one of us who hasn't "copied" someone else! For years I have been trying to copy the work of Bob Evens, and Ralph Bone.... don't hold your breath for some one taking me to court for replicating the work of Evens or Bone.

Best wishes for a great retirement!
Stu Millar

Stu Millar
12/3/2006 10:09:37 PM

Hi Bob

If I could make a suggestion………….Get Ron’s latest book on advanced scroll design. It’s worth its weight in gold. Like his first book he shows you how to draw scrolls, leaves etc. but in more detail. For every hour you spend learning to cut, spend another hour learning to draw with pencil and paper.

Like the cutting, the drawing takes a bit of getting used to, but with a bit of perseverance you’ll be quite surprised at what you can achieve.

I tried photocopying and cutting Meek’s work from his book. I gave up on that very quickly because I didn’t know what he was trying to achieve. He knew because he drew it, but I was merely copying it. The difference between those two things is huge.

The advantage of drawing your own designs (even bad ones to begin with) is that you have a picture of it in your minds eye. By drawing it yourself you get to see the scroll, the way it’s formed and the leaves that grow from it. From there you get to understand a lot better what you’re actually cutting. As you make improvements in your drawings so you’ll make improvements in your cutting and visa-versa.

A danger that you face using pre-made patterns is that you’ll always be held back in what you can engrave because the pre-made patterns will never fit the spaces you need them to. That will ultimately lead you to frustration.

By all means study other engravers work but don’t try to deliberately copy or emulate it, simply because it is somebody else’s work, not yours. They have developed their different styles because of the influences that they have had in their lives and through a process of years of artistic evolution have come to the point they are at now. There’s nothing wrong with be influenced or inspired by other engravers work but the best time to start developing your own style is now….with a pencil and paper.

Cheers
Andrew


Andrew Biggs
12/4/2006 2:01:52 AM

Andrew
I don't want to use someone elses pattern on a gun or something of value but on pratice plates or for practice.
My thought was it would help me to learn how to draw my scrolls a bit better and would gain a better understanding of them.
I even had trouble drawing stick men when I was in kindergarden and so I turned to the camera but now I want try to learn to draw a decent scrool and cut it, and with all the encouragement that has been comming my way from the FEGA bunch I can see it happening
Thanks
Bob




Bob Bullard
12/9/2006 2:55:40 PM

Hello again Bob...
I noted your comment about not even being able to drawn stick men.

In conjuction with Andrew's advice, John Barraclough recommended to all of us another book worth its weight in gold... "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." This book is the world class best seller on "drawing for dummies".

I was brought up in a home with artists and have been drawing all my life. But this book opened up a whole new dimension of awareness of what I was looking at, and trying to replicate or reproduce.

If you have ever looked at something and thought you could draw it... only to discover you simply are unable to begin to duplicate it, this book unlocks the key to perception and reproducing what you see.

If you only read the first half of the book it will have paid for itself many times over. To paraphrase Ron Smith, 'I wish I had known this 30 years ago'!

Stu Millar



Stu Millar
12/9/2006 6:41:51 PM

Stu
Thanks I'm headed to Barnes And Noble right now to see if they have that book sounds like it might be a big help.
Bob

Bob Bullard
12/10/2006 2:15:42 PM

There are a bunch of them (those books) for sale on ebay and also amazon.com.

K. David Gruber
12/10/2006 6:15:24 PM