PDA

View Full Version : Concept piece



Luke Phillips
03-08-2011, 6:33 AM
A coin dealer asked me to do a piece to display some coins salvaged from a shipwreck. The ship sank in 1735 and was discovered in the 1990's off Holland. This is the concept piece - I hand colored the highlights in the engraving and filled the text with a gold paint...the photo is not the best as it was hard to focus.

Belinda Barfield
03-08-2011, 6:59 AM
Luke, I like this piece. I like the overall design. I don't really like the contrast between the gold lettering and the silver of the coin - but that may be just me. Overall, very nice!

Mike Null
03-08-2011, 7:36 AM
Luke

Very creative work. The color fill is really neat. I'm with Belinda on the gold fill. I might have used black fill or a plate but it's an interesting concept.

Thanks for posting it.

Dee Gallo
03-08-2011, 8:15 AM
I'm not sure... I think the gold kind of hides, like a secret arrow pointing from the ship to the coin. If it were in black or a higher contrast color, I think I would dislike it touching the coin. But I love the drawing and color fill on the ship and the coin standing off the wood as the focus of the piece.

cheers, dee

Robert Walters
03-08-2011, 9:54 AM
Hi Luke,

I like the wood color/grain, but I think to highlight the coin it needs to be less red and more brown and a tighter grain if the brown wood (stain) doesn't tone down the grain a bit.

I might go landscape and use a brass tag with black fill for the text to compliment with a nautical theme.

[SHIP] [COIN]
[Brass tag w/ text]

Maybe even engrave a thin (rope?) border around the outside edge of the plaque or some simple scroll work.

You could artificially age the wood to give it a driftwood appearance,
but I think a browner wood might compliment the coin better.

Martin Boekers
03-08-2011, 10:15 AM
Actually I like the gold fill.

Maybe the only thing I might do is "beat up" the board with a chain
for effect, but I think it stands on it's own.

Terry Swift
03-08-2011, 10:16 AM
I like the design.

Where did you get the ship drawing from? May be very useful for all those Navy / Nautical types out there.

Dee Gallo
03-08-2011, 10:19 AM
I disagree, Robert - I like the wood. I find the lively grain and rich tones enhance the contrast between the silver coin and browns in the wood. I also like the more simple layout. Even though I am usually a big fan of borders, this is one instance where I prefer the lack of border. It's less formal, yet modernly elegant somehow, which in my mind emphasize the age of the coin.

If I were going to do a border of any kind, it would probably be another layer underneath.

two cents of dee

Robert Walters
03-08-2011, 10:29 AM
I disagree, Robert - I like the wood. I find the lively grain and rich tones enhance the contrast between the silver coin and browns in the wood. I also like the more simple layout. Even though I am usually a big fan of borders, this is one instance where I prefer the lack of border. It's less formal, yet modernly elegant somehow, which in my mind emphasize the age of the coin.

Hey Dee,

My eyes went straight to the wood grain at first glance. It's a very nice wood, just not for this IMO.
It's the reds in it that I think throw it off a bit.

As far as the border goes, eh, just something to offset any excess whitespace.
Might make it too busy like you mentioned.

Doug Griffith
03-08-2011, 10:32 AM
I would mount the coin using a stand-off. Probably a 1/8" thick wood disk that is 1/4" smaller in diameter than the coin. Then I'd blacken the edges. I'd also move it up so it sits between the date and the symbol.

Mike Null
03-08-2011, 11:16 AM
I have never been a fan of artistic engraving on wood but the color fill used on the boat has changed my thinking in this instance. His effect here is really novel and striking.

Joseph Belangia
03-08-2011, 11:58 AM
I hear ya, Luke! Nice piece.

I would agree with some of the other posters here that some utilization of that negative space would be really helpful in "showing off" a little bit while keeping the design tight.

If I may offer a few suggestions:

Go bigger with the font. Show it off. The "Vliegenthart" needs to have a stronger visibility.

You are connecting the viewer's eye in the following order: Ship, Name, Coin.

The ship is perfect. The coin I can see. The name....lost at sea, my friend.

I don't think that a section of rope sitting vertically on each side w/gold-fill would be an awful idea. Keep it nautical, keep it formal.

The coin between the monogram and the ship name is a good suggestion as well.

Keep at it! i love it!

Luke Phillips
03-08-2011, 12:07 PM
Wow ! - my sincere thanks to all for your kind and constructive comments, they are definately worth taking into consideration. I do agree about the size of the text - it needs to be larger. This was done on a 5x7 piece of basswood which did not stain well. There will be other pieces in this set that span maritime history from the 15th to 20th Century, some of the images are line art, some will be from old steel plate engravings - I'm looking forward to doing these. It's pretty cool to handle coins that have been at the bottom of the ocean for over 250 years!

Robert Walters
03-08-2011, 2:46 PM
Eh, maybe it's my monitor. But does this look "richer" overall?
I just messed with the saturation a bit.

http://i52.tinypic.com/2ypjj3l.jpg

Bill Cunningham
03-08-2011, 10:27 PM
I have a customer that makes presentation grade wood planes, and I just did a engraving on a piece of wood he brought in that I have never seen before. It was really amazing, and would make incredible plaques. The wood is called 'Roasted Maple' apparently they leave it in the kiln until the sugar in the maple caramelizes. The result is a wood that is a dark maple (that's unusual in itself) with amazing grain definition, it polishes way up to a sheen (without the Charley:D), and engraves very dark for great contrast. The wood colour is similar to the concept piece Luke is working on..I googled it and apparently it's a little more common than I thought, and used for guitar necks etc.. This type of wood would look great on a nautical type plaque..