My first cutting board

[Ralph Barhorst]

Here is a picture of my first cutting board. It is ok, but not great. I obtained some exotic lumber in order to make this board and I am not happy with the constrast. Many of the boards that I have seen on SMC have looked better.

What kind of light colored wood do you experts use to obtain better constrast?

[Matt Day]

I'm no expert, but I used Ash on my first ones and it contrasted nicely. I like the Curly Maple on yours, more of it would make a better contrast.

[Pete Brown]

Looks nice.

In my own opinion, I don't like to mix red or purple with brown. So I would have stayed away from purpleheart and would have put maple with cherry (always a safe bet) or maple with some of the other darker woods. I think the main thing that throws it in yours is the birch. Replace the birch with maple and you'll get a good deal of contrast. I'd then put a very dark piece (maybe even ebony, but I have never worked with that) down the middle instead of the purple heart.

It's still a good looking cutting board!

Pete

[Mike Goetzke]

Just wondering - did you put any finish on it yet. I made a few of these last year (walnut, maple, & cherry) and the contrasting woods didn't show up well until I applied mineral oil.

[John Michaels]

Nice job on the cutting board. I looks great to me!!

[John Hulett]

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I think it looks good. If nothing else, it was probably a good excercise in execution. Look at it this way; a professional photographer can take thousands of pictures and have only a select few that he or she is happy with. And you are always your own worst critic. I bet you'll be really happy with the next one.

I made 7 cutting boards for Christmas this year. The first four, I made in batch, and on the fifth one, I changed things up a bit and really liked this one 10 times better than the first batch. And it was just a small change in the layout of alternating woods. The last two were made like the fifth. Just remember that sometimes less is more.

- John

[Ralph Barhorst]

Thanks for the advise. It sounds like I need some more maple.

I did put a coat of mineral oil on the cutting board.

[Dan Gill]

I use ash, hard maple, and light-colored pecan.

[Dan Forman]

Here is my .02

The craftsmanship is very good, the problem is in composition, the arrangement of the visual elements. Just as in music and painting, there are basic rules of composition which, if followed, will lead to a more pleasing result. These rules, or guidelines, will apply to just about any esthetic endeavor, including painting, photography, and furniture design.

http://www.goshen.edu/art/ed/Compose.htm

Here is another one based on photograph http://photoinf.com/General/Robert_Berdan/Composition_and_the_Elements_of_Visual_Design.htm

The purpleheart/ maple strip divides the board exactly in half, which is a bit static, and isolates the strong contrast to the center of the board. With three of the maple/purple heart strips, separated by strips of, say the doussie, that were about as wide as the combo of jatoba and sapele combined, you would end up with nice contrasts, and a nice rythmic repetion all across the board. With too many species of wood, and too many widths, it can apear too busy. The eye wants variation, but also some pattern and repetition.

If you study the link, it will make all of this clear, and prove helpful when it comes to designing your own furniture, as well as taking photographs.

It's a good idea to draw something like this, play around with proportions, and find a pattern that is interesting, then take value (light and darkness) and hue (color) into consideration, befopre actually cutting any wood. If you have a drawn pattern that interests the eye, then that will translate well into the real thing.

Dan

[John Schreiber]

What Dan said. I was trying to think of a way to put it, but he put it quiet well. The craftsmanship is fine. Artistic sense comes easier to some than others, but Dan's links are good suggestions for developing it.

I would summarize by saying to go with fewer kinds of wood with greater contrast and play with putting the pieces in different order until you've got something which looks good to you.