Author: Andrew Perkins

Contemporary Scrimshaw by Eva Halat

Posted on by Andrew Perkins
Book cover of Eva Halat's "Contemporary Scrimshaw"

I’d forgotten about this book, which is chock full of beautiful photos of scrimshaw by contemporary artists from the US, Europe, Africa and Russia. Very good instruction for those interested in learning more about the art. For an immediate visual treat, you should see Eva’s site at http://www.evahalat-scrimshaw.com/. It’s in German, but Google does a very good job of translating. You’ll find Eva’s scrimshaws on ivory as well as bone, on display pieces, knives, pool cues and an interesting one created on a hawk skull. Eva’s style is almost photographic with an incredible attention to detail. Eva’s book “Contemporary Scrimshaw” is available via Amazon.com.

The Leap – Scrimshaw by Rod Lacey

Posted on by Andrew Perkins
The Leap – by Rod Lacey

Rod Lacey is a scrimshaw artist from Australia who enjoys a challenge. When I first saw the piece I thought he’d branched out to buffalo horn until I glanced at the tip, then I was even more intrigued. Stippling a piece this large would have taken months by hand, and scribing almost as long. He was kind enough to break down his steps as you’ll see below, along with his description of his work.

Rod chose a dramatic picture of a tiger leaping in the water. The subject and the movement would be a challenge just on a flat piece of paper, let alone a curved surface. “This picture shows the next scrimshaw I will attempt; the ivory is quite stained with a brown color because of being buried in the ground for thousands of years, this discoloration will mainly affect the white areas as the white paint doesn’t cover easily.”

“The Mammoth Ivory weighs 805grams (1 pound and 12.396 ounces) and measures 26cm x 14cm (10.24″ x 5.5″) wide around the curve at the base. The black background will take many many hours of stippling, that’s scrimshaw, you don’t do scrimshaw if you’re in a hurry. Stage 1- 27/3/2020
This picture shows the raw ivory; let’s see what it will become.”

(“The Whaleman’s Way” is an age-old technique of getting the map of the image you want onto the ivory. Stippling through the paper into the ivory below, you can then fill in the stipples with ink and see the outline of the image.)
“Stage 2- 27/3/2020
This picture shows the ivory with the tiger picture attached ready to cut the outline”

Image on paper, attached to the ivory.

(I was curious as to the technique Rod used to fill in the black. Using a scribe, Rod first stippled lines top to bottom, then he went side to side, extremely closely. A bit over one month of precise stippling, at about 30 hours). “Stage 3- 5/4/2020 This picture shows the black areas filled in, next I will do the water, dang this will take some time, the solid black took enough time, but it will seem like a breeze compared to the water.”

Stage 4- 29/4/2020
This picture shows the water finished, this was very time expensive, but that’s scrimshaw. Next is the Tiger; this should be the easiest section.

The Leap by Rod Lacey

Stage 5- 5/5/2020 Finished at last, contamination of the colours was a real issue with this one. (Contamination can be extremely frustrating, Each color is added individually, and whether you use ink or oil paint, it easily wicks into adjacent areas despite another color already in the scribed areas. One solution can be to mask the areas, though when you’re working in such small areas it could drive you mad. Another way is to coat the piece each time with archival ink, but this can work against you making the areas you scribe next reject the ink since the wax can seep into the ivory. This may make you need to incise deeper, causing the lines to appear rougher. One possible solution would be to use bees wax instead of archival wax which has solvents in it, then a hand polishing with a soft cloth to leave the bees wax in the incisions, but not allow it to seep into the ivory. I haven’t tried this yet, but I may soon do an a/b test to verify my hypothesis).

To see more of Rod’s work, head over to https://scrimshawaddiction.com for a great education and some stunning work, both in scrimshaw and woodworking.

The Prowler

Posted on by Andrew Perkins

Rod Lacey continues to amaze me. He sent me the timeline and pictures of his latest work, which I’m grateful to share here. I appreciate the fact that he documents not only the piece in progress, but the time it takes between the shots as well. (I’ve added imperial measurements and my comments in parentheses and italics.) His site is aptly named “ScrimshawAddiction.com“:

Well, guess what’s next, yes, another Tiger; a Tiger is prowling the night, the tiger is coming out of the dark, this one has got it all, orange, green and black.
The piece of ivory I have chosen is a beautiful chunk of Fossil Walrus tusk; it weighs 530 grams (1.168pounds) and is 16.5 cm long x 7.5 cm deep (6.5″x3″).

Step 1- 5/5/2020
This picture shows the piece of Fossil Walrus ivory I have chosen, it’s a tad brownish but will be OK.

Step 2- 5/5/2020
This picture shows the piece of Fossil Walrus ivory with the picture attached ready to have the outline cut out; I will do this with a scalpel and the stippling machine. (see the earlier posts regarding his stippling machine. I attempted to make one several years back using a tattooing machine, but the results were less than marginal).

Step 3- 8/5/2020
This picture shows the ivory with the outline cut out and filled with black oil paint. Next, I will fill in the black areas.

Step 4- 16/5/2020
The black background is complete; I will now do the background detail, mostly browns, and a little green.

Step 5- 21/5/20
The background is complete, wow what a job, but it looks quite nice.
Next, I’ll do the foreground.

Step 6- 24/5/20
I have finished the foreground; I am looking forward to starting on the Tiger.
I love working on this Fossil walrus; it cuts so well. (I like the detail of the leaf litter and the tree trunk with the green leaves in the foreground – it adds a nice depth)

Step 7- 25/5/20
The stripes on the tiger are now complete; next, the brown, this part is simply filling in the color with a little shading and, of course, the eyes and nose.
It’s about now; I start to think about the base. Hmm…

Step 8- 27/5/20
Three weeks later, finished, now the base.

Step 9- 30/5/20
I will make the base out of Curly Jarrah; it is a very hard timber that carves excellently, this took two days to complete, I bought it from Djarilmari Timber Products, WA, many years ago, a truly outstanding piece of wood.
This shows the shaping of the base.

The next picture shows the finished base with a Mammoth ivory nameplate set with diamonds in yellow gold.

(Rod sent a couple more pics, this one is a close-up of the tiger under a bright light, which shows depth of the stippling, especially behind the shoulder.)

(An extremly nice touch shown here is the gold and diamond setting.)

Another Amazing Wood Artist – Paul Baker

Posted on by Andrew Perkins

Paul reached out to me with part of an interesting project he’s in the middle of: making cameras. These are late 18th century cameras, replica Victorian cameras as if from aproximately 1893. After sending me some pictures of his work and his want of some intricate scrimshaw, we conversed via email and worked out what he was envisioning. Thankfully, the graphic artist knew the fonts she had used for the cards he had printed – also using similar techniques for that period, and I was able to reproduce them on a piece of galalith. Being in California, any type of ivory is out of the question, but galalith was also from that period and being used for everything from an ivory alternative for hairbrushes and other sundry items to musical instruments, steering wheels and decorations for some of the first Ford cars. He was gracious enough to allow me some freedom on the design, the result is in the pictures below. This is part of a larger art installation he is working on, which I will elaborate on if he allows. It’s a fascinating idea that he is pouring his creative talents into with wonderful results. I’d have to say he is an excellent craftsman as well, and I look forward to seeing his final results. (continued…)

Nameplate and base of a camera under a belljar. Woodwork by Paul Baker, Scrimshaw by Andrew Perkins
Base of a camera under glass – a specimin from the life of Beauchamp A. Pettibone, Esq.
A camera similar to the one Paul Baker is creating (photo courtesy icollector.com)
A camera similar to one of several Paul Baker is recreating (photo courtesy icollector.com)
Paul Baker's version of Beauchamp's camera, materials used include ribbon mahogany veneer, shagreen (sting ray skin leather), vintage drafting equipment. (all period correct to 19th C, especially the shagreen; was used to cover telescopes on clipper ships).
Paul’s camera, including ribbon mahogany veneer, shagreen (stingray leather), and some clever use of drafting equipment for pinpoint focusing, all period correct to the 19th century) Shagreen was used to cover telescopes on clipper ships.
Closeup of the shagreen and the focusing mechanism that "Beauchamp created".
Closeup of the shagreen and Beauchamp’s focusing mechanism.

Intrigued? It’s a fascinating project and history lesson, story and adventure all in one! Find out more by visiting his site at http://www.c-clampstudios.com/

New Commission for a Clavichord

Posted on by Andrew Perkins

Clavichord with scrimshaw nameplate It was a pleasure to create the nameplate for this clavichord. A clavichord was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The maker created this for his son, who is a classically trained musician. I’m hoping to get an MP3 sample of it soon and will attach it here.