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Brighten up “Reverse Scrimshaw” With This Technique

Posted on August 15, 2016October 3, 2016 by Andrew Perkins

After doing several “reverse scrimshaws” – scrimshaw on a dark material where the stipples/incisions are filled with a white pigment, I found they looked kind of dull. From experiments a couple of years ago using “Pearl-Ex”, I knew mixing it into the pigment only made a slight difference.

This time, I coated the surface with an acrylic paint (oil paint should work the same), then wiped it off while it was still wet. With a Q-Tip, I lightly brushed some of the Pearl-Ex (micropearl – smallest white particles I was able to find) onto the surface then wiped it off so the particles would adhere to the wet paint in the stipples while the rest would wipe away. It made a big difference no matter what angle you hold the piece now. Available at many local art supply stores and at Amazon.com (Pearl-Ex Micropearl)

Mystery Artist 25 – Ring by “JON”FOUND!

Posted on July 21, 2016October 3, 2016 by Andrew Perkins

The owner of a ring purchased in the Mystic Seaport area between 1974-1978 with the signature of JON is looking for information about the artist:

“I purchased a pendant and ring at/near Mystic Seaport between 1975-1978 directly from the artist. Can you help identify? … his first name is “Jon” and he told me it was elephant tusk material at the time because whale bone was outlawed.”

A nicely made scrimshaw, the signature is quite clear.

Anyone know the artist? Renee would really like to know more information about them and the artwork.

Respond in the comments below if you have any information, and thank you for looking!

Found! – Bill Feeney was a big help, having some of his paintings. “Jon Medeiros” is the artist, as more information comes in, I will update this post.

Mystery Artist # 24 – Mystery Letter Opener

Posted on July 16, 2016October 3, 2016 by Andrew Perkins

The owner of a scrimshaw letter opener that was purchased in South Carolina is looking for the artist and its origin:

“I recently acquired this Scrimshaw letter opener at an auction in Raleigh North Carolina. My knowledge of Scrimshaw is extremely limited, so I’m hoping that some folks can help provide some additional information with regards to this piece.

“Attached are a series of images showing the opener. At this point I’m not even sure if the piece is real or not. Maybe this is a common fake, I just don’t know. If real obviously it was turned into a letter opener at a much later date than the Scrimshaw was done. Maybe it’s my imagination but it looks to me like the piece is potentially signed as seen in the close-up of one of the images. If so I’m not sure of the signature, though I did see online that in 2015 in England a Scrimshaw opener (though the blade was actually carved out of the piece and not a separate attachment) was sold at auction by an artist named Able Webb and dated 1837 (that was the spelling they used). What looks like a potential signature in my particular piece also resembles an “A. Webb” though it truly could be anything, or maybe not even a signature. Also as shown in one of the images there looks to possibly be some additional writing, and if so I’m guessing it’s the name of the ship. It’s a fairly long name, and looks to possibly start with an “S”.

“If anyone can provide additional insight on this piece please do so. Thanks up front for any and all information.

“Best Regards,

“Scott

Two new “reverse scrimshaws”

Posted on June 5, 2016June 5, 2016 by Andrew Perkins

Just posted two new “reverse scrimshaw” pieces on Etsy – a lion and two leopards on water buffalo horn. Reverse scrimshaw can be a daunting task even with modern technology. Was able to keep things in perspective by starting with an image that I inverted the colors on and following the “Whaleman’s Way” – piercing through the paper to create an outline, then filling in carefully, referring to the original picture. The leopards are all stipple-dots, while the lion I experimented with scribed lines to see how it came out. Both types of scrimshaw work, though I’m leaning toward the stipple technique.

It can take a long time to get the levels right – had to go over several areas to brighten or darken the whites by creating smaller dots closer together or larger dots deeper into the horn. Clicking on the pictures will bring them up to full size.

Leopard in the Night – Initial Scrimming

Posted on May 23, 2016May 28, 2016 by Andrew Perkins

Been so busy with gardening (and a gardening book) I haven’t had time to scrimshaw. Kept my eye out for materials, though, finding cow hooves (which I may give to the dog), then I ran across horn tips and decided it was time to do this piece. Have to find a better pigment, but here it is so far:

Thinking the next one should be higher, though the same size. This will allow the whole scrimshaw to be seen at once, and will be somewhat easier to scrim. During the process, I had taken a couple of pictures where in some cases it looked more like a bear than a leopard.