Thoughts on cutting detailed "portraits".....

[GrayBeard]

From Charlie D. - "Some are intimidated by the detail of my patterns"

From Julie F. - "Yes, some patterns have several hundred to even thousand holes.  Oh, well.  The time you invest will come back to you in the beauty of the piece.  I personally love the details in these patterns."

As many of you know I tend to do more 'portraits' than any other projects. I made the jump to spiral blades early on and enjoy the details I am able to bring out in a project. Once I learned the limitations of my earlier saw and acquired the skills I needed to make the project workable I learned that the time and effort required was well spent in doing a project that satisfied ME. I do scrolling as a HOBBY and not as a career or money making endeavor...so I only have to worry about making the piece look good to me. Several times I have reached a point in a project and felt it just wasn't going to work to my satisfaction and just dumped it.

Now getting to the heart of my 'thoughts'...
In another thread Julie F suggested that if the pattern you select looks intimidating, enlarge it until you feel comfortable with it. This is right on and most of the patterns I get are blown up to 130 to 145% so I have to make a trip to the 'copy shop' since I am limited by the size of my printer. We have a networked printer here that will only do up to 8 1/2 X 11 and I am saving my nickels to get a new printer that will do 11 X 17.
Also taking a pattern that is in black & white and converting it to a light color in "Paint.net" makes following the blade much easier! A 2/0 spiral blade against a black background is almost impossible to see no matter how much light you have and is tough even with a magnifier. Hence the enlargement helps greatly.

Details...not every single tiny detail is absolutely essential to make the finished piece look right. I often will run two or even three small details together to get the effect I want. The only place this usually won't work is in the area of "eyes" of either an animal or human, those details are essential. Other times I will just skip over a detail area if I feel it is not necessary to maintain the integrity of the design. It is a judgement call and I suspect that the designer of the pattern would be hard pressed to look at a finished piece and notice that it has been altered slightly.

Mounting the finished piece....most of my portraits are cut, finished sanded and then I will draw a light pencil outline around the outer edge and cut off all the excess. This allows me to mount the piece on a backer of a contrasting or complementary color to really highlight the cutting. The lady at the nearby fabric store thinks I sew since I am in there buying different colors of heavy felt so often.

So, to wrap up this long dissertation, get yourself some spiral blades, a relatively simple portrait pattern and set out with intention to satisfy yourself, take a few deep breaths and RELAX!
No hobby I have ever tried has given me as much pleasure as Scrolling and believe me I have tried many, many other hobbies.

Enjoy!!!

~~~GrayBeard~~~

[BeginnerJerry]

This is good to know. I finally got my Ex-21 a couple of weeks ago and just finished my first two projects.
I am looking forward to trying portraits and just bought the New Spiral blades from Mike. I haven't posted much but I do check in everyday to admire the work that everyone produces. I really like the portraits you produce.
Jerry

[IBMer]

I'm afraid that I include too much detail in my portraits.   Sometimes my cuts are paper thin.   Looking at them funny is all it would take to break them.   I'd sure like to see some of the more complex portraits posted here.  Just to get an idea of how much detail others are including in their finished work...

[EIEIO]

GB - your thoughts are right on. The detail produced in a converted photo can be in large part not needed to get the image on wood. The eyes are the 1st thing we see in a portrait, so detail is critical, followed by the hands (is the glance at the hands a reflex for self-preservation?). And you'r also right - this is a great hobby.

[julief]

Never thought about changing the color of the print.  Good idea.  I usually use rapid resizer or poster razor and piece the pattern together.  I usually start cutting at the most intimidating parts (usually the eyes) in case I have to scrap the project.  It has happened. 
I no longer have to make my living scrolling, I'm in it for fun now.  So taking on an involved project is a little exciting - not intimidating.  I have a couple projects that are so chalanging that I have yet to cut them right.  I try every couple years to do them just to see if I am "there" yet.  The hardest lesson for me is learning how to walk away.  Sometimes tomorrow works better.

[GrayBeard]

I agree Julie...I have one of Charlie's (a western pistol & holster on a table top) that I keep looking at and continue to say..."Not quite ready for this yet!"
But the introduction of the 3/0 New Spiral may change that later this year.
My patience level is increasing as I get older, turned 76 last month.
We should all remember that when Charlie cuts his pieces they are often in the 2' x 3' size range!!!
How he gets such straight lines with spirals continues to be a mystery to me and he ONLY uses spirals.

~~~GB~~~

[daveo]

Hi all
Just a point on colour, Don R told me a method and I use it all the time
thats when you trace the bitmap in inkscape, with the pattern selected you can change to any colour you want, I usually go for a light red/ pink and its great
Dave

[ShadowB6]

WOW GB, you hit it all perfectly. I just can't see me doing a portrait without using spiral blades. And yes JulieF, I agree with you, the eyes are the toughest thing in any portrait to get right. At least they are for me. Never thoough about changing the colour of my pattern as I use a laser printer so I can only experiment with grayscales. But it may be worth a try.

Mike

[crupiea]

I make my patterns bigger using excel.

You can stretch the picture to whatever size you want and then it will print out across multiple pages.  You have to tape it together but it works for me. 

[Fab4]

Hi Graybeard:
"No hobby I have ever tried has given me as much pleasure as Scrolling and believe me I have tried many, many other hobbies."
Taken from your message
Just want to add that scrolling IS a pleasurable and relaxing hobby
But one of the best things about Scrolling is being able to socialize in a group such as the ScrollSaw Workshop Community
The friends you make and the knowledge you gain is remarkable
People helping people who become online friends to family further down the road
Thanks for posting your message GB.
Fab4

[Marcellarius]

Never thought about changing the color of the print.  Good idea. 

A lighter color for the line makes it easier to see what parts are done, I like to make the lines red.

[Marcellarius]

I like the spirals when the project exceeds the limits of the saw, but....
I'm used to lean a little into the blade when making curves and therefor I have to be really careful using spirals. I find them much harder to use.

[GrayBeard]

I had that tendency at the beginning and finally learned to just GUIDE the workpiece and not to push in any direction.
IF you 'push/lean" those little blades will penalize you for it!

Feed/Guide rate has to be extremely slow!!!

~~~GB~~~