From:
don dougan <dondougan@zzzzzzzz>
Date:
Thu, 22 Jul 2004 01:37:32 -0400
Subject:
how to sign stone sculpture
Hi Dulce;
I know you probably wanted a short and sweet answer, and honestly I was
going to just jot down a few lines. Anyway, my not-so-short answer(s) to
your questions are paved with good intentions . . . as laid down by an
opinionated old carver.
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Quoted text begins.RE: How to sign and what tool to use to do it
End of quote.
An engraver will work OK if you can control it -- But I have found that
one pass of the tip is too much like a scratch, insufficient for what I
consider acceptable on marble (on soft stones like soapstone or alabaster
the one-pass depth might be OK). So to get the depth I want on marble I
have to make several passes, and if the stone is regular in texture and
homogenous it works OK -- as long as my hands are not trembling from
whacking for several hours with a hammer on stone! If the stone has
both hard and soft areas, or has a coarse or porous texture, then the
engraver is a hard tool to control.
Sometimes I use a cylinder-shaped tungsten-carbide bur in a Dremel tool
or a flex-shaft handpiece and hold it at an angle (like you'd hold a
lettering pen if you have ever done any calligraphy), and make simple
pen-stroke letter forms like a medium-wide nibbed pen might allow. The
angle allows me to rest my hand on the stone for control, and because the
resulting groove is basically "V"-shaped (again, due to the angle) the
letter forms are quite legible. The minimum size one can make the
letter forms is dependent on the width of the cylindrical bur (1/8"),
allowing lettering of not less than 1/2" high and not more than 1" high.
For a small piece of sculpture that might be too large, and perhaps the
vibrating engraver might be a better choice.
Another tool you might consider using is an engraver's burin - the short
palm-held chisel the engraver would use for cutting lines in copper/zinc
printing plates, or for doing wood-engraving on blocks of end-grain
boxwood or cherrywood. The 'Graver' or 'Burin' tool is available in
several different cross-sections - the best choices might be either the
one shaped like a little flat chisel or the one that is like a diamond or
lozenge-shape in cross-section. I will sometimes use these to clean-up
the rather irregular letter-forms left by a vibrating engraver. Though
small, these little tools are usually several times the cost of a
carbon-steel stonecarving chisel.
Of course a lettering chisel and a small hammer or mallet can also be
used, but whether you can you carve your name small enough to be in good
proportion with the sculpture itself will be the question there too. It
will give perhaps the best 'look' to the signature (a carver 'carving'
their signature is appropriate, is it not?), but might also take more
time than you wish to devote to it. I usually only 'carve' my signature
when the signature is going to be prominent no matter where I put it on
the piece, and if it is not going to detract from the overall design, it
has to look as well-crafted as the rest of the work .
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quoted text begins.RE: Is just an letter ok or is it better a more telling signature?
End of quote.
The degree of control any of the tools allow you will affect how complex
or how long your 'signature' will be. Your best choice for a
recognizable and practical signature will be to devise a simple but
distinctive logo of your initials that can be repeated easily in various
materials and various sizes and still be recognizable as letter-forms. I
learned early on that trying to 'sign' my whole name in stone was a lot
of trouble, and very difficult to repeat on different types of stone so
it looked the same. Since the first few pieces I carved more than thirty
years ago, I use my initials (linked together but still readable as my
initials), an apostrophe, and the last two digits of the year to sign all
my freestanding, pedestal, and large wall relief pieces.
The size varies in keeping with the scale of the work, but generally I
try to place it where it is out-of-the-way visually, but at the same time
on a visible portion of the artwork. The distinctively-linked letters
and date is like a trademark, yet it is simple enough that I can repeat
it at different scales and on different types of stone or other materials
and it is more-or-less the same every time. On small wall reliefs I will
do my signature on the edge, but paste a computer-printed label on the
reverse that has my signature in indelible ink, all sealed with spray
lacquer (so it won't bleed if it gets damp). Whenever practical, I will
attach a similar label to the pedestal or freestanding pieces on the
bottom, or in non-visible areas such as where elements detach for
transport.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quoted text begins.RE: brass plate
End of quote.
It is a matter of your personal taste -- but in my mind the bronze or
brass plate is usually tacky (as you say). I have seen very few
bronze/brass plates that are not tacky to my eyes. The ones that are
acceptable are usually found on more formal sculptural works (traditional
portrait busts, animal sculptures, garden sculptures, etc.). Most of
those that do work (and are not distracting) have a patina of age and are
not bright and shiny, and often are in a 'collection' that all have
similar identification. You don't want your piece to be compared to a
bright gold or silver-plated football from the local trophy shop do you?
If you do carvings that look very contemporary or highly stylized (like
many of mine), or if your piece is the only one in group exhibit that has
a plate like that, then the bronze plate tends to look grossly
out-of-place and pretentious. I'd much rather have nice and simple
(easily readable) letterforms printed on a inkjet or laser printer --
business-card size or so. If you are installing a show, then mount the
labels neatly on a piece of foam-core or matboard and attach to the
pedestal or the wall behind the piece with velcro or double-stick tape.
Give the sculpture some breathing room, don't make the title the first
thing the viewer has to look at because it is so shiny - if your work is
good then adding a brass plate is like the proverbial gilding of the
lily.
I figure that if the viewer likes the work then they'll look around for
the label . . . !
Good carving to you,
Don
http://www.dondougan.homestead.com/indexdd.html
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