Hi guys!
Hanne, Thanks for the kind words!
D.Douglas,
Interesting that you asked about the bronze. I was just about to post some questions about cutting it! Have you cut bronze before?
This bronze was 'as cast' CDA932 plate. It seemed very inconsistent. I think the "as cast" part left something to be desired in the finished product. Some places cut very well, others were very difficult to cut. Some places the graver would dive in it's own and wouldn't come back up again, and the next time it wouldn't want to start cutting. For some cuts switching from a 15 degree heel to 20 degree heel helped. Sometimes the bronze would push up in front of the cutter in a 'wave'. The whole time was constantly trying to correct for depth of cut. Other metals I've tried were much easier to cut.
I really like the natural patina bronze picks up over time, so will probably have to learn to work with it. Brass gets an ugly black patina when it gets old, but bronze picks up a nice warm brown/gold shades. Even just a few days in air, and it starts to darken significantly.
I agree that more shading would help, however I'm going to stop here before I ruin it.
It actually looks OK under normal lighting conditions. The real problem is that it's has too much detail, and not enough negative space to bring the patterns out. Next one will have some more open space, more time spent on the flow, and A LOT more time spent thinking about how the shading will be done. I've learned a lot, and I'm sure the next one will be much better!
Thanks!
Dan