Monday, November 7, 2011

Reproducing a fireplace tile - part 2 - formatting the image

As I walk you through the process of reproducing a Victorian tile, I'll try not to leave any of the steps out - which I'm finding is actually hard for me since I zip through the first steps without much thought!

Scanning the tiles.
After cleaning the tile to see the details, I scan the tile to Photoshop, where I need to  increase the size of the image by the amount that the clay will shrink after glaze firing. Our clay body shrinks 10%, so that's what I increase the image by. Then I print the image out to use as a starting guide for my wax carving.
Scanned image increased in size by 10%.
I've also cut and pasted the image at the bottom as a guide for making corners. Since the clients didn't have any corners in their original fireplace set, and I can't find an image of the original tiles anywhere, I'll be designing them myself. It always adds a nice detail to have the design wrap the edges.

At the carving table with image and original tiles.

At this point I get to head over to my carving area - my most creative and challenging spot in the whole building. As I look at the photo and the original tile, my brain begins to tell my hand how to carve it......no, not that way, this way....watch out, not too deep, make it a smoother line....

Wow, I'm glad that internal dialogue doesn't really exist!


The 10% shrinkage that I'm compensating for.

So now that the formatting is all done.....I need a nice clean piece of wax to carve the design into. Join me tomorrow when we visit with Madame Tussaud and get the secrets of making great wax!

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5 Comments:

Blogger Michele D. said...

Yay! I can't wait. Carving is something I've always been interested in but have never tried. I'd also love to know about your tools. I bought a small kit to carve into clay but I really don't know where to begin.

Thanks for sharing your process!

November 7, 2011 at 11:31 PM  
Blogger Josje said...

Thank you for letting us peek into your kitchen! I love seeing the process of something being made. This is very interesting, I look forward to the next step.

November 8, 2011 at 2:00 AM  
Blogger Linda Ellett said...

Thanks Michele and Josje for following along! I'm trying really hard not to leave any steps out, but when I think I'm ready for the next one, I remember a missing detail - so if you have any questions along the way, just ask!

November 8, 2011 at 7:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love your blog. I feel like I've taken a class just by reading it. Thanks so much for sharing how you do what you do to make these beautiful things!

Christine in St. Louis

November 9, 2011 at 12:24 PM  
Blogger Linda Ellett said...

Hi Christine - Thanks so much for your comments! Stay tuned for the next installment!

November 9, 2011 at 12:53 PM  

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