Taking Aim

[Jediscroller]

So Carl.....any progress?????
(Besides, I wanted to see this thread hit 100 )

[CanadianScroller]

Well Kevin, when it comes to woodworking, think of me as the man in front of you at the buffet table. My plate is so full, you know I will never get it all done but I am still piling stuff on.

[Gill]

I'm designing a segmentation pattern for my own use from a photograph I like. One of the characters has an earnest expression that I would like to incorporate; in fact, I think it is intrinsic to the piece. However, facial details such as these are difficult to capture with segmentation because the lines only emerge gradually from the main color block. This detail shows what I'm working with:



Bearing in mind that large scale is out of the question (8" is probably as large as I'd like to take this project), can anyone suggest how it might be possible to capture the expression? If it can be done, I think the implications for pattern design could be far-reaching.

Gill

[CanadianScroller]

Gill, I have seen the full image and I can see why you want to incluse this detail in the segmentation.
I have just come back from a 1 1/12 dance lesson and I have empathy for him.

You may be able to put the detail in with veining. I used the emboss function on some photo software to bring up those features. Then I messed around with the "edge" tool.
Then I drew over the image by hand.
Not sure if it is what you want but it is a starting point.

[Gill]

Gosh, this thread has been in abeyance for a while. Too long.

Something I've noticed recently and thought might be worth bringing up here is that it can be difficult to define the edge of a subject in a pattern. One way to overcome this is to simply draw a line in the same way that you can with a pencil drawing. The problem is that pencil drawings are two dimensional and the instrument used to create the image can be used in so many ways... wispy lines, fading shade, blunt lines... the only limit is the artist's interpretation of the subject. As scrollers, we have no choice but to make a cut. It can be thick or it can be thin, but it's always a definite cut and there's no gray area.

All too often I look at shadow portrait patterns and wonder why the pattern designer decided to make that particular cut there and why it was decided that the line should be a particular thickness. Let me give an example I'm sure can be envisioned - a polar bear against an arctic background. We need to distinguish the white fur from the white ice, but they're both white so we can't easily use contrast to define edges. Therefore most scrollers would cut a line. What I'm wondering is how we decide where that line should be and how substantial it needs to be.

Gill

[CanadianScroller]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread, and the Polar Bears are a perfect example
here is a simple outline, and we all recognize it as a polar bear.

A few more lines offers a little more detail
although the back leg would fall out.
One step further

and finally a rubber stamp with even more detail

You can see that the rubber stamp really would need some work to make it a suitable pattern for scrolling. The question would be what to include and what to leave out.

.......continued in next thread

[CanadianScroller]

I would love to see people take up the challenge of this photo and offer their submissions for critique.

Since the topic of discussion is line thicknesses and what to leave in or take out, the pattern should be a fretwork piece.

[kerry_nf]

Here's a quick rendition of my pattern for that pic. I didn't have time to clean up all the little white specks but you can still tell where the cutting should be done.

[BobD]

That's great for a quick pattern, Kerry, but the nose kinda bother's me.
Don't get me wrong, there is no way I could turn around a pattern that quickly! And I know you won't take it personally if I pick on you a bit, my friend <GRIN>. Especially since I know it wouldn't be there if you were making a real pattern!

I just see a big hole where the side of the neck and nose should be. I really think that is where the artistry of pattern making comes in...adding a line back in to define the parts of the nose and neck.

I'm just taking this opportunity to show that it's just as easy to stop too soon when making a pattern as it is to spend WAY too much time adding detail.

Bob

[kerry_nf]

Hey Bob! I don't mind being picked on at all. I'm used to it.

You are right about the nose portion. That was one of the things I thought about after I looked at it again.

I might give it another go if I ever get done SHOVELLING SNOW! Ha ha.

Good critique Bob!