Japanese girl giggling into her sleeve

I have started to carve deeper to get more form into the subject. The top of her sleeve in this case. It gets more difficult but I think the results are better.

I enjoyed making this one, the composition is pleasing to me and it pushed me further technically. Titanium is becoming my metal of choice. So far I have used heat to colour it but I will start anodising as the colour choice is more presice and subtle.

Japanese aesthetic

An unexpected result of looking into Japanese techniques is the growing interest and respect I have for Japanese aesthetic sensibilities. I have always associated stark minimalism with the Japanese mindset but the more I look at examples of really great work, the more I see that rather than stripping everything down to almost nothing, the design philosophy is more like 'just enough'.

Being in the jewellery trade, I am possibly exposed to too much 'more is more' thought process. If something can be bigger, shinier, hold more diamonds and monetary value, then it is automatically better, both for the shop and the consumer. By contrast, although some Japanese designs may be complex or busy, if an element does not add to the balance, it is omitted.

This is a great example of just enough, the entire scene is set with just a few lines. 

Katakiri bori

The image which sent me on the path of sumi-e is this one:

It is an example of a technique called katakiri bori. Katakiri bori is the use of lines with a specific veiw of recreating the brush strokes in sumi ink drawings. The depth and width of the lines are varied to provide a play of light and shadow. In western terms it may be refered to as shallow relief engraving or line engraving. 

It embodies a wonderful contradiction in that it looks simple compared to other types of carving however it is regarded as more difficult because there is no ornament to hide bad composition or technique. 

Here are some examples 

I have set my hand to some test plates of both copper and titanium, I need much more practice as can be seen. I would like to introduce the feeling of roundness of form within the lines as seen in the tree of the last picture.