my scrimshaw

Hey all. Im pretty new around here, but thought maybe some of you might like to see some my artwrk/scrimshaw. Here are some of the better ones:

http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt165/SWsidewinder/scrimshaw/

Im just getting started in this, so some of the pieces aren't as good as I would like, but Im getting better at it!! All of them are on Antler, and most are pretty small, (about the size of a 50 cent piece.) I make most of them into necklaces and key chains. Anywho, thanx for looking

 

Thanx guys!!

Well, I usually start by sanding the antler down with succesively finer grained sandpaper till it is ultra smooth. This can be very difficult, cause if you sand too far, the interior of the antler is porus and this process doest work. Anywho, after i have a mirror-like finish on the antler I draw my design on paper, and glue it onto the surface to be etched. I then scribe through the paper all the outlines with an exacto knife. After the outlines have been scribe on, I remove the paper, then I rub the whole thing down with india ink, then quickly wipe it off again with rubbing alcohal. the ink stays in all the scribe lines and comes off everywhere else....which if Ive done a good job, I will have a nice outline of my design on the antler. Next, i go in with a pin-vise and needles, and put in hundreds upon hundreds of dots to do the shading (depending on size and design) then its the same thing. Wipe with ink, and rub most of it off. Anwhere there is a dot from the needle, the ink will stay. Areas that have alot of dots will look almost black after inking, areas with fewer dots will look grey. After im done, I clear coat it.
D