This picture as a story I find interesting.
Around 2000 I was coming back from work, a workshop in Paris suburbs when my high was attracted by an an old battered drawing portfolio in the trash. I looked at it and found century old studies from a Beaux-Arts student of the 1900 period. Novel art style tiles, studies, and water colors. Among them a watercolor of this dried leaf.
I was inexperience at marquetry, I knew how to cut fairly well, but had only done classical flowers and repairs. I thought this drawing was just perfect for an etude as I just had to follow the color code to create a piece.
When I was done with the marquetry, the color the shape of the pieces everything was similar to the watercolor but it did not work at all on marquetry.
This experience taught me something essential, each media got his character and a way to be read.
I cannot show you the original watercolor as I left it in France and I can not show you also the first marquetry as it is long gone in the trash. But I brought the first marquetry drawing along with me in the US and redrew it, this time thinking marquetry. The result is now more convincing because I drew it as a marquetry, changing slightly the lines, the colors etc.
In addition I asked Kristen Arrivee, our Art teacher at the American School of French Marquetry, to do a calligraphy to frame the piece in words.
I wanted to share that little story with you, as I have been asked some tips on marquetry drawing, and for me that was the first big lesson on the subject. It is not a problem to fail on a project and if that happened or if you are not totally happy, you can learn a great deal by rethinking it and redo it. Just like cutting, you will refine your work get more precise confortable and happy by doing so.
This baby got me a second place at the design in wood show in 2010
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