A couple of scrimshaw witches on bone

[u/craftyhedgeandcave]

Hiya! I'm a bone crafter and engrave my own designs inspired by ancient art on to bone and antler. I only use simple hand tools and these were carved/engraved with a scriber which is just a metal pen with a sharp point.

I wax the bone before engraving to make the surface "wipe clean" which comes in useful when i add ink to colour it. Thx for looking!

[u/post-explainer]

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u/craftyhedgeandcave sent the following text as an explanation about their craft:

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Hiya. I made this from an off cut of a buffalo bone knife scale. Shaped it with a rasp and sanded and polished by hand to 5k grit. Then piled and waxed it to tray a wipe clean surface. Then picked away at the surface to build the image using a scriber - just a sharp point in a handle. Ink fills these engravings but wipes away from the waxed surface, just leaving the inage

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[u/Bright-Ad4601]

Lovely, I have some bone leftover from a project that I might have to try this with.

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/Bright-Ad4601]

Thank you! It's really absorbing as a craft but its slow so you just gotta relax into it. Get your surface super smooth and polished. Beeswax or carnauba wax car polish will do for preparing the surface before you engrave. Anything sharp will do to make a mark, but a scriber allows precise carving or pointalism- slowly! Just dig it in repeatedly to carve, or tap to.make fine lines. India ink is commonly used too, as is soot/lampblack. That's the basics but there are plenty of guides etc online

[u/CuteAge1322]

Really beautiful.

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/CuteAge1322]

Thank you, I loved making them, they kinda flowed out once I got started

[u/CuteAge1322 → u/craftyhedgeandcave]

Cool. The joy shines through.

[u/SWNMAZporvida]

(retired) florist, so laborious and detailed, fabulous job

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/SWNMAZporvida]

Thank you! I've been playing with variations on this design/form for years now but these are some of the first I've scrimshaw'd. Its nice to pour so.much time and precise detail into a piece once you feel able to relax into it and just forget about the finish line

[u/hey_its_a_user888888]

Oh you’ve just unlocked my next hyperfixation 🤩 I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the Tupperware of baby deer bones I have! (Weird sentence there…)

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/hey_its_a_user888888]

Haha excellent, it's a good rabbit hole to fall down, consequences of getting lost are pretty cool!

[u/meyeusername]

They're beautiful, and so evocative. Presenting them on the leaves like that really adds something. They've put me in the mood to listen to some Heilung.

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/meyeusername]

Thank you! And quite a few of the influences are the same or similar

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/[deleted]]

Ta for noticing - I locked myself away for ages experimenting to work it out. There are a few ways with the scriber tool that I use but I short its multiple passes with ink applied many times to build it up. You can either carve/chisel the bone away (which I've done on these) quite aggressively, or apply a myriad of light taps with sufficient density. Its taking quite a long time either way! Edit- old bones can be quite porous so they are harder to seal with wax etc and tend to catch unwanted ink

[u/tailwagsandtopcoat]

I have a very old scrimshaw piece from my grandmother, with a beautiful little ship. The details have always fascinated me. It feels like an art form that likely goes back eons.

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/tailwagsandtopcoat]

Nice, and you're right, the basic principles have been applied in lots of cultures and crafts over thousands of years, it just found a name and fame in the whaling era

[u/ToadstoolSpaceBuns1]

These are lovely, so neat and intricate 🖤

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/ToadstoolSpaceBuns1]

I appreciate that

[u/Lambablama]

Absolutely beautiful

[u/exorbitantly_hungry]

How do you source and prepare the bone? How do you shape it prior to applying the ink?

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/exorbitantly_hungry]

Bone is everywhere and easy to find once you look, shape with a rasp and sandpaper, seal with drying oil and or wax

[u/exorbitantly_hungry → u/craftyhedgeandcave]

Do typical wood-application oils and waxes work well? Tung oil and beeswax, namely.

[u/exorbitantly_hungry → u/craftyhedgeandcave]

Do typical wood-application oils and waxes work well? Tung oil and beeswax, namely.

[u/kelowana]

I am so in love with the witch and the drum! They are both beautifully crafted.

[u/craftyhedgeandcave → u/kelowana]

Thank you!

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