Painting in wood

[Paul K. Murphy]

Painting in wood is a marquetry technique that I've used.
I often hear the term bandied about as if it meant, "That's nice. I like it. It's decorative, therefore it must be painting in wood."
That is not the correct usage of the term.
There are many marquetry techniques; different approaches to getting the composition to emerge from the veneers and be glued to the panel. Painting in wood is that approach wherein a packet is constructed of different veneers, and sawn all at once. There's more to it, but here are a couple photos of something I started a while back.
1- I drew my own cartoon. I used a botanical book as a guide to help me design.

2- A color rendering of the cartoon. Not really something I had to do in this case, but what the heck.

3- A packet was constructed with the cartoon on the top piece.

4- The packet was sawn.

5- Pieces were placed in trays in an organized manner.


I'm lazy. I haven't assembled and glued this one up yet. The trays are sitting on a shelf. When my remodel is done, completing this panel will be one of the first things I'll do. I always date things. It's good to review. What I plan on doing when I get rolling might look like what you see here. I know that it will not be. My methods are going to be radically different than what is pictured here. Incidentally, this panel is pretty much a sampler. Look at it, you will see. I tried to get as many different objects in as many different types of orientation as I could.
Enjoy.
Now, I'm going to work on more of my remodel.

[Paul K. Murphy]

This is an earlier one I did that I'm a little more happy with.

[Ken Vick]

Paul, you do outstanding work and the back ground veneer for the piece is so complimentary to the picture you made. Great work. Ken

[Paul K. Murphy]

I'm very happy with how this one turned out. It was an original cartoon of mine inspired by Andre Charles Boulle.

A black background. (In French, "fond")

Crotch mahogany fond. A pomelle sapelle example is off to the left. The stylized lion is also an original cartoon of mine. I took that from some Elizabethan artifacts I was looking at.

This is the original Boulle table where I got the idea.

[fall]

Paul,
Nice work.
What are you using to cut out the marquetry? By chance a Chevalet?

[Earl Kelly]

Paul, it appears you've mastered the technique already. I look forward to seeing it incorporated into a piece of furniture. Does your inspiration and style lean more towards Patrick Edwards, Paul Schurch or Silas Kopf?

I've never been able to focus long enough to do Marquetry work, even though I have 2 scroll saws.

A little bit different perspective on Marquetry look at Rob Milam's work. I love it because of the "Uniqueness" of it.



Veneer Images

Earl

[Paul K. Murphy]

I'm using a parallel arm scroll saw. It's an orange one; Sakura. A Japanese saw with a 21" throat. I just bought a black one; an Excalibur. My saws reflect my baseball fandom! Go Giants!
Not using a Chevy. Don't plan on it either. I do plan on making a crossbow saw. A frame saw drawn upward by leaf springs made of wood. That's André Charles Boulle's saw.
I studied for a week with Paul. I loved the Italian method he uses, and I still do. For two weeks with Patrick and Patrice, I studied Boulle method, and piece by piece. I was and am enriched by all three artisans and the methods they employed. Silas Kopf works in the conically sawn, or "double bevel" method. I haven't done that yet. I do plan on dipping my toes in those waters though.
My style will be Murph style. That is not a rejection of any style, or anybody's way of working, but I have methods that I'd like to employ. For the past two years or so, I've spent a great deal of time honing my skills as a draftsman. Producing my own cartoons will be an important part of what I do.

[fall]

Paul K. Murphy said:

---

Not using a Chevy. Don't plan on it either. I do plan on making a crossbow saw. A frame saw drawn upward by leaf springs made of wood. That's André Charles Boulle's saw.
I studied for a week with Paul. I loved the Italian method he uses, and I still do. For two weeks with Patrick and Patrice, I studied Boulle method, and piece by piece. I was and am enriched by all three artisans and the methods they employed. Silas Kopf works in the conically sawn, or "double bevel" method. I haven't done that yet. I do plan on dipping my toes in those waters though.

---

Paul I too studyed with Patrick and Patrice at the American school of Marquetry and enjoyed the classes.

You state that you studied for a week with Paul and loved the Italian method he uses. What is the Italian method?

Also have you ever used one of the Knew Concepts Power Saws? They state they have a pure vertical motion of the saw blade, I believe similar to the crossbow saw you are referring to. What are your thoughts on the saw besides the large price tag?

http://www.knewconcepts.com/ncsinstructions.pdf
http://www.knewconcepts.com/index.php

[Paul K. Murphy]

I'm uncomfortable speaking for others. I can only say what my experiences are/were, and what I gleaned from them.
When Paul was the instructor, the first lesson for me was essentially "painting in wood." Some of the features of that instruction I can point out here. Motifs, like flowers, were composites of numerous (3) pieces of wood, laid out in radial fashion in the packet. This meant that the petals of flowers radiated from the center outward, like spokes on a wheel. I like that. Paul used a number system for individual pieces on the cartoon, and a tray with a numbered grid to keep them organized. Tiny polka dots were used to indicate sand shading.
Those, and other things were part of the instruction.
It's beyond the scope of things here to get into too much detail. I'm doing a remodel. I've got to get to work.
Basically, when doing marquetry, perhaps the most important thing is, "How do I organize my work?" Marquetry rewards the workman who can quickly and easily identify any piece of wood, and know at once what he must do with it.
Period.
If you have three friends, you can write their phone numbers on a gum wrapper; haphazardly. If your company directory has six thousand names, you'd better put together a book and alphabetize it.
It's my challenge (now) to figure out how to tighten up my compositions, keep them organized, and develop a logical means of producing my work.
I haven't got clue number one about the saw you linked to.
It looks well made. It looks like one of those ones that moves up and down by a single cable. I've used those. Small throat.
Work now. Bye.