Whale Scrimshaw
Tail Scrimshaw
This scrimshaw is of a breaching whale. It was Scrimshawed in 1994 using black ink on whalebone, which is very porous. I had to be extremely careful when inking as the ink would soak into the bone and blur the picture. It weighs 487 grams and measures 210mm wide x 90mm high.
The Scrimshaw
I don’t have any progressive pictures as I didn’t photograph it or document all the details back then. The process of making it was slighly different to more recent Scrimshaws.
1) Sand the Ivory (it was too porus to polish)
2) Etch using cuts and dots
3) Apply black oil paint to the etched sections
4) Fill in the darkest areas, then move onto the light parts. If you do it the other way around the shading and colours will become contaminated
The Base
The base is made from Rosewood with an Ivory name plate attached using Sterling Silver pins.
Tail Stand
The Finished Piece
This picture shows the finished Scrimshaw on its stand.
Tail Finshed Scrimshaw
The End.
Contact Rod: randclacey@bigpond.com
Scrimshaw Addiction 
You must be logged in to post a comment.