Begin with a photo
This is the photo I used to create the portrait on the home page. |
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I start with your photo
To create your custom portrait in wood, I scan your photo into the computer and then manipulate it in Photoshop to come up with a high contrast black and white print. This helps seperate the shadows from the highlights and midtones.
Once I am satisfied with what I see on the screen, I print it out on paper and inspect it very carefully to make sure all highlight areas (wood) are connected and make any adjustment by hand until I have a final pattern to work with.
I can spend as little as 30 minutes on a good quality photo up to an hour or more on more difficult photo's that may have alot of detail or just not of optimum quality to work with. For this reason, I would ask you to send 2 or 3 photo's and label them as your first, second and thrid choice. If I had problems working with your first choice, I would then try your second choice and so on.
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Next I cut the pattern out in wood
The pattern is then mounted onto a piece of wood, which has already been sanded smooth, with a temporary bonding spray adhesive. I then use a 1/16" drill bit and drill holes in every black area. The number of holes required depends on the picture. For doing the "Friends" photo, I had to drill 25 pilot hole but usually they can require many more.
Now the hard part begins. For each hole that I drilled, I now have to thread the saw blade through each hole, make tension adjustments and then cut out the shadowed areas (black area of pattern). Depending on how much detail is in the pattern, this process can take anywhere from one and a half hours upwards to four hours or more. "Friends" took me two and a half hours.
Note: Lettering is not included in the prices of portraits although it can be done for an additional charge.
Finishing your portrait
After all areas are cut out I take mini files and do another sanding of all cut edges to get rid of any wood hairs that are left behind by the saw blade. This process takes about a half hour or so.
Once it's clean, a coat of wood oil is applied to bring out the grain of the wood and help protect it. Finally once it's dried, black felt (or similar material) is attached to the backside and then mounted into a frame.
Your wood portrait is mounted full frame, meaning if you purchase an 8 x 10" portrait, it is mounted into an 8 x 10" frame. I do not do any custom mattings as everyone has different tastes. Should you wish to have your portrait professionally matted, you can order it unframed and then take it to a local shop to have it mounted to your liking.
For available sizes and pricing, please go to the ORDER page.
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Pattern
This is is what the pattern looks like when it's in it's final stage. |
