Contact & Orders
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Thinking about a portrait but want to chat first?
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Not quite certain yet? Not a problem.
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If you’d like me to look at your photograph before you place an order, send it to me here and tell me a little about what you have in mind.
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I’ll personally take a look and come back to you with my thoughts on how I would approach the engraving.
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There’s no commitment and no payment at this stage.
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If you’re happy with the direction, you can then place your order securely through the website.
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For any other questions, you’re very welcome to use the form below too.
I usually reply the same day!
The Process
I was asked to do a composition, it was a bit wacky, but good fun. The customer wanted pictures 1-4 to be used. They wanted the bird to be singing into the microphone, on the Aston Martin with the Viaduct in the background. I took the 4 pictures and decided how I wanted to lay it all out.
I decided how to treat the bird so the body and featherwork read well in the finished picture. Check the light and shade - contrast and brightness. This is the most important bit for the laser.
The process - the original picture is edited outside of my laser software. I use some clever AI to create the scene. I can then put the photo into the laser software and render a grayscale drawing of the coloured AI picture as grayscale is the colour pallette the laser works with.
Next I need to set the laser program settings and parameters to tell the laser where I want it to burn and for how long. Once you have worked on the laser for a long time, you get to know where you will place the settings to achieve the look you want.
Then it is the fun part, the actual lasering....You will see the pale version of the finished piece, this is the Birch in its natural state, it's smooth and pale, so I need to finish it with some Danish Oil. This will nourish and strengthen the wood and will seal the burn in properly.
You'll notice the colour and black and white image are clearer and crisper, this is because "they are photographs" and they look great, but the laser works with thousands of tiny dots when it burns the picture, so it's a different outcome, feel and look.... I would say a unique look... a Ballpoint/Fine Line Portrait.
I do hope you liked seeing the process and what I can achieve, even if it is a wacky picture.
Every piece begins with a photograph and ends in your hands.