Official Luthiers Forum!

Some orange and black just in time for Halloween.. This is for an electric build.


The next is a mermaid but she's hopefully going to be REALLY special. Like none of the ones you have seen before. Very un-traditional, more fantasy. Her name is Tabatha and she'll be here hopefully soon.
Thanks for looking, as always.
Craig L

_________________
www.handcraftinlay.com

Fantastic...!!!!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Beautiful! Great use of colors!

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

WOW .... that is something else

_________________
Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Very cool, Craig...just when I think your work can't get any better, you do something excellent like this!

Thanks for posting!

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Amazing and tasteful....tough combo to pull off and you sure did in spades!

Very cool concept done beautifully - love it.

Very VERY cool Craig !!

_________________
Reguards,

Ken H

This one was really challenging to pull off. I did a lot of gluing in reverse and re-cutting and the whole thing just took forever in the end. Then I went and engraved around all the pieces, etc..
It's the recon stone making me crazy. I know it has it's amazing color varieties but certain colors are very brittle. Orange is one of them. Green is another. I inset all the spiny oyster and gold - even the head, upside down and at .1 inch for the orange. It made the whole ting really tedious. basically the whole inlay was inset backwards. Most likely I could have just did it front up like normal and that would have saved hours but I am too afraid to have the recon inset that thin anymore. I just don't think it's stable at .05-.06. But Grit does it and I don't believe he does the upside down thing. Maybe I am just making too much work for myself.
This one just burned me out!
Your comments are really making me feel better about it.
Thanks for your support.
Craig L.

_________________
www.handcraftinlay.com

Cool!

Rise... as in "from the ashes"?  A phoenix?  Great concept and awesome execution!

-Ben

Didn't you??
CL

_________________
www.handcraftinlay.com

That is great Craig.
Its not just your craftsmanship that I admire its the artestry of the composition. You talented man.

I think you should moonlight in a tatoo parlor.

I am amazed by what those people do. It's even more nerve wracking than inlay. Inlay is tedious but you can always start over again even though it's a pain. Tattoos?
It costs a bit to erase them doesn't it?
That, and the art is incredible on the good ones. I wish I had the ability those guys have! I have to draw and draw and draw, I spent four hours re-drawing Tabatha today at four times her size. I need to finalize her and her friends and start laying her out.

Thanks everyone, and John.
CL

_________________
www.handcraftinlay.com

Yeah, tatoo artists are amazing, but I know they would say the same of your work.  They are two separate things, though both based on art.  You could definitely design tats and probably do them too with practice.

That inlay is amazing! I wanted to say it is amazing as usual, but nothing you do is usual, it always is amazing.  One of the greatest talents I see in your work aside from being an amazing artist, is your ability to read shell and other inlay materials in order to give the inlay that little extra kick.  It's not an easy task either, I just fixed that block inlay and the piece I had cut for the V part had some nice little ripples as abalone does and with very minor sanding, I went through them and now have a solid color, instead of a solid color with those little rings or ripples, that abalone has.  It's just not that easy to predict or see in advance how materials will look and fit together and you seem to have an amazing eye and talent for that.  Again, amazing work my friend, always an inspiration.  Best of luck and best wishes Craig.    Jason