Inlay class one

Drawing for inlays. Or any other art for that matter…

By Craig Lavin

Welcome to the first page in a series of "sessions" that will teach you the basics of doing a moderately complex inlay. This particular inlay is easier than others because it's on a totally flat surface, a headstock overlay, and it's being inset into ebony, so we don't have to be totally worried about any potential routing mistakes. You are welcome to use the pattern being sent out to you by myself, or use the class to design your own inlays.

First you need an idea. There have been years and years of guitar building and equally so many years worth of inlays going into those guitars. Traditional inlays include vines, torches, names, etc. Those are fine for many however I would suggest breaking away from the traditional and make new ground. It will set your work apart, and give us all something new to look at! Oh, and by the way- first "law" as you are all luthiers, and I am not. Make sure the instruments you build are of the highest tonal and build quality you can produce. No one will want your guitars if they sound and play horrible, no matter how pretty they may look. Inlay is the icing on the cake, but how many wedding cakes have you seen that were beautiful, yet no one took any home??? Taste comes first!

There. I said it!

Don't let the headstock, fingerboard, or whatever part of the instrument or piece you are inlaying confine your art. The headstock may have boundaries, but the art doesn't have to. Grit Laskin (inlay artist and luthier extraordinaire) is always breaking the visual boundaries of the guitar. You'll see that if your design layout is successful, the viewer will be able to determine what they are looking at, and the brain will fill in what's left off, enough to make the inlay work.

Lets take our inlay as an example.

This inlay started out with John K sending me two possible headstock patterns for the inlays. The one you see here, and a much more square, larger one drawn on the opposite side.

Since we decided on orchids as the art between the two of use, I chose this pattern because it suggested the shape of the orchids more than the square one did. The flowing curve of the upper edge of the headstock goes nicer than rough square corners.

Next was time for researching the image. What type of orchids is beautiful? (Most are, that is that answer..) What types are easiest to simulate using the materials I have on hand, or which I can acquire? (That is a better question), and also what do I know I can do artistically, without becoming dragged down by complexities, or having to try new approaches too much. Trying new things is great, so go for it, but experimentation is better left for ones self, and not for a peg head going to a major conference.

The Internet is a great way to start finding images. I go to Google and search around there for ideas, as well as use a lot of books as well as other things. That way I can see actual photos of the flowers, and determine what materials go with what colors.   Go to the library as well.

Once you decide on the art desired, you need to get a tracing of you actual size guitar part, headstock, neck, etc, and layout all of the potential hardware spots, tuners in this case, and use that as a drawing template.

Here is the pattern, and you can see the flowers have been specifically placed in an area the tuners won't really go through them, and high enough so the inlay won't have to go through any truss rod covers.

Truss covers can easily be inlaid, but that makes thing more complex than I wanted this "class" to get.

Notice as well the art is set up to make you feel like the picture is bigger than the guitar. It seems like you are looking trough the orchids as they hang down from the trees. It's a natural scene, not just an orchid placed dead center in the middle of the headstock NOT THAT THERE"S ANYTING WRONG WITH THAT, it's just not my thing J

Here is a shot of my drawing desk

Notice the technical pencil, It holds a variety of leads depending on your needs. For my inlays I like a hardness of 8H (8 hardness) because it gives a crisp drawing line. Notice I'm drawing on tracing paper as well. I want to align the art up on the headstock, and possibly take a few sized images of things and trace them into the composition of the total image. There is nothing wrong with tracing, just remember if your tracing something under copy write to get permission to use it from it's owner.

Whatever you do while drawing out your pattern keep in mind you are making basically a puzzle. All the lines must join together to form distinct pieces. You can add highlight and open-ended lines with the graver later. If you leave any lines open in your basic pattern you won't be able to cut them out.  There are exceptions, but they should be obvious when you get there.

If you want to make a "piece" drawing for the pattern layout, and a separate fully detailed drawing for the graver lines. You will use both for the final product.

Next- photocopies and layout of materials

Chat soon for any questions.

Go to Session 2