Ever had trouble finding marquetry patterns? If you're anything like me you probably got into marquetry via one of the marquetry kits - the one's that are a bit like painting by numbers but with a few sheets of veneer, a knife and glue. They're a great introduction to the art but once you've completed your first one, where do you go?
I soon found a good marquetry supplier quite locally and there are many others around the country. If you can't get marquetry veneers locally there are plenty of mail order and online companies who will provide materials and marquetry tools. The one thing I couldn't find was marquetry patterns. I don't have the drawing skills to do my own, and I don't want to keep buying marquetry kits, so where could I find them? Bear in mind that I'm not expecting these things for free. If someone has gone to the trouble of producing the patterns I'm quite prepared to pay for them.
I did a bit of searching. Typing "marquetry patterns" or even "marquetry designs" into a search engine doesn't get you very far, but there are alternatives if you think a bit laterally and this is what I came up with:
1. Scrollsaw Sites
I looked at several scrollsaw sites without much success because although you can use a scrollsaw to cut marquetry, the type of pattern offered doesn't really suit because they're not the "picture" style that most of us would be looking for. Then I discovered ScrollsawSegmentation.com whose work is much more like a marquetry pattern. They're also very reasonably priced. Although segmentation is quite different, using raised and painted or stained pieces, you can easily see how the designs could be used to suit marquetry. You can also download them straight to your pc, so no waiting impatiently for the mail!
2. Intarsia Pattern Sites
Many of the patterns at Scrollsawsegmentation.com are actually modified intarsia plans from a site called IntarsiaDesigns.com who also offer instant downloads. Once again it's easy to see how these translate to marquetry and there's a range of different subjects to choose from.
3. Clip-Art Sites
There are many, many clip-art sites and whilst I couldn't find complete "pictures" which suited what I wanted to do, you just need a little ingenuity to combine different elements into a picture form. Perhaps not the most naturalistic way to create marquetry patterns but good for caricature or cartoon type pieces, especially if your drawing ability is as limited as mine!
4. Software Programs
A friend of mine is a graphic artist who uses a software program called Adobe Photoshop which is absolutely brilliant for manipulating photos. I think it's quite difficult to learn to use well, but if you have a version pre-installed on your computer then why not give it a go. Another program that started life as something for stained glass makers but is also very popular with intarsians and marquetarians is from ConnectedLines.com. In their own words, "The Connected Pattern Maker is the easy to learn and fun to use software program that lets you create unique line art patterns from digital photographs, scanned pictures, and clip art images". I haven't yet used it myself but it looks just the trick.
5. Good old tracing paper!
In these days of PCs and digital scanners it's easy to forget good old fashioned tracing paper. Just take your picture and trace the different areas of color. If you don't want to use the tracing paper itself as your marquetry pattern you can turn it upside down onto a sheet of plain paper and rub the back so that the pencil marks are transferred to a clean white sheet. This does take a bit of practice to get good at but you can start with simple pictures and move on to more complicated stuff as you get more confident. If you're looking for photos to work from you can find more than you will ever need in books that you can borrow from your local library or online, and if you have a scanner you can use your pc to resize them if you need to. Just make sure they're not protected by copyright.
Well there you have it. Five ways to make marquetry patterns ranging from buying them for a couple of dollars to going back to your school days! I hope one of them will provide you with all the supplies you need until hopefully someone will actually start a dedicated marquetry pattern site. Now there's an idea... if only I could draw.
Dennis Cordy is a woodworker and writer. He gets many of his marquetry patterns from http://www.scrollsawsegmentation.com and http://www.intarsiadesigns.com
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