So a friend of mine (Tony Zinzola) started making billiard cues a few years ago and is already looking to be one of the best up and coming pool cue makers in the biz. I am quite in awe of his skill! In any event, he has asked me if I would be interested in doing some scrimshaw work on his ivory inlays. I said scrim-what? He explained and I began doing some research on the art form. I found that there are a lot of really amazing artists out there.

This is going to be the beginning of my efforts related to this new endeavor. I am just starting out and already I can see this is not an easy art form.

My first attempt was simply scratching at some outlet and light switch covers I had lying around. Here is a light switch plate cover I did to show Tony that I had at least a little skill (‘little’ might be pushing it).

Then Tony sent me some practice pieces of real ivory (Isn’t ivory illegal?) and faux ivory. These are the same materials he will be using in his inlays. I have started working on the faux ivory as it was twice the size of the real ivory and frankly I am a little hesitant to try out the real stuff just yet. I will be chronologically posting my efforts if interested.

Here is my first attempt using the stippling method.