Starting out with engraving can open a door to a wonderful and fulfilling world of creativity. For some, engraving becomes a new medium and a unique canvas.

Jennifer Sherwood of Naperville, Illinois, recently attended a course at the GRS Training Center, learning basic engraving techniques from instructor Lee Griffiths. Featured are a couple of key tags that she engraved while at GRSTC, one with her initials and the other with a scroll and leaf design, which she herself drew during class. Here is her take on engraving and what she learned about the art.

"The first time that I heard about engraving was when I went to a model engine show with my dad, NAMES 2009, and there was a show booth from GRS there. I’ve always had a strong love of the arts, and my dad knew this, so he told me to go over to the booth and try out some of the equipment. I discovered that engraving wasn't all that different than other forms of art that I had experienced in the past. The only difference was it was with a different medium. It was a lot like drawing, just on metal instead of paper. This discovery excited me, and when I saw all the things that could be done with the equipment, it really made me wonder what I could accomplish if I got good at this new art form."

"What surprised me the most about engraving was how easy it was. I hadn't expected drawing/carving into metal to be as easy as it turned out to be. I was also surprised by how versatile engraving turned out to be. It can be used on almost anything it seems like, and I had expected it to only work on metal. I was also surprised by all the minute details that go into a design, because when you first look at an engraving, all you see is the big picture, not all the small little lines that go into making the design come to life."

"I actually have quite a bit of background in the arts field. I’ve always loved art; the type of art didn’t matter to me at all, I still loved it. Ever since I was younger, I just spent time doodling and drawing things, even if they could never exist in real life. I’ve taken all sorts of art classes at school, from drawing to painting to ceramics to jewelry making class. All the exposure I’ve had to these different mediums is another reason that I tried engraving actually. I wanted to expose myself to as many different areas of the art field as I can."

"Right now I’m really not sure how I’m going to use this skill. I’m still developing my skills as a beginner in this new art form, and I’m slowly improving. Someday, maybe I’ll be good enough to actually be able to make things for a profit, instead of just things that I wear on my own."

Jennifer now has a foundation to develop her engraving skills, and surely her background in and love for art will help her continue to incorporate this in the future.

A basic course can be all the difference in getting started with hand engraving. Visit the GRSTC website to read more about what you will learn.