Abschrift der Beurteilung von "The Marquetry Society" zu dem Bild "Herr des Reviers"
7 September, 2000
Hi Marek,
Your cheque and picture both arrived safely and yes I will send th epicture on to your parents on completion of the critique.
Your picture is very good, particulary the standard of your cutting and the tonal values used. What I intend to do is to provide you with a critique based upon the judging guidelines that are used at our National Exibitions. Hopefully this will provide you with sufficient feedback to enable you to adress the minor points that I believe can be improved upon.
The judging guidlines are as follows, with my comments re your picture alongside each aspect:
| High Ranking Aspects: | My comments | |
| Veneer choice | How well the picture has been interpreted in veneers | Your choice of veneers was very good, my only suggestion being that the sky was too bland |
| How effective the figuring, grain and textures of the veneer used | Very good | |
| The manner in which the veneers "do the work" | The overall impression was effective | |
| The way the tones and colours blend | Try to use stronger tones in the foreground to provide depth, otherwise very good | |
| Cutting | Accuracy | Excellent |
| Execution of difficult features | The many fine points were great | |
| Aesthetic appeal | How well the picture works Is it visually rewarding? Is it well balanced? |
Overall very good, my only critique is of the Pine Trees which did not really look like trees ans were to uniform. |
| Medium Ranking: | My comments | |
| Borders & Mitres | How well the borders, stringers/banding suit the work | The figuring on the Rosewood borders was too uneven. |
| Accuracy and squareness | The mitres on each of the two borders were out of line which made the picture look askew. Additionally, the inner border had sides if unequal width. | |
| Edges | Application & squareness | Good but be careful when sanding you almost went through the veneer in a couple of spots. |
| Laying & Sanding |
Flatness, leck of bubbles etc |
No problems here |
| Cleanliness, smoothness, freedom from marks and scratches | No problems here either | |
| Polishing | Coverage, Evenness, Smoothness | In achieving the matt finish you left a few low spots on the Rosewood border that still showed a shine. |
| Low Ranking: | My comments | |
| Backing Veneer | Application & finish | OK |
| Hanging method | Adequate, presentable | Pins uneven and the the cord a little too breakable |
Not withstanding all the above Marek, you picture is a fine piece of work and you are to be commended for the high standard. You should be aware whilst much of the above could be constructed as nit picking, when judging 30 or 40 pictures in the same competitive class, the majority of which are of a similar high standard or work, nit picking is the only way of arriving at an eventual winner. So it pays to be very particular even about the medium and low ranking aspects when considering entering work into a competition.
I hope that you will be able to see the above remarks in a constructive manner with the sole aim of enabling you to improve on what is already a very good standard of marquetry. ...
Regards
Peter