Yes, yes, you heard right: not “dye eggs for Easter”, but “carve eggs for Easter”! Egg professional and recognized art can be extremely difficult and painstaking work, but the result you get is simply amazing. Farah Sayeed, the acclaimed guru of shell carving, uses chicken, goose, emu and even ostrich eggs to create unusual and striking works, including those with dioramas inside.
It is indescribable how something as fragile as an empty eggshell can be turned into a stunning work of art. And this art can be mastered at home (and Easter is the time to start!) with a limited number of tools, doing it for fun or for business.
Prepare:
- raw eggs;
- an upholstery needle (the same as a regular one, just much larger);
- bowl;
- children's nasal syringe;
- cold water;
- vinyl gloves (just durable gloves, which are convenient to perform extremely delicate work);
- a protective mask;
- pencil;
- modern transfer paper - transfer paper, or decal paper (or carbon paper in case of emergency);
- a good diamond peak / pointed / thin nozzle;
- a rotating tool (in principle, you can even use a professional set for a hardware manicure, where a rotating tool can work for a long time at high speeds; either there are, for example, Dremel kits, or, in principle, a pneumatic manual - small - drill);
- protective spray / varnish, with which you can cover the finished work;
- three or four very soft brushes (optional);
- maybe clear nail polish
- Easter mood!
A. How to competently empty the shell:
1. Push the shell up and down with the upholsterer's needle to make holes. Let's say the top hole is a little smaller than the bottom hole.
2. Hold the egg over the bowl. Place the tip of a baby nasal syringe over the small opening. Squeeze it to force air into the egg, causing the contents to “pop out” into the bowl.
3. Fill the syringe with cold water, and squeeze it all into an empty shell. Gently shake the shell with water, then, just as in step two, blow out the water with an empty syringe. Repeat a couple of times. Let the shell dry properly.
A1. Shell strengthening:
For many, it’s impossible not to crush the shell during work. Therefore, a method was invented to pre-strengthen the shell, although real craftsmen work without it.
1. Paint half of a clean eggshell with crystal-clear (no yellowish tinge) nail polish.
2. Place the egg on a paper towel with the processed side up (support it with something from below if necessary) - let it dry for 20 minutes.
3. Finish the opposite side of the egg in the same way - and again on a towel, dry for 20 minutes.
Everything, the egg is ready for work.
B. Shell cutting for Easter and as a hobby:
1. Wear a pair of vinyl gloves and a good ventilation mask to protect against salmonella and dust from shell handling (and this dust is very easy to inhale).
2. Take a pencil to delicately draw your design onto the shell by hand. Or, in order to redraw the finished design from a print on paper, use transfer paper or carbon paper, in the end: we attach the carbon paper with a stapler with the non-carbon part to the paper with the image (so that nothing slips off), we put all this on the egg and, so as not to paint with carbon paper egg, we work very carefully.
3. Attach a good diamond-tipped point to a rotating electric machine (or use a hand-held air drill). Very carefully but securely hold the eggshell in one hand and the working mechanism in the other, and slowly cut the design along the outline shown on the shell. Don't push hard!
4. As a result, pierce the shell with a diamond nozzle along the entire contour. Slowly and very delicately, remove the excess shell inside your pattern. Use a very soft brush or dry syringe to remove dust from the shell to get a smooth pattern.
5. Use a separate brush or spray to coat the cut egg shell with a protective and sealing material.
Additions and warnings:
“This amazingly beautiful work calls for sensitive fingers, attentiveness and great perseverance. A good result - to practice! Break the first couple of shells - do not be discouraged: with each new "canvas" it will be easier to work.
- You can also paint the eggshells with acrylic paint to add color to your work for Easter. Remember, of course, that the paint will completely fill the small cut out details. And you can pre-paint with husks, for example, individual parts of the shell.
I don’t want to offend Alexander in any way, but I would rather prescribe it not in Germany, where Alexander lives, but in Odessa, moreover, from the time of The Elusive Avengers and Buba Kastorsky - this is the type that suggests itself in my subconscious.
Nevertheless, despite all the mischief and humor of the image, Alexander works wonders. And for example, today we will look at the process of making such a carved egg:
And all further text belongs to the pen (keyboard) of the master.
I'll start with this picture:
I resize the image to approximately the original size:
With a simple sharpened pencil, transfer the drawing to the egg
I marked in red the places that we will remove first.
A magnifying glass is a useful and important thing. Firstly, you can see better, and secondly, it protects your eyes.
I advise you to cover the table with something soft, like foam rubber. You can immediately forget an egg accidentally dropped on a hard surface. Even if you do not see any cracks, believe me - they are, and during further work they will only grow.
I will be using Diamant High RPM bits, so called FG (friction grip)
These five types of cutters are essential for this and most other jobs.
"KaVo Super Torque 625" This turbine allows you to work up to 350-400. 000 rpm, water-cooled drill.
With a round head (0.5-0.7mm), carefully drill holes in the "red" places
Lightly go through all the contours of our Masks. This is what a cooked and washed egg looks like.
The turn of the "inverted cone" has come. The photo shows how you can create the initial volume.
Change the inverted cone to a sharp cone. Carefully! One of the most dangerous moments - we remove the "red" places inside the mask!
First outer circle:
This is such an interesting master class from Alexander Volk, a person who is ready to share not only the beauty of his products, but also his knowledge and skills, which is not so common among professional masters today.
We thank Alexander, and I invite all visitors to visit the master's website at
Recently I got acquainted with a new type of craft - eggshell carving. When I first got acquainted with the works of craftsmen, I had an association with ivory carving, which has long been practiced in China. The same delicate and jewelry work, only the material is very fragile.
For work masters use chicken, goose, ostrich or quail eggs. It takes perseverance, endurance, creative thinking and close attention to turn an ordinary egg into a real masterpiece.
How to create your own masterpiece?
1. Pre-wash the egg with water, dry it and mark with a pencil in the center from both ends of the place for future holes.
2. You can cut holes with a needle file or a thick needle. If you press hard, the egg will crack, so carefully and slowly screw the needle or file into the shell, first from the blunt end, then from the sharp one.
3. To extract the yolk and protein from the egg, it is necessary to destroy its integrity with the same needle, and then remove it with a large syringe, injector or small syringe. You can also blow them out. To do this, close one hole with your finger, and through the second with a syringe or other tool described above, inject air into the egg. Gradually, the liquid mass will flow out. It happens that because of the air, the pressure inside the egg exceeds the norm and the liquid does not flow out. Then open the second hole, the pressure will normalize and you can extract the contents, and also keep the shell from cracking.
4. Rinse the cleaned egg from the inside under running water and put it in the "Whiteness" chlorine solution for 12 hours. Then remove from the solution, rinse with water and dry the shell for a day. It is worth noting that after "Whiteness" the white egg will remain white, and the brown one will lose color a little. After that, you can proceed to the creative stage.
5. Cover your workplace with foam rubber to protect the egg from small cracks if you accidentally drop it from your hands.
6. With a simple pencil, draw a sketch on the shell or use a ready-made template, which we transfer to the surface of the shell through carbon paper.
7. If you are a beginner, then select the parts of the picture that you will cut out first with a colored pencil. As you gain experience, this will no longer be necessary.
8. High RPM bits are best for threading. Gently with a round head with a diameter of 0.5-0.7 cm, we drill holes in the places marked with a colored pencil. The drill should be held at a 90 degree angle.
9. Then lightly walk the cutter around the entire outline of the pattern. Remove the rest of the pencil sketch with an eraser.
10. Using a cutter with a "sharp cone", carefully remove the places marked with a colored pencil and only then move along the entire outline of the drawing. You need to cut the grooves with light movements, barely touching the surface of the shell and constantly check through the light for evenness of the deepening. No need to rush to cut through the shell in 1-3 passes, as it may crack. The slower the better. Remove loose pieces.
11. At the end, clean the egg with a soft brush from dust. Job completed!
Eggs of different sizes and colors are suitable for carving.
Eggshell carving– unusual modern hobby and the traditional craft of carving an empty egg shell.Story
Carving eggshell painting is one of the earliest forms of applied art. The shape of an egg attracts with its mystery, some kind of inner meaning. Many early civilizations considered the egg a symbol of fertility, tried to decorate it and used it for rituals aimed at increasing crops and fertility.
Modern man also appreciates the shape of the egg and its meaning. Eggshell carving attracts with the contrast between such a fragile object and what can be done with it. Now there is a whole galaxy of artists who are engaged in egg carving, they exhibit their work at exhibitions and in museums. High-class masters not only make carvings on eggshells, but also embossing, that is, the carving goes not only through, but also only in the upper layer of the shell.
On the right is an egg from the China Museum.
The art of eggshell carving was highly developed in China. It is customary to give a decorative egg on weddings, birthdays, birth of children. At first they gave simply red-colored eggs. But over time, the art of decoration reached heights, and carved eggs appeared. Museums in China have a large collection of such carved eggs from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Eggs after cutting were decorated with gold thread, diamonds, beads.
The use of carved eggs
The simplest designs for carved eggs
Carved shell can become a gift Easter egg, or a mini lampshade for a light bulb. Carved shell can be adapted for a candle or candlestick. Another application is interior decoration. You can create a whole composition or sculpture from several shells.
A carved shell as a gift to friends or family is a great reason to surprise the recipient of the gift, because egg carving is a rare and mesmerizing hobby.
Etsy online auction sells carved handmade eggs. The cost is from $35 to $250 per piece, depending on the complexity of the design.
Shell carving process
Shell carving process
- Shell preparation. Make a hole in the egg with a small drill or needle. Hold the egg firmly, but do not squeeze it so that the shell does not crack. Pierce the contents of the egg so that the yolk bursts. Then the contents of the egg can be removed with a syringe, or blown out (this will require a second hole opposite the first). Dry the shell. Sometimes people are interested disinfection the inside of the egg to have a completely clean craft item. To do this, draw boiled water into the syringe and inject water several times into the egg. Close the holes in the egg with your fingers and shake it. For special purity, it can be advised to treat the egg with a formalin solution.
To work, you need to remove the film that is present on the inner surface of the egg. The film interferes with work and creates sloppy lumps on the inside, spoiling the appearance of the finished model. For this purpose, an empty egg is immersed in a solution of water and "Whiteness" (in a ratio of 1: 1). The dissolution time of the inner film is from 30 minutes to 4 hours. The egg must be periodically monitored for peeling of the film. At the end of processing, the remains of the film are removed from the egg through the drilled holes, and the egg itself is washed with water.
- Soft graphite pencil (3M) draw a picture on the shell.
- A drill and a small bur can start shell carving, choosing those areas that should work in the light. Very light touch required, no pressure.
- After finishing work brush off the rest of the dust from the shell with a stiff brush or steel brush. If a trace of the drawing remains in some places, then it should be removed with an eraser or sponge, but this should be done as carefully as possible so as not to lose the work done.
- For shine you can rub the shell oil painting or cover with a thin layer of varnish. Sometimes polished felt.
Intricate designs for carved eggs
- Start with a simple design. As soon as the first experience is gained, you can move on to more complex design options.
- The most difficult thing is to hold the egg firmly, but at the same time, without pressure on it. It comes with experience. The eggs are usually held with bare hands. Gloves can wrap around the drill, which is dangerous for beginners. Only vinyl allowed
- Egg. Chicken, turkey, duck, goose, ostrich (emu) eggs are suitable for carving. Any color is suitable: white, brown, beige, green, black. It is more difficult to draw a drawing on a dark surface, for this you should use a white wax pencil or a needle. It is believed that it is best to use the eggs of an adult bird, the shell of such eggs is thicker and stronger.
- Needle for scratching a drawing, or pencils.
- Bormashinka. This is a tool that is used by jewelers, dentists. Basically, a small drill that is easy to hold in your hand, like a fountain pen. Powered by electricity. Modern cars are almost silent, have different modes of operation (fast turns, slow).
- Set of hogs(drilled). Among them there should be a powder puff (felt) for polishing the product. You can make a powder puff yourself by stringing a round plate of felt on a boron. Burs are a metal stick with a ball at the end.
Links
- All about hobbies, handicraft portal Hobbyportal.ru
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