Pictures

[Swatopluk]

The result of 3 days of work

[Aggie]

I think it is not a question of tidyness. This looks to me more like a modern splinter mosaic (using opaque glass). The 'pieces' are far too irregular.
I think the only way would be to actually score a beach to collect enough pebbles of different natural colours (buying would be far too expensive) for an archaic pebble mosaic (as the pre-classical Greeks did).

How about photographing a smaller set of pebbles on a white background, then piecing them together digitally? If you had say, 100 different pebbles, it shouldn't be too obvious that they were duplicates.   The most difficult part would be rotating them (if required), but if all were approximately round, even that would not be necessary.

[Swatopluk]

I calculated that the full mosaic would need at minimum 18000 pieces, more likely 2-3 times that. In reality that would be too big and heavy to handle. I'll try drawing by hand again in the coming days.

[Swatopluk]

Now the wading bull in an appropriate mosaicized environment.

[pieces o nine]

That's a lot of work, Swato, and it looks nice.

[Roland Deschain]

Those are really nice. I'm convinced. It's very intricate work, and i've always respected the master tilers (?) who designed and created these pieces of art.

[Swatopluk]

Preliminary try at drawing mosaic by hand


http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x97/Swatopluk/Mosaik_Ulufer_Sketch_1b.gif

Files too big to attach and the .jpg, the only one <1MB, leads to an error message. Is that file type illegal here?

[Sibling DavidH]

No, most images posted here are jpegs.  I like the mosaic work.

[Swatopluk]

Unfortunately, I am working at the limit here. The image is scanned from an A4 page and the tiles are not much bigger than 1x1 mm. The smallest tesserae one can get in a shop are 3x3 but that's a rarity. Standard is 1x1 cm and 'liliput' is 5x5 mm. So, if I tried to do it for real, it would be in excess of a square metre and cost several hundred € in material alone (unless I'd cut all the tesserae myself from marble rubble.
At the scale I drew it, I'd have it barely fit on an A3 page (the bull might not fully fit below).
The drawing is in pencil. For the 'real' thing (on paper) I'll need to use crayon since the squares are too small to fill in. But what about the seams then?
Not to forget the large areas outside the emblema itself.
Fory any kind of authenticity I'd also need aproper frame eating up even more space. Scanning would be the next problem (not with my equipment and I am not that happy about copyshops in that regard).

I guess using special software (which I am sure exists) would make it much easier. But where to get t and at what price.

What idiot gave me the idea to start in the first place

[Aggie]

Try with grains of sand, perhaps? It'd take a steady hand, some very well-made tweezers, and a pair of these:

[Swatopluk]

Would not give the intended effect (i.e. looking medieval). I also lack said steady hand. Another option would be to cut the tesserae from cardboard (available in marble patterns.

Edit: I googled for software. Most avaialble programs only do 'industrial', i.e. strictly x-y-rectangular designs. Software for 'artistic' mosaic, i.e. not bound by the x-y grid exists but is hideously expensive even for non-commercial use (talking about prices > 1000 €). Admittedly it's made for professionals and can do everything except personally put the material thing together (but it will calculate the price, order the material and helps you in your communication with customers).

[Swatopluk]

Attempt in colour still without 'white' background tesserae.
Scan leaves something to be desired colourwise.

[Sibling DavidH]

'Scuse me butting in, here's another green man for Aggie.  I took this today in Brecon Cathedral - it is the font, of course.

[pieces o nine]

Nice Green Man, DavidH!

Swato: what kinds of small aquarium gravel are available to you? We have some that are quite luridly flourescent, but also good selections in the range of colors appropriate to the Middle Ages. I'm thinking this might better suit your desired scale, be more affordable, and result in less final weight than other kinds of rock or tile.

[Swatopluk]

I was thinking about about 'spongy' material that could be easily dyed. It does not need to last. Just long enough to photograph it in a suitable environment. The latter could be the tricky part. The churches here are almost exclusively red brick without plastering