ArtMetal

I look forward to seeing your images of the pumpkin. The black pitch is harder to work with and it is possible to do just fine with it. I recommend pitch from Northwest Pitchworks.

Something like a pumpin is a good subject matter to do in repousse since the lines are simple and there is plenty of broad space in the skin. It is possible to do much work with wooden embossing like tools that will push out large volumes of metal at once without overstressing it. I use the old axiom..."If you don't want it there... don't put it there.

Many folks tend to use too small a tool to push out the metal and have to spend extra time smoothing it out. Even at the small scale in which I work, I try to use the approptiate sized tool for the task.

One word of caution.... Repousse and chasing is very addictive and can lead to dependancy on more tools and metal.

Fred Zweig
Metalsmith