How is scrimshaw made?
Mass-produced scrimshaw is usually photo-transferred, or it may be mechanically painted, laser cut or otherwise mechanically etched into the surface, or, as in the far east, produced by a workshop of people, each one doing just one part of the work and then passing it off to the next worker who does their part, then the next, and so on. Museum and collectable quality scrimshaw is done by an individual artist, start to finish. Their individual technique is recognizable throughout the piece. The ivory must first be worked to a fine polish in the area where it will be scrimmed. Polishing seals the surface and keeps pigments that are added later from staining the material in unwanted areas. Some artists then draw designs freehand onto the surface while others first draw on thin paper and then transfer their design to the surface. However they start, the next step is to incise the surface of the material with fine scratches or thousands of small holes (called stippling), using sharp tools s
