What makes eggshell carving. Eggshell carving. B. Cutting in shells for Easter and as a hobby

Every Russian person is familiar with Easter from childhood. Everyone is used to helping mothers get ready for this day and paint eggs, decorate Easter dishes and baskets. However, egg decor is now popular not only for Easter, but also all year round... Some Russian and foreign masters have created and mastered a new art - carving on a specially prepared eggshell... They use like chicken eggs, and goose, ostrich, and some especially sophisticated craftsmen manage to cut even quail eggs in the shell. Carving is an interesting and varied activity, you just have to try yourself in this art!

Looking at a carved egg, it's hard to believe that anyone can do it all, even without professional tools and artistic skills. We will tell you how to carve a prepared eggshell at home in our master class for beginners.

Learn to carve eggshells in a simple master class

Tools and materials for work:
  • Raw chicken egg
  • Clear nail polish or acrylic polish, spray polish
  • Children's pear syringe or aspirator (you can do without them)
  • Simple pencil
  • Template (you can do it yourself)
  • Electric cutter, miniature drill or electric manicure set - which is
  • scalpel or small sharp knife
  • soft cloth or sponge to place on the table
  • magnifier (optional)
  • safety glasses and a respirator - for sensitive eyes and noses

All the tools and materials are fairly affordable, this is one of the advantages of this art form.

Start. Let's start carving on eggshells:
  1. To get started, you need to free the shell from the contents. The standard way, of course, will not work. To correctly make the workpiece, you need to make holes with the sharp end of a knife or a thick needle on the top and bottom of the washed and dried egg, then blow out the contents with a syringe or an aspirator, or you can simply put your lips to a smaller hole and blow hard. After that, pour soapy or clean water into the egg using the same syringe or syringe, then blow it out in the same way, repeat the procedure several times. Dry the egg. The shell is ready for further work.
  2. For beginners, the next step is to coat half of the egg with the varnish of your choice, dry it and turn it over, then varnish the second part as well. Thus, the shell is strengthened, it will be more difficult to spoil it during work. But experienced craftsmen omit this step, because in their experienced hands, the shell does not crack.
  3. The last step in preparing for carving is to place a sponge or soft cloth on the table behind which you are working. If an egg accidentally falls on a hard surface, it can break, and the mat will prevent this.

We disassemble the egg shell carving technology

Select the required template. You can spy on ideas in books, in a photo on the Internet, or come up with yourself. Next, you need to transfer it to the egg. You can use carbon paper, trace around the cut shape, or just sketch with a pencil.

It is worth starting with smaller parts and holes. For convenience, they are painted in a contrasting color, for example, red, as in the photo.

Holes are drilled in the places colored red.

Saw out marks - grooves along the contours of the pattern, without deepening the bit too much. The drawing should not fall out entirely.

After that, drill the holes marked in red, already completely.

Next, start cutting through the outline of the drawing. If you cut it out entirely, it will simply fall out, so you need to leave the partitions for which it holds in the shell. It is important to remember that shell carving is a fragile art, and it is better for a beginner to play it safe and leave the partitions thicker so as not to spoil the product.

After that, an openwork pattern is cut out, diverging in circles from the main pattern. You can pre-line it on the egg with a pencil or give free rein to your imagination.

At the end, it is worth grinding off all the irregularities with a scalpel or a sharp knife, brushing off the dust with a brush or blowing it off, after which the egg must be varnished.

How long can carved shells be stored?

The shell, despite its fragility, is a very durable material. If stored properly, it can stand for a very long time. To do this, it must be strengthened with varnish, as described above, and it is better to keep it under glass and on a stand. In addition, hanging eggs look great when they are tied by a ribbon or string.

At exhibitions, lights are placed behind the eggs or inside so that the lace pattern is better visible, as well as for a beautiful play of light and shadow.

Be that as it may, a carved shell is an amazingly beautiful and effective gift that will appeal to everyone. But it is better to remember that such a present can only be given to an adult, or the result of several hours of work will become unusable in a matter of seconds.

A selection of videos on the topic of the article

Carved eggs - the first steps to mastery
I already did a post about carved eggs (I will show the photo after this little lesson), but there were works by real professionals in eggshell carving. Today we will talk about the first steps in this hobby and how to make a carved egg yourself.

In preparing the post, I was helped by a self-made woman who has been carving for more than one year. But for us, she agreed to start all over again.

In principle, as I understand it, everyone can make these wonderful carved eggs, consisting literally of lace patterns, but for this (and this condition cannot be avoided) you need a special tool, at least an entry-level one - an engraver or something like a Dremel machine called the Multi Tool it looks like this.


Of course, at first glance at the carved egg, there are so many complex patterns on extremely beautiful designs that the eyes run up and it seems that it is not realistic to make such yourself. But as soon as you get the initial experience, everything breaks down into simple parts and you can already collect your patterns from them.

So, we need:

Multi Tool's - or any other model or engraver, preferably with a flexible shaft.
- 108 cutter for engraving
- Eggs
- Soft pencil and eraser

We start making carved eggs:

1. Before starting the thread, the preparatory stage. Each egg must be washed, cleaned and blown out.

To do this, drill a hole at the ends of the egg with a Multi Tool using a small drill.

We take the egg in the palm of our hand, gently squeeze so that the pointed ends are exposed and then drill holes in the lower and upper part.

Then, using a straightened paper clip, pierce the protein and mix it with the yolk, so it will be easier to blow out the contents. Then take out the paperclip and blow the contents of the egg onto a plate. If all operations are done carefully and the eggs should be washed thoroughly before the procedure, then you can also fry the eggs.


2. The second stage - choose the design of the carved egg. Using the softest pencil you can find, draw a drawing, which we will cut out. You don't need to press - with soft, but clear strokes, we apply the contour of the drawing to the shell.
You need to start with a simple design in order to work out your engraving skills and only then move on to complex elements and stunning laces, in which the eye gets entangled;) - everything comes with experience.

Look at these works - here are the simple and large forms that you need to focus on at first.


3. The third stage is already making a carved egg. We take an egg and hold it in one hand. In the other hand we have a Multi Tool with a flexible shaft on which an engraving cutter number 108 is mounted.

Carefully start touching the shell with the tip of the cutter and cut along the lines. Remove the remnants of the cut patterns with a sharp knife very carefully. If something doesn't work, then it's better to return to the router.


While working, remember that all touch should be very light. When carving an egg, pressure is contraindicated - you can easily damage the adjacent pattern.

A little tip:
Always hold the egg to be cut between your thumb and forefinger and move it in this position in a circle as you cut the design. The hand with the engraver should be in approximately the same position

Almost everyone is familiar with Easter since childhood. Everyone is happy to prepare for this day, paint eggs, decorate baskets and Easter dishes. Today, egg decor is popular not only for Easter. Craftsmen have created and mastered a new, magical art - eggshell carving.

Preparation for work

For work, they use both chicken eggs and ostrich, goose eggs, and some craftsmen even use quail egg shells. Eggshell carving is a delicate and painstaking process, but at the same time it is interesting and varied. Try yourself in this fragile art!

Eggshell carving can be learned at home with a limited number of tools, as well as doing it for the soul or business. You just need to be prepared for the fact that nothing will work the first time - after all, the eggshell is very thin and fragile, so it takes some time to adapt to such work, and get the necessary experience in the process of creating your egg masterpieces.

The eggshell carving technology is described below. The advantage of this art form is that all the tools and materials are quite accessible to everyone.

If you decide to test your capabilities in creating masterpieces from eggshells at home, then you will need:

  • chicken egg (raw);
  • simple pencil;
  • template (you can do it yourself);
  • electric cutter or miniature drill;
  • small sharp knife or scalpel;
  • paints for additional painting of the product or varnish for the topcoat;
  • soft cloth to place on the table;
  • spray varnish, acrylic varnish (transparent nail varnish can be used);
  • magnifier (optional);
  • respirator or safety glasses (for sensitive eyes).

Let's start carving

First you need to free the egg shell from the contents. To do this, make holes at the top and bottom of the washed and dried egg with the sharp end of a knife or a thick needle. After that, you need to blow out the contents of the egg with a syringe. Then we collect soapy or clean water into the egg using the same syringe or syringe and blow it out again. The procedure must be repeated several times. Dry the egg. The shell is ready to go.

For beginners in this business, it is advisable to strengthen the eggshell so that it is difficult to spoil it during work. To do this, cover half of the egg with varnish, dry it and turn it over, then varnish the second part.

  1. We start with a drawing - we make a blank. We take a pencil to delicately draw the chosen design onto the shell by hand. Ideas can be viewed in books, in photos on the Internet, or come up with yourself;

  1. Next, we transfer it to the egg. You can sketch with a pencil or use carbon paper. For convenience, we attach the carbon copy with a stapler with a non-carbon part to the paper with the image, put all this on the egg and, in order not to paint the egg with a carbon copy, we work extremely carefully.

  1. It is convenient to mark in red the places that we will cut out first.

To protect your eyes and better visibility while working, a magnifying glass is your best assistant.

  1. We cover the table with something soft (for example, a cloth or foam rubber). This will protect the shell from small cracks if an egg falls onto a hard table surface.

  1. For eggshell carving, we use high speed cutters. A photo of the five types of main cutters is presented below:

  1. Holes are drilled in the "red" places. First you need to cut out the marks - grooves along the contours of the pattern, while not deepening the nozzle too deep. After that, drill the holes, which are marked in red, completely. Remember that shell carving is a very fragile art. Therefore, it is better to play it safe and leave the partitions thicker so as not to spoil the product.

  1. After that, we cut out an openwork pattern that diverges in circles from the main pattern. We pass all the egg. This is one of the hardest and most painstaking moments in eggshell carving!

  1. At the end, it is worth removing all irregularities with a polishing stone or a sharp knife. And now your masterpiece is ready! For a beautiful play of light and shadow, as well as for a beautiful lace pattern to be better seen, you can place a backlight behind the egg or inside.

If you want to add brightness to your work, you can paint the eggshell acrylic paint... Despite its fragility, the shell is a very durable material. If stored properly, it will delight you for a long time. For this, the shell must be strengthened with varnish, and it is better to keep it under glass on a stand. Finished products look good when hung. To do this, it is better to tie them with a ribbon or string. Carved eggshell is a wonderful, very beautiful and effective gift that everyone will like.

Here are some inspiring photos:

You can also watch a video on stained glass painting.

Related videos

Good afternoon, residents and guests of the Land of Masters.
Once, answering one of the questions about cutting out large and small holes in an eggshell, I said that there are several ways. One of them was described earlier. Today I will try to show three more.

I want to warn you right away that this is not a dogma or an unshakable postulate. It is not necessary to repeat exactly as it is written. YOU ALWAYS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEARCH YOUR OWN WAYS TO ACHIEVE THE PURPOSE. And the more you find them, the better.

So, we have an eggshell, on which we need to cut out two sufficiently large, in relation to the shell itself, holes of irregular shape. Chicken shell.

All the previous remnants of the drawing from the shell were wiped off with an ordinary clerical rubber band so as not to distract from the work ahead and so as not to smear on the shell. I advise you to do this more often, after each completed stage in the work. Why? If this is not done, then by the end of the work, the white shell will turn dark gray from smeared graphite. And at the final stage of work, it will be quite problematic to clean it, since the fragile eggshell from a large number of cut holes different sizes and the form becomes even more fragile, and one wrong movement can lead to ... You imagine ...

With a simple pencil, draw a line by hand, along which we will cut. Be sure to leave stock for roughing and finishing, as the tailors say, with an allowance for seams.

Next to the line, make one or more through holes. They can be made with any drill or bur, for example, spherical. The diameter is not very important, if necessary, the hole can be increased to the required size.

Carefully cut a hole along the line.
Someone will say that this is a repetition of the previous method and will be mistaken. At first glance, they are similar. But there are fundamental differences.
1. Think about "seam allowances". In this case, the shell is cut into a rough cut, and the main study of the contour of the hole is still ahead.
2. When this way you can use a boron of any shape, except, perhaps, a ball, and any diameter.
Both of these differences greatly simplify the cutting of holes, regardless of their shape and size.
Using this method, you can cut the shell in the hole in one piece or in parts, separating "pieces" of different sizes and shapes. For this, several small holes are made.
This is one way.

The next way is to turn eggshells into dust, in the truest sense of the word. If someone has ever worked with a file, a file or any emery tool, then he will understand what is at stake.
The essence of this method lies in the fact that the eggshell is not cut out in pieces, but is ground with a bur (s), as a result of which the required hole is obtained.
To do this, it is enough to make one hole approximately in the middle of the part to be removed. And, gradually increasing it, cut the desired hole.
As with the first method, you can use burs of different shapes and sizes.
You don't have to start in the middle. You can make a hole in any corner or near any side. But then you will have to cut not in a spiral, but go "wide front", without leaving protrusions and depressions in the cutting lines, when leveling them, chips, shell breaks and cracks are inevitable.

Like this, step by step,

gradually, slowly,

enlarge the hole.
With this method, you can also remove the shell in parts. To do this, you just need to make more than one hole in the removed part, but several. And in the same way, gradually increasing each of them, connect them at the end of the work.

It remains only to bring the plan to the end and align the resulting hole along the line.
Then erase the remaining pattern with an eraser.
One hole is ready.

Using the third method, we will cut the shell in the hole in one piece. Although, you can do it in parts, as in the first two methods.
To do this, as before, first mark the future hole with a pencil, not forgetting to leave stocks.
Having marked the hole, we make a small groove along the line with a cutting bur.

Then we erase the remnants of the line with an elastic band. We wash our hands and once again "go through" with an elastic band, now over the entire surface of the shell.
All. Enough. We don’t take the pencil anymore.
We have a thin groove left on the shell. Now, with very light movements, barely touching, we "pass" it several times, gradually deepening it, avoiding strong pressure and uneven cutting. Do not try to cut through the shell in one or two "passes". The slower you go deeper, the less chances that the shell will crack in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
SHELL CRACKS MUST BE CONTROLLED AND CONTROLLED!

Yes, you heard right: not "paint eggs for Easter", but "cut eggs for Easter"! Professional and established egg art can be extremely difficult and painstaking work, but the result you can get is simply amazing. Farah Sayeed is an established guru of shell carving - he uses chicken, goose, emu and even ostrich eggs to create unusual and striking works, including dioramas inside.

It is indescribable how something as fragile as an empty egg shell can be turned into a stunning work of art. And this art can be learned at home (and Easter is the time to start!) With a limited number of tools, doing it for fun or business.

Prepare:
- raw eggs;
- upholstery needle (the same as the usual one, just much more);
- a bowl;
- children's nose syringe;
- cold water;
- vinyl gloves (just durable gloves, in which it is convenient to do extremely delicate work);
- protective mask;
- pencil;
- modern transfer paper - transfer paper, or decal paper (or carbon copy as a last resort);
- good diamond peak / pointed / fine tip;
- a rotating tool (in principle, you can even use a professional set for hardware manicure, where a rotating tool can work for a long time at high speeds; or there are, for example, Dremel sets, or, in principle, a pneumatic hand - small - drill);

- a protective spray / varnish that you can cover finished work;
- three or four very soft brushes (optional);
- possibly transparent nail polish;
- Easter mood!

A. How to properly empty the shell:

1. Push the shell from the top and bottom with the upholstery needle to make the holes. Let's say that the top hole is slightly smaller than the bottom one.

2. Hold the egg over a bowl. Place the tip of the baby's nose syringe over the small opening. Squeeze it to force air into the egg, forcing the contents to "escape" 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, as in the second step, blow out the water using an empty syringe. Repeat a couple of times. Let the shell dry properly.

A1. Shell strengthening:

For many, it is impossible not to crush the shells in any way during work. Therefore, a way was invented to pre-strengthen the shell, although real masters work without this.

1. Paint half of a clean eggshell with crystal clear (no yellowish tint) nail polish.

2. Place the egg on a paper towel with the treated side up (support with something underneath if necessary) - let it dry for 20 minutes.

3. In the same way, trim the opposite side of the egg - and again on a towel, dry for 20 minutes.

Everything, the egg is ready for work.

B. Cutting in shells for Easter and as a hobby:

1. Put on a pair of vinyl gloves and a good ventilation mask to protect against salmonella and shell dust (and this dust is very easily inhaled).

2. Use a pencil to delicately draw your design onto the shell by hand. Or, to redraw the finished design from a print on paper, use a transfer paper, or a carbon copy, in the end: we attach the carbon paper with a stapler with a 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 it egg, we work very carefully.

3. Attach a good pointed diamond bit to a rotating electrical mechanism (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 press hard!

4. Finally, pierce the shell with a diamond bit along the entire contour. Slowly and very delicately remove the excess shells from the inside of your design. Use a very soft brush or dry syringe to remove any shell dust for a smooth finish.

5. Cover the cut egg shells with a protective and sealing material with a separate brush or spray.

Additions and Warnings:

- This amazingly beautiful work calls for sensitive fingers, attentiveness and great perseverance. And 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 with.

- You can also paint the eggshells with acrylic paint to add brightness to your work for Easter. Remember, of course, that the paint will fill the small cut out parts entirely. Or you can pre-paint with husks, for example, individual parts of the shell.