How to Make Amazing Scroll Saw Projects

We should strive to improve our skills and create the best scroll saw projects to our ability. What is the difference between a good scroll saw project and a great piece of art? While it is subjective, one factor I often consider is the artist’s use of detail. Details, large or small, can dramatically impact how someone views, thinks, and feels about art.

What are Scroll Saw Details?

When I use the term “detail,” I don’t simply refer to complicated projects that utilize countless pieces of wood. That’s a method of creating detail, but I don’t feel a project needs to go to that extreme unless the woodworker chooses to do so. Consider the scroll saw project discussed in the video above. The artwork is of Elektra, drawn by Carmen Carnero. Before cutting each piece of wood, I took time to consider the thickness of the board, the visual appeal of the wood, and the flow of the wood grain. I would do this if I was making my scroll saw art from two boards or 200 boards. It’s not so much about numbers and complexity, and more so about how we pay attention to the fine details so they are used to our advantage.

Make Wood Look like Fabric

A major challenge with this specific scroll saw project was the complexity of Elektra’s dress and my attempt to make it look like a realistic, flowing fabric. I decided on three primary techniques:

Blend different wood species
Create depth and space
Utilize grain flow

The dress is created from redheart and bloodwood. These different shades of red were combined to create an illusion of dimension. To push this even further, I varied the thickness of my boards and used a lot of negative space or fine cuts that provide shadow. I used bloodwood primarily for the sections of the dress in the background. However, I also used it for a few select pieces towards the foreground. This technique keeps the eye off balance, especially when the large majority of the dress is made from lighter shaded redheart. It can be argued that the viewer shouldn’t struggle to focus on art. I would claim the opposite in this case. I want the eye to bounce around her dress, just like the dress bounces and flows in the air.

Grain direction can make or break a scroll saw project. Or at least, that’s my opinion when critiquing my own projects. Notice how Elektra’s dress wraps tightly around her body from the waist up. The dress consists of individual layers that twist around her. I tried my best to utilize the wood grain in a similar manner. One wrapping may have the grain flow subtly from top left to bottom right. The very next piece may be the opposite. This give each piece an opportunity to stand out from its peers. When examining how the wood grain flows along the board, we can’t help but notice how this affects color. This was also something I tried to utilize to my advantage by purposefully using darker spots in areas that I felt needed more contrast.

Less is More

Certain aspects of art can be difficult to translate into wood. In terms of my projects, I’m primarily speaking of hair and skin tones. It is up to the woodworker to decide where to devote effort, but sometimes less is more. In this case, I wanted the dress to speak loudest. I had the intention of combining several wood species to make up her skin tone. I changed the plan because I though the dress would look more dynamic if against a uniform skin color.

The same technique was applied to the hair. Elektra typically has a large volume of black hair. That would overwhelm the art. Instead, I focused on using select hair stands of various thickness and color. When I wanted to emphasize light, I used a lighter toned wood. The hair in the background is darker and thinner.

Less Detail Creates More Detail?

Check out Elektra’s cap. This is the perfect example of how all of aspects of detail collide. The front of her cap is a lighter shade of red than the back. The back looks darker because it has more negative space and the grain flows from different directions, merging into the knot. You’ll find that the front of the cap sits next to sweeping strands of bright hair. Elektra’s face is a solid color that only uses negative space for depth so it doesn’t take away from the cap and hair. When all of these things are combined, our eyes see that the front of the cap is pronounced in the foreground, the knot is further back, and the ribbons flow far into the background. In reality….all of these pieces are close to the same thickness. There isn’t a significant difference between the sections that look to be in the very front and those appearing to be in the very back. It’s simply the combination of colors and grain that provide this illusion, not the use of countless tiny wood pieces.

I am often critical of my work. This makes me strive to be a better woodworker. There are aspects of the project that I believe could have been better. Regardless of their execution, I would still apply the same techniques I’ve described. If I want to make great scroll saw projects, I need to continue focusing on the details.

Here’s a list of tools and materials that I used to make this project. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

•• Tools & Materials ••

My Amazon Store: https://www.amazon.com/shop/newtonmakes

Scroll Saw: https://amzn.to/2TVZEQO

The BEST scroll saw blades: https://amzn.to/3rSJbOF

My FAVORITE all-around scroll saw blade: https://amzn.to/3Hfv6lP

Wenge veneer: https://wisewoodveneer.com/product/wenge-wood-veneer-quarter-cut/

Cherry veneer: https://wisewoodveneer.com/product/cherry-wood-veneer-cabinet-grade/

My go-to glue roller: https://amzn.to/45jcAkI

Contact paper: https://amzn.to/45g5tJM

Wood Glue: https://amzn.to/40RvfUf

Spray Adhesive: https://amzn.to/4l3mrkf