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Understanding the Dance: Repoussé and Chasing
Imagine you have a sheet of malleable metal. Repoussé is the art of working from the back or reverse side of the metal. Using specialized punches and a hammer, you carefully push the metal outwards, creating the basic volumes and high points of your design on the front side. Think of it as sculpting from behind, raising the primary forms that will later be refined. Chasing, conversely, happens on the front or face side of the metal. Once the basic forms are pushed out via repoussé, you flip the piece over. Now, using a different set of tools, you refine those forms, add sharp details, create textures, define edges, and push down the background areas to enhance the relief. Chasing brings clarity, definition, and the final intricate details to the piece. It’s a constant conversation between pushing and refining, working both sides of the metal until the desired relief emerges.The Artisan’s Toolkit
Success in chasing and repoussé relies heavily on having the right tools and understanding how to use them. While the list can seem extensive, a few core items are essential to get started.Hammers and Punches
The primary hammer is the Chasing Hammer. It has a distinct shape: a large, flat face for striking punches and a rounded peen end, often used for texturing or direct shaping. Its handle is typically bulbous near the head, designed for a specific grip that allows for precise, responsive tapping rather than heavy pounding. The real magic happens with the punches (also called chasing tools or snarling irons for specific inside work). These are essentially steel rods with shaped ends, each designed for a specific task:- Liners: Create lines and define edges. They have thin, straight, or curved ends.
- Planishers: Smooth and flatten areas. They have flat or very slightly domed, polished faces.
- Modeling Tools: Broad, smooth, often curved faces used for pushing out larger areas in repoussé.
- Matting Tools: Impart texture to backgrounds or specific areas, making the raised elements stand out more. Their faces have patterns like dots or lines.
- Setting Down Tools: Used to push the metal down around the raised design, defining the relief more sharply.
- Embossing Punches: Used from the back (repoussé) to create specific raised shapes like domes or bumps.
Support: The Pitch Bowl
You can’t effectively shape thin metal in mid-air. It needs support, something firm yet yielding. This is where pitch comes in. Chaser’s pitch is a viscoelastic material, usually a blend of pine rosin, bitumen or asphaltum, and a filler like plaster of Paris or brick dust, with tallow or oil added for plasticity. It’s solid at room temperature but softens when heated, allowing you to embed your metal sheet. When cool, it holds the metal securely while still having enough give to allow the metal to be pushed and shaped by the punches. The pitch is typically held in a heavy, stable container, often a cast iron pitch bowl set on a leather ring or sandbag, allowing it to be tilted easily.Important Safety Note: Heating pitch must be done carefully and with good ventilation, as the fumes can be harmful. Never overheat pitch, as it can become flammable. Always wear safety glasses when working with hot pitch and striking metal tools.
Choosing Your Canvas: Metals and Preparation
Chasing and repoussé work best on malleable metals. Copper is perhaps the most popular choice for beginners and experienced artists alike due to its excellent workability, beautiful colour, and relative affordability. Brass and sterling silver are also classic choices, each offering different working properties and aesthetic qualities. Even thin sheets of mild steel or aluminum can be worked, though they may require more frequent annealing. The key to working metal effectively is annealing. As you hammer metal, it becomes work-hardened – stiffer and more brittle. Annealing is the process of heating the metal to a specific temperature (which varies depending on the metal) and then cooling it appropriately (often by quenching in water, though some metals require slow cooling) to restore its malleability. You will need to anneal your piece multiple times throughout the chasing and repoussé process, typically whenever you feel the metal becoming too resistant to your tools.The Rhythmic Process: From Flat Sheet to Detailed Relief
While every project is unique, the general workflow follows a pattern:1. Preparation is Key
Start by ensuring your metal sheet is perfectly flat and clean. Anneal it to make it as soft as possible for the initial repoussé stage. Transfer your design onto the metal surface using methods like carbon paper transfer, scribing, or drawing directly with a permanent marker.2. Setting Up
Gently heat the pitch until it’s soft enough to embed the metal. Press your metal sheet, design-side down (for repoussé), firmly into the pitch, ensuring good contact across the entire area you intend to work. Allow the pitch to cool and harden completely.3. Repoussé: Raising the Forms
Working on the back of the metal, select appropriate modeling or embossing punches. Use your chasing hammer to strike the punches, starting gently and gradually increasing force. Work systematically across your design, pushing out the main volumes and shapes. Focus on achieving the general height and form rather than fine detail at this stage. You are essentially roughing out the sculpture from behind.4. The Flip: Cleaning and Re-embedding
Once the initial repoussé is complete, gently heat the pitch around the edges of your metal piece until you can carefully pry it loose. Clean off all residual pitch using appropriate solvents (like mineral spirits or turpentine, depending on your pitch formula – always follow safety precautions). You will likely need to anneal the piece now, as the repoussé work will have hardened it. After cleaning and annealing, re-heat the pitch and embed the metal piece again, this time face-up.5. Chasing: Defining the Detail
Now, working on the front, you begin refining the forms raised by the repoussé. Use liners to sharpen edges and draw details. Employ planishers to smooth surfaces or create facets. Use setting-down tools to push the background areas back, increasing the sense of depth. Apply textures with matting tools to create contrast. This is where the artwork truly comes into focus.6. Iteration and Refinement
Detailed relief work is rarely achieved in a single pass of repoussé and chasing. You will likely need to repeat the process: clean the piece, anneal, flip it back over (face-down), do more repoussé to refine volumes or push out new areas, clean, anneal, flip face-up, and do more chasing. Each cycle allows for greater complexity and refinement. Patience is essential; listen to the metal and don’t force it.Achieving Mastery in Detail
Moving beyond basic forms requires developing a high degree of control and sensitivity. Tool Control: The angle at which you hold the punch, the weight of your hammer blow, and the rhythm of your tapping all influence the mark made on the metal. Subtle shifts create vastly different effects. Practice exercises, like creating consistent lines or textures on scrap metal, are invaluable. Tool Maintenance: Sharp liners create crisp lines; polished planishers create smooth surfaces. Regularly maintaining your tool faces ensures they perform as intended. A nicked or rough tool will transfer its imperfections to your work. Gradual Build-Up: Don’t try to achieve the final depth or detail immediately. Build up forms and textures layer by layer, annealing as needed. This prevents overstretching or tearing the metal and allows for more controlled sculpting. Visual Language: Understand how different tool shapes create different visual effects. A round matting tool creates a stippled effect, while a lined matting tool creates directional texture. Combine textures and smooth areas strategically to guide the viewer’s eye and enhance the three-dimensional illusion.Verified Technique: Consistent annealing is crucial. Work-hardened metal not only resists shaping but is also prone to cracking under stress. Learning the correct annealing temperature and cooling procedure for your specific metal is fundamental to successful chasing and repoussé.
