I wanna learn this magic known as engraving!!!

[Johnny_WV]

Hello and thanks for having me. I'm Johnny, I've dabbled in many artforms... did my tattoo apprenticeship and earned my artist position in Texas while I was stationed at Ft Hood. Later moved onto various other arts, airbrushing... mural... storefront painting... my latest journey has been wood carving (very near and dear to my heart). I love woodworking and doing chip and relief carvings. But recently engraving has sparked a fire in me. Wood is wonderful and beautiful and warm, but wood doesn't last... It gets cracked, it gets chipped, its swells, it warps, it requires a certain moisture level to carve well... and my list goes on. I will always be a whittler at heart, but I want to make my art last, and after stummbling upon this website and forum I am in true utter awe. The works I have seen here are nothing short of amazing - masterpieces!!! I want to learn this artform and share it with everyone I know! Maybe even teach my daughter one day. I'm mainly interested in gun and knife engraving, but id love to learn to engrave anything and everything. I'm on a tight budget so I can't really afford a palm control classic, or hardly anything for that matr. But I've been truely inspired by all of you and can't wait to get some equipment of my own and start turning out beautiful, long lasting works of art!