First, the concept for the marquetry picture is decided on.

This is often based on a photograph.







The next step is to create a line drawing based on the picture concept.

During this process elements can be added or subtracted to make the composition more interesting.



Before any cutting can take place there is a lot of planning that needs to be done.

Hours are spent picking which woods will be used to represent each piece that makes up the marquetry picture.

Subtle tonal differences need to be achieved for areas where lighting in the picture varies.



Each piece is then cut out by hand.



The pieces are fit together to form the total image.



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The complete assembly is then bonded to a backing board using wood glue and a large press.








The surface is then scraped by hand with a cabinet scraper to level the picture perfectly flat.



The surface is then sanded by hand using 100 grit, 150 grit, then finally 220 grit.



Once the surface is flat and smooth, a clear coat of sanding sealer (shellac) is then applied.

The picture is then lightly sanded with 200grit and a second coat of sanding sealer is applied.



The finish coats are now applied using either lacquer, shellac or polyurethane.



If needed, wet sanding is done to polish the finish to a high sheen.






You can watch a video of what it looks like to put the first coat of finish on a work of marquetry art.
 Notice how the tones of the woods change...