Posted by La Vardera on February 29, 2000 at 18:10:16:In Reply to: French Curve Tool posted by Alfred Scott on February 29, 2000 at 15:01:28:
There are two traditional shapes for french curves that I am familiar with:
One is a long curve with a slight "s" shape, curly on each side, one small, the other fat.
The second has a long graceful curve on one side, and two curlys on the other side, one in a knot, the other sort of open.
These are different from "ships" curves which are a graduated set of similar curves which were used to draw cross sections of - ships!
If you really want to be able to have it feel like a french curve you would have these french curve shapes that you could rotate, and change the proportion of by tugging on the corners and side control points, and then you could set the tool to remember the portion of the tool that you were drawing the curve against - for instance, you would click in two places and that portion of the french curve would be drawn. I know it does not need to be so literal - but it would be more fun!
Hey Alfred - this is not the John DeFazio I know from Hightstown, NJ? Is it?