Martin Strolz

Biography

The engraving art of Martin Strolz honors the classic Austrian firearms heritage that’s been a passionate part of his life for nearly 40 years. In 1972 at the young age of fourteen, Martin’s love of engraving called him to leave his Innsbruck home and begin his career.

Strolz was first educated in Steyr, a town rich in firearms history, where he graduated with distinction. He then worked in Ferlach under Hans Singer, considered the top Austrian engraver of the time. Following this, Martin worked for gunmakers Franz Sodia and Lechner & Jungl. To put his career in perspective, Martin completed his diploma as a master engraver before he got a driver’s license.

Martin’s other passion is teaching. For 20 years, he has taught in schools and his own studio. Now, he is part of HTL-Steyr faculty serving Austrian and international students.

Strolz is in his artistic prime. His engraving skill has been recognized in publications and books including The Double Gun Journal, L’incisione delle Armi Sportive, Guns Magazine and Kulturbericht des Landes Oberösterreich. Many of Martin’s clients prefer an “understatement” style of engraving which is a recognizable Austrian form.

It emphasizes classic themes, absolute execution and clean structure with little or no gold. By choice, this is a conservative style with timeless elegance and Austrian heritage. Any experienced engraver who strives to create pieces that are appealing today and for a hundred years should enroll in Martin Strolz’s Grand Master course.

2009 Course Information

Layout, Design & Fine Engraving
Techniques for Firearms

(This course is for experienced engravers.)

Uniquely, the first part of this course will begin at home. Once accepted, each attendee will receive a special packet from Strolz containing materials that guide each person through a design and drawing phase. Martin will evaluate each step using photos or scans forwarded to him by email. This approach will allow the studio course in September to maximize the time spent on metal engraving itself.

Once completed and approved, each attendee will then bring their final drawings to class for the second part: five days of live studio engraving with Martin. The actual studio work will focus on relief engraving and shading techniques of a game scene in a typical Austrian style. The opportunity for significant artistic growth from this approach is clearly exceptional.

Learning Objectives

• Understanding Master-level ornamentation by studying artistically appropriate examples
• Developing advanced designs using a diversity of leaves and Renaissance art concepts
• How to compose and draw complete layouts for high level artwork
• Shading & engraving fine ornamental motifs
• Executing Master-level relief engraving
• Favorable animal anatomy with correct, attractive posture
• Choosing natural plant forms and stylizing them for use in backgrounds
• Creating elegance without overdoing the art
• When and how to use gold
• Correctly executing classic engraving techniques including metal removal, metal forming, background detailing
• Creating textures by chasing, scraping and smoothing
• Modeling, sculpting and shading game animals
• Exploring and utilizing the Austrian style of engraving from both historic and contemporary perspectives