[SVD]

One other thing you might try is some temporary blackening of the cuts. While you may or may not want the piece blackened for 'real life', it's good for pictures for here because it shows the cuts better.

For temporary darkening I'll either rub in some transfer wax or use a Sharpie.

The transfer wax I use is home made per Marty Rabeno's instructions - it's a ChapStick melted down and mixed with powdered graphite. Just rub some on an engraving and it will darken the lines right up.

For the Sharpie you 'paint' the piece with the marker and use your thumb to rub it back off of the surface.

For a quick check while working either method works, or, after you've done it a couple of times, the dirt that's accumulated on your thumb will do the trick all by itself.

Both clean off with acetone (although a toothbrush helps with the wax). I'll darken like this while working (sometimes) to see how things are looking - especially when I'm shading. If I can't decide if a piece will look better dark or bright I'll darken it to see.

I've been using Rustoleaum for my blackening but I've recently seen a couple of other things I want to try out.