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A brief discussion of form

Alan Weinberg

Alan Weinberg

Joined
Feb 18, 2023
Messages
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Location
Orange, CA
There are so many aspects to creation with this art—form, hollowing, sanding, finishing—but form takes precedent. I recently turned this small (5 3/4 inch diameter) ash hollow form and then by serendipity looked at it upside down—much better! Upside down it looks refined and classic but the way I turned it looks “saggy,” sort of like what’s happening to me in old age! I’ll have to work on my hollow form form!IMG_9323.jpegIMG_9322.jpeg
 
For me, when working on my form the concept I keep ever present in my mind is, “up”. Think about upward energy, lift. I think about the perception of gravity. I think gravity is overlooked, in large part because the piece on the lathe is sideways. The shape might look fine then, but set it on a surface, right side up and gravity takes hold!. Add to that, one is typically looking down at the finished piece. The lower parts get considerably lower, sag.
Doing the thirds thing helps, easier with the widest part being on third from the top.
For visualization, I sometimes take a photo of the piece, when working with form and rotate the image so the top is at the top, and you get a better sense of gravity and its effect.
 
Marc Banka said:
For me, when working on my form the concept I keep ever present in my mind is, “up”. Think about upward energy, lift. I think about the perception of gravity. I think gravity is overlooked, in large part because the piece on the lathe is sideways. The shape might look fine then, but set it on a surface, right side up and gravity takes hold!. Add to that, one is typically looking down at the finished piece. The lower parts get considerably lower, sag.
Doing the thirds thing helps, easier with the widest part being on third from the top.
For visualization, I sometimes take a photo of the piece, when working with form and rotate the image so the top is at the top, and you get a better sense of gravity and its effect.
Click to expand...
This is a really good point. I have often struggled with having something look good on the lathe, only to find that once I got it off and upright the proportions were just a bit off. It has never helped trying to turn my head sideways. I have to take the whole thing off.
 
I agree, Alan. The first has a bread dough ball appearance. The second is graceful and pleasing.

Think up, think up... I like that.
 
I had a piece years ago, a small osage form that I went through the bottom of. I think as I was putting it away, I put it up side down. Funny thing to me was that it looked good in both orientations.

robo hippy
 
That one does look great turned upside down! Plug the bottom put it back on the lathe.
I struggle with shape on vase type hollow forms, I’ve been told they are too fat towards the top like this one. I turned this one to look like a piece of old pottery I saw, but was told I need to work on shapes.
I want to do some carving or pyro on it and keep looking at it every time I go to the shop😁
1734391415328.png
 
If you use a Fibonacci caliper/gauge to set the line of the largest diameter, it is always 5/8 up from the base. Just like a Coke glass bottle, where the manufacturer's name appears on bottles, etc.... My comment on the first one is how distracting that slash of black filler in the crack. It totally cuts the flow of the grain in half and stops your eyes from following the form.
 
David Wyke said:
That one does look great turned upside down! Plug the bottom put it back on the lathe.
I struggle with shape on vase type hollow forms, I’ve been told they are too fat towards the top like this one. I turned this one to look like a piece of old pottery I saw, but was told I need to work on shapes.
I want to do some carving or pyro on it and keep looking at it every time I go to the shop😁
View attachment 69982
Click to expand...
I don't think it looks to fat but I would get rid of the nipple/beaded top and the concave near the base. The lower portion should be a more flowing convex curve right down to the table top.
 
Congratulation, Alan! You've made a giant leap in your craft--seeing well enough to critique your own work. You can now recognize what is and is not pleasing to your eye, and then making the next one better. Many hours of expert observations were spent at the Rocky Mountain Symposium doing exactly that. Bravo!
 
Richard Coers said:
If you use a Fibonacci caliper/gauge to set the line of the largest diameter, it is always 5/8 up from the base. Just like a Coke glass bottle, where the manufacturer's name appears on bottles, etc.... My comment on the first one is how distracting that slash of black filler in the crack. It totally cuts the flow of the grain in half and stops your eyes from following the form.
Click to expand...
Like this one?

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com
 
Paul Paukstelis said:
This is a really good point. I have often struggled with having something look good on the lathe, only to find that once I got it off and upright the proportions were just a bit off. It has never helped trying to turn my head sideways. I have to take the whole thing off.
Click to expand...

This is something I need to start doing. Michael Anderson mentioned it in another topic. In another twist of the same theme, on my dice tower project the top (while on the lathe) of the form looked OK if not great. However, when I crouched a little and looked at the bottom, it looked completely different and I could see the high spots better. Damn my eyes, son!
 
Don Wattenhofer said:
I don't think it looks to fat but I would get rid of the nipple/beaded top and the concave near the base. The lower portion should be a more flowing convex curve right down to the table top.
Click to expand...

Good advice. I recently had someone critique one of my pieces. He said, "Great form right up until it hits the table." That's the kind of feedback that we need.
 
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