need some help

[David Christopher]

Ive got this thing rough turned and hollowed to about 1 1/2" thick. my question is does this form look OK or does it need to be reshaped I still have enough wall thickness to change it. it is about 11" wide and 14" high without the wallnut top

[Bill Bolen]

Dave, only because you asked and this is just IMHO. Overall looks nice but I think the shoulder area is a bit too square at the top and overall a nice flowing curve to a much smaller foot would make the whole form flow better. Looks a bit "chunky" if you know what I mean..Good luck with it. Does that dark area at the pith look like a flying angel or just my eyes?...Bill..

[David Drickhamer]

Hi Dave,
I like the shape and the wood.
Dave

[Greg Just]

IMHO I would smooth the transition between the 2 woods. Love the figure in the wood. Hopefully it is dry or you might get some cracks in what looks like the pith

[David Christopher]

also I forgot to say that the wallnut top is just sitting there not attached

[Jeff Nicol]

Dave, The top collar is a little large for the base and I would make the bottom smaller to help your eyes follow the shape, maybe a small secondary curve out at the base instead of straight to the bottom. Draw some pics of different profiles until you are completly satisfied and go with that. I would put some sealer on the end grain pronto as it will crack soon!

Jeff

[Scott Conners]

I prefer forms like this to have continuous curves. If this were mine, I'd either reduce the diameter of the base to make the curve continue all the way down, or I'd bring the mid waist in and then back out to make a nice ogee curve to the form. Here's a couple of quick pics of what I'd do. They aren't perfect and symmetrical, but I find they can really help for visualizing a finished project.

[David Christopher]

Scott, what program did you use to manipulate those pics

[Scott Conners]

David, I used Photoshop to make those pictures, using the liquify tool. I cut the vase out of the original picture with the pen tool, adjusted the shape with the liquify tool, and then put the new shape on top of a basic white to black gradient.

If you don't have photoshop, there is a free program called GIMP that is pretty powerful, though it doesn't have an identical tool to liquefy, it has other distort tools like iwarp. They aren't quite the same, as GIMP isn't vector based like PS, but similar results are possible with a bit of practice.

[Steve Schlumpf]

David - looks like you are off to a great start! Playing around with form is always a matter of personal choice as what looks good to me may not look good to anyone else.

That said - I like what Scott offered as options but felt the top should match the base a little more - so took the liberty of modifying one of Scott's photos just to give you another idea.

106724

Hope that gives you something else to think about! Have fun with it!

[alex carey]

I like Steve's shape. Oughta consider that. Looking good so far though. You should see some of the terrible shaped things I have made. I have thrown some of them in a bonfire I was so ashamed.

Alex

[David Christopher]

Thanks everyone, thats alot of help. I will be in the shop tomorrow making improvements (hopefully)