Working Quickly

[Wmcullen]

I'm not sure if this is right or wrong; unique or common. But it works for me and I want to share in case it's interesting.​

18: Working Quickly
last post: 17-Sanding facets with homemade drum for pens

I enjoy moving quickly and turning out a few pens at a time. I'm not advocating everyone should rush, but I do think there are virtues for beginners, or anyone interested in improving, to generating a lot of pens.​

Story from the book Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pound of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot – albeit a perfect one – to get an "A". Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.​

Summary
Turning out a large number of pens has these advantages:
1. I learn faster

Trying the same(ish) design a few times in a row always results in valuable lessons learned and new-found skills.​

2. I make mistakes quicker

I love the philosophy of "fail quickly" so you can move on. Pen shapes or techniques that don't work are uncovered before much time or effort is invested.​

My amazing wife gave me two inexpensive cases, each able to hold 48 pens as well as tacit approval to spend time filling them up. Now my biggest task is finding good homes for my pens.

Thanks for reading
Cullen

 

[sorcerertd]

That theory sounds fair enough and those are very nice pens, so it appears to be working for you. Now, what I'd really like to know about is the pattern just above the band on the pen between the padauk and zebra (I think those are the woods anyway). Is that intentional? If so, how did you do it?

 

[mark james]

That theory sounds fair enough and those are very nice pens, so it appears to be working for you. Now, what I'd really like to know about is the pattern just above the band on the pen between the padauk and zebra (I think those are the woods anyway). Is that intentional? If so, how did you do it?

You picked out a good one to ask about!! All are well, that one is exceptional!

 

[Wmcullen]

Todd- Spot on species identification!
Thanks for asking about this pen. It was an experiment with a "cheap-o" NEJE laser engraver. I was seeing what kind of resolution it could handle. Some of the thinner lines gave it an interesting "texture."
Here's a higher-res version so you can see it better... warts and all. ; )
I'm finding there's a whole world of creative fun to be had with Photoshop/Illustrator and a laser engraver.

 

[mnerland]

I really like the wood center bands. Didn't really grab on to the "quantity" analogy, but nice pens!

 

[sorcerertd]

It looks pretty cool to me. Thanks for the other pic. I thought it looked a little patterned, kind of like the diamond knurl pattern on the EB branded kits.