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What sort of draw-on-the-photo program are you guys using? (I'm running a Mac, if it matters)

I prefer the longer stem. George, I just scribbled with the paintbrush tool in GIMP.

LatakiaLover wrote:What sort of draw-on-the-photo program are you guys using? (I'm running a Mac, if it matters)

I used paint on a PC.

Solomon_pipes wrote:I prefer the longer stem.

I can see some merits to it for sure. Can you explain why you think it works with the overall composition?

It sort of allows the stummel to become it's own Individual component. You are looking at a long flowing arc made of two inverse/mirrored sections. It somehow feels like a short stem couldnt be big enough or wide enough to balance the stummel.

To my eye, the long stem works better with the pipe because the front/back cross section of the bowl is pretty small compared to the shank. Length works with it, makes it elegant. The short stem makes the visual focus the shank.

Solomon_pipes wrote:It sort of allows the stummel to become it's own Individual component.

This is interesting. Does forcing each component to stand alone aid or detract from the creation of balance and harmony in a composition?

Sasquatch wrote:To my eye, the long stem works better with the pipe because the front/back cross section of the bowl is pretty small compared to the shank. Length works with it, makes it elegant. The short stem makes the visual focus the shank.

How interesting. This is making me take a long hard look at those images again. Thanks, Todd!

LatakiaLover wrote:What sort of draw-on-the-photo program are you guys using? (I'm running a Mac, if it matters)

George, I use Pixelmator to do photo editing on my mac. It's way overkill and is difficult to learn (for me anyway) but it works once you get the hang of it.

As for the long and short stems, surprisingly, I really like the longer stem. Oddly enough, like Solomon says, it takes attention away from the stem even though there's more of it. That being said, I think both options work.

Folks, if I may.

I'm not a pipe maker but I've been designing things for over forty years. That said, I like the long stem on this pipe because:
The curve continues the line of the bowl. I almost expect to see some continuation of the flow. The short stem is abrupt and visually jarring. The long stem allows the pipe to end gracefully.
The long stem visually counterbalances the mass of the bowl. Bringing the visual mass of the pipe more to the center of the flowing lines.

How interesting! It sounds like the consensus is that the longer stem brings more harmony and balance to the composition than the shorter stem does. It's also clear why a longer stem is causing this: given the overall weight of the shank vs the bowl, a longer stem draws attention away from the weight of the shank, bringing balance and harmony to the composition as a whole. Awesome!

Thank you everyone for your participation in this conversation. You've all helped me to see what will bring the most balance and harmony to this composition and it is not at all what I initially saw myself. Thank you all for helping me to see better!

i like the first one. im sorry i cant add onto why it would be harmonious. i just like it. all in all, im sure this will be a fantastic looking pipe, its very florov-y or klien-y looking to me. all you chi-town makers are just starting to turn into one amazingly talented, really expensive, pipemaking cyborg.

btw I agree with Micah, Im loving reading this thread! it great to see everyone opinions on design and how each maker would take it their own way. pure awesomeness.

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I can understand how a long stem will balance out the pipe. The hangup for me with this pipe, is the innate between the shank and the bowl. I feel as if the shank pinches too much at the base of the bowl, which is the source of the imbalance of the composition. My eye is drawn to that spot, and it it gets stuck there. Visually it's distracting. The longer stem can help alleviate this imbalance, but I still think the innate problem in the design is the shank transition. It feels disjointed.

Is that "why?" enough for you David?

The Smoking Yeti wrote:I can understand how a long stem will balance out the pipe. The hangup for me with this pipe, is the innate between the shank and the bowl. I feel as if the shank pinches too much at the base of the bowl, which is the source of the imbalance of the composition. My eye is drawn to that spot, and it it gets stuck there. Visually it's distracting. The longer stem can help alleviate this imbalance, but I still think the innate problem in the design is the shank transition. It feels disjointed.

Is that "why?" enough for you David?

Thanks for trying to explain this, Micah!

However, I'm left without an understanding of why that pinch is causing imbalance in the composition. It's clear that it feels that way to you, but I'm trying to understand how I can avoid causing disharmony in the composition. In order to achieve this, I need something more substantive.

Will you explain why it feels disjointed, why is your eye drawn there, why is it distracting, why is this pinch the innate source of imbalance causing disharmony in the composition?

To me, it is distracting. The pinch is an abruptness amongst all those flowing lines. My eye wants the flowing to continue. Maybe a gentle bead on the stem would smooth out the abruptness? I don't think a taper would do it. It would make this beutiful thing clunky, by adding to much visual mass to the tapering of the stem.

DaninDayton wrote:To me, it is distracting. The pinch is an abruptness amongst all those flowing lines. My eye wants the flowing to continue. Maybe a gentle bead on the stem would smooth out the abruptness? I don't think a taper would do it. It would make this beutiful thing clunky, by adding to much visual mass to the tapering of the stem.

Great explanation DaninDayton! Thanks!

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Sometimes, I just get lucky. Thanks