Bulldog (updated)

[EBK]

Here is my latest. It was my intention to submit it to the KC pipe show contest but I am second guessing my eagerness.

Critique away as I have thick skin.











A few indoor shots. Sorry I cant figure out my camera for better shots.

[Growley]

I think you did a very nice job carving it. The plant life makes it hard to see the lines, but right off the bat I can't see anything I'd critique. Nice work.

Brian.

[Ocelot55]

I really like that bulldog. Very nice looking.

I don't see anything I can critique on. You had better enter that contest. I'm still planning on it, which means that you wouldn't take last place!

[Nate]

I like it!

[d.huber]

Everything about that pipe is awful. I don't think I've ever seen uglier. Tell you what, if you send it to me I'll dispose of it in a manner befitting such a misfit.

[andrew]

Uber has no idea how to properly dispose of a pipe. I'm sure he'd violate at least half dozen federal regulations, implicating you both in some terrible scandal. Send it to me. I'm very qualified for such a task.

[wdteipen]

That's a good looking pipe. The only suggestions I have for improvement is to cut the rings closer together and a touch deeper. And, start the flat top of the stem closer to the button end so that it does 't include the shank. It's still a solid entry in the contest. If i made this pipe i wouldn't hesitate. Nice job.

[baweaverpipes]

Well executed, but the proportions throw me off. Even though a Bulldog is choppy, it still has proportions that flow.
Still, I think you did a fine job on execution, but it seems jumbled.
Hope Rod Davies has been of help, at some point...............he's never helped me........... !

[EBK]

Thanks for the kind words and critiques.

Any ideas on how to improve the flow of the pipe? Maybe examples of what I should look for?

Thanks again!

[Sasquatch]

Even though Bruce's critique is hazy and jumbled and doesn't flow, I agree with him, and I think I can give a couple concrete reasons why.

Let's start with a really ordinary bulldog - take a Peterson or a Dunhill.

http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/d ... t_id=98153

The main difference, the first big visual difference that a guy sees between this and yours is the positioning of the rings, which is to say, the positioning of the thickest part of the bowl. The Dunhill is above midline, your pipe below. What this does is shrink the proportion of the top of the bowl vs the shank, and also puts the visual emphasis right at or above the line of the shank. The Dunhill pipe is an upward gesture, one smooth motion, and yours is a straight shank with a bowl perched on it, almost two separate ideas.

The break of flow occurs because everything after the rings on the dunhill tapers down and is visually less interesting than these proud, aggressive rings. On your pipe the rings are sort of like a belt, and there's also the adornment on the shank, which in this case pulls the eye away from the bowl. They interrupt rather than flatter the contour of the curve between the shank and the bowl.

I think all this stuff could work, and I think if you study some "unorthodox" bulldogs, Danish or German handmades, you'll see some of the ideas that you are playing with, and see how they are executed in a way that is a little more harmonious.

Take this criticism for what it is, please: a really nitpicky little criticism of a very nice pipe, a little push toward some more esoteric design elements that would really make the piece sing. (It's singing now, but maybe not all the pieces are singing in the same key.) The fact is, lots of buyers would snap that pipe up, and they should - it's a really nicely executed pipe.

[EBK]

Thanks for some clarification and input Sas... Honestly most of the thoughts on flow and lines never crossed my mind as I am still more focused on not screwing up and fit and finish. Kind of another hurdle to watch out for. I'll try to think it through a little further now that I have an idea of things to consider.

Thanks!

[Sasquatch]

Sure. You can't (I can't) know everything about pipes just presto. There's 500 little things to take care of, and you learn a few each time you make a pipe.