![]() ![]() Just as in music and literature, most of the story is about the drama rather than the resolution. It is nice to have a combination of dynamic and smooth lines, but for an engaging piece it is usual to have the emphasis heavily on the dynamic rather than the resting. Breaking lines are more narrative, dynamic and engaging. Cutting tools tend produce lines and planes that “break”, while abrading tools tend to produce lines and planes that drift or “smear” one into another. Rely on cutting tools rather than abrading tools.The maker and teacher Wilfred Saunders, told us “Use as large a tool as possible for as long as possible.” This rule, that I’ve always tried to follow, is about working efficiently and economically, but it can also have the side effect of making more dynamic, purposeful looking work. I heard a similar rule when I was a student at violinmaking school. The same trick is used by painters who use a “limited palette” to make their compositions more unified. Any textural patterns that develop will have an attractive regularity. Elements carved with the same tool will have similar linear qualities. By using as few tools as possible, the work automatically becomes more cohesive. This is a trick I first heard from my father, the sculptor. I added a few others, conceived specifically for this project. In order to help achieve the four goals named above, particularly the points about making and something that is engaging and that has an organic feel, I followed many of the working principles that I normally use when making a violin. I now realize that this shouldn’t have surprised me too much as musicians, though great lovers of tradition, routinely engage with contemporary music that is often a lot more shocking in its own way, than my exaggerating a few tool marks on a scroll. In a way this study is a continuation of the Shoki’s Violin Scroll project where I asked whether we couldn’t use something other than old violins as the source of inspiration for our new ones? I was nervous presenting that idea, but I was happy to get a very encouraging reception. ![]() Reveals something about the violinmaking process. ![]()
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