TOM WILLS PRODUCTIONS: Deeply Grained

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Deeply Grained

My new drawing table is 80 years old, and has been a part of my family for nearly 40 years.

It was my father’s drafting table before it was my mother’s painting surface.

This table had been in an upstairs spare bedroom during my teenage years, covered with a sheet of vinyl flooring. It then spent two decades in a basement, and the last six years in Dad’s garage – nothing more than a storage table.

An occasion arose this summer to give my former, smaller drawing table to my youngest daughter, who has moved away to study art and life at Kent State University. That little table and I cranked out 163 drawings or paintings over nearly four years.

Found the perfect chair, too!

I finally prevailed upon my father to give me this big table, once I peeked under the vinyl to see that it is solid wood.

He explained that draftsmen covered their tables because the points on their drafting compass and other tools would gouge the surface. Indeed, the table has several pinpoint holes, a few gouges and assorted cigarette burns. They give it character, so I did not hide them (but I did fill them in).

The whole contraption pivots and raises on a series of big cast iron rails and screws. It is very heavy.

I can’t really make out the manufacturer’s tag at the top of the base. It appears to say “Hamilton Company. Made in USA.”

Compass holes!

Indeed, the Internet reveals the Hamilton Drafting Table Company made these tables for a century, with continuous improvements and variations. This one dates from the 1930s.

They don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

I view this table as the first expansion project for Tom Wills Productions. It’s big enough to have two drawings going at one time, or even a painting or two. I can’t wait to start making my own indentations on that big surface.