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  Why Illustrate? This is a photo of the pipe I am about to draw. The photograph tells us a great deal but the decoration is obscured by the dirt that has accrued upon the pipe. Also, the flat colour of the pipe means the contours of the modelled 'hand' are difficult to make out. In illustrating this pipe we can allow the viewer to see this pipe with greater clarity.
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  Archaeological Illustrator's Toolkit l-r digital graphics tablet and pen,(sharp) pencil, torch (or lamp) for directional light, profile gauge, interior calipers, and calipers. At the top is the pipe bulb ready for illustration lying upon a sheet of permatrace.
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  A profile gauge is carefully placed alongside the pipe and the 'teeth' of the gauge pushed onto the surface to give a profile which is then traced.
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  Interior calipers are used to establish the correct diameter of the interior of the pipe bulb.
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  A pencil sketch of the decoration is made using measurements obtained by using the calipers.
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  The profile is scanned and placed into a vector graphics program.
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  Using the graphics tablet, the details are traced. Those details that are in shadow have a heavier line weight than those in direct light.
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  Details are clarified using a torch to create a 'raking' light.
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  The finished pipe: As a digitally created file this can now be scaled and saved in a variety of formats as required.

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Workshop

This ‘workshop’ gives an idea of how I went about illustrating the clay pipes for the National Trust for Scotland.

Whilst it focuses specifically upon the clay pipes, much of the basic practice can be applied to other small finds illustration.

This pipe was found during excavations in 2002 in the grounds of Newhailes House, a property in Musselburgh on the edge of Edinburgh. The pipe dates to approximately the latter half of 1850 – 1900: The ‘TW’ mark may have had different meanings, but could well represent the initials of the manufacturer Thomas White, who became sufficiently popular that others copied the mark. As to the meaning of the hand on the side of the bowl, it is not precisely clear, but might represent the Red Hand of Ulster, since pipes featuring Irish designs were very popular in the Nineteenth century.