Rig

Oil Rig Pencil Drawing Print by Owen Garratt

This Oil RIg Drawing drawing is the second in a series

S ometimes I kind of feel like a fraud concerning these oil rig drawings. I do meticulous research (except that one time I didn’t) and old-timers in The Patch take it to mean that I’m some kind of expert…

‘You really did a great job; you nailed the lead angle of the 1953 Roosevelt Reticulating drilling bit’ a veteran oil hand will say.

‘Oh… thanks’ I’ll say.

‘Every other artist who’s tried to do rigs misses the bearing edge on the Doomahickey flange; they either put it too close to the Splammenflammer bearing or the Doodleybopperthingy belt – which is ridiculous!’ he’ll say.

‘Yes…er, we can’t have that’ I’ll say, passing a finger around my collar.

‘I even saw one thing where they tried to put a Ferguson collar upside down – and on a Tripp mount!  A TRIPP MOUNT!’ he’ll say, getting a little heated.

‘Egad, really?’ I‘ll say, scanning for exits.

‘The Tripp mount wasn’t even available until 1962!’ he’ll say – more spitting than speaking.

Full Disclosure: I’m no expert. I don’t know what a Koffenpfeffer belt is or how a Spingler pipe connects to a Flaffinger pan.

But I can tell you this – I don’t make it up. If I draw it, it existed. It may be ‘wrong’, but if it’s in one of my drawings, I’ve either seen it with my own eyes, or I’ve got a photographic reference for it.

Honest. The kind of work I do is about capturing moments, not taking artistic license by imagining what a Krenulator valve would look like with a Heimenheiser gauge on it.”