3D Printing & ArtLab...Experiments!

Oh wow.. I feel like the months of October AND November flew by at warp speed and that is only slightly overwhelming! SO many things have happened in the past few weeks... mainly 303 is over and now I am moving forward with my ideas for ArtLab and various new explorations of the existing series of drawings. For starters, a few weeks ago I started scanning in my drawings to save and edit them for printing optimization. Photoshop now has 3D printing and modeling capabilities! Soo.. I kind of lost focus in my graphics class and started playing with that instead. The first step was to import the drawing and select the drawing from the background.

After selecting the images you want to render in 3D you have to make sure you are creating enough positive and negative space - throwing some art terminology in there. My favorite thing about this process, which is probably indicative of my budding OCD, is eliminating the tiny areas of empty space which ultimately create balancing points, holes, voids, and textures. 

You have to select your primary figure and create a NEW LAYER in a NEW DOCUMENT. This will remove excess information from your outline/shapes and make it easier for your computer to process the model mesh. I learned very quickly that deleting the background and using the default checker background instead of white as a background color was the best route to take.

Photoshop has several different texture filters and options for surface treatments. This particular effect was a displacement of values determined by the brightnesses found in the selection. The darker the 'shading', the higher the elevation or height of the model from the base. Unfortunately, my school computer decided to up and quit all my applications before I could save the model - an occupational hazard. In addition to that I had to prep for projects in class and for 303... which I will get to in a different post or this one will be several DAYS long. 

editing the model in Makerbot software

A few weeks ago I went back to this process and started working on a different set of drawings to create selections and prints. I spent more time working on selections to refine my print information and area. Selection options in Photoshop allowed me to create separate layers for specific drawings/sections of drawings. I worked with three different models to experiment with sizing, complexity, z-axis heights, and to push the limits of Photoshop as well...it was definitely testing the limits of my patience.

this selection took much longer because of all the details and the differently colored background

Photoshop allows many changes to be applied to the mesh or skeleton of your model. I experimented with raising the height, tapering edges, adding bevels, and stepped elevations. When I took the model into the Makerbot software to optimize it for printing, I ended up losing a lot of the information from the Photoshop files and the surface treatments were removed when I changed the height. Lesson learned: Make sizing changes IN Photoshop if you have specific effects in place.

this model took about 1 hour to create/edit

Each model took about 1 and a half hours to print and I had NO errors - a veritable miracle with such complex models! I was very pleased with the results and the details captured in the prints. I have not tried to remove the final prints from the rafts.. call it cowardice, but I do not want to ruin all that hard work! I took lots of in-progress shots to show the complexity of the models - I am still in shock at how much detail was captured by the printer itself!

before the final layers were printed...

As stated before, two of the prints had surface effects applied to them and I unfortunately removed those when I was changing the height of the models. What I found was that the printer was compensating for the lost information by creating the layers under restricted height. I will have to take a close up picture but the surface of two of the prints began to resemble a topographical map - specific areas of elevation divided by defined lines. SUPER cool happy accident, for sure :)

 

I plan on utilizing these prints in my final Drawing/Painting project of the semester as well as ArtLab. I intend to display some prints mounted in shadowbox frames and possibly others on free standing pedestals in ArtLab if I am accepted. I want viewers to see the work from multiple angles and 3D Printing provides that unique opportunity because the process by nature is selective drawing with the addition of 3D modeling. I have to turn in my edited proposals by Monday and then will hear back next week if I am accepted or not -- I think I have a good chance of getting in! They really enjoyed my artist statement and provided a lot of constructive and helpful feedback.

On that note.. I need to get back to work on class projects. I have photographs to take, web designs to put together. The list goes on and on. However! In my neverending efforts to catch up with my own life, the next two blog posts will be a response to 303 and finally some reflections on the Michigan Art Education Association Conference in Lansing!
That means I am only two weeks behind... hopefully before the first of next year I will be on track, eh?

Happy almost-another-holiday-break! Hang in there.

Ms. Kanak