Spring 2011. Casting. Wax Studies Day 1

My wax arrived and I finally was able to sit down today and start to carve. I didn't remember how much fun it was  from that little tiny bit of carving I did before. I love this! I love it LOVE IT LOVEEEEE IT!

Anyway, my form is starting to come along. I want to perfect it over tomorrow and have it ready for Saturday so I can start working on the rest of the forms. I feel like I am a little behind due to the time constraints of the project, but I am not going to panic yet. Here is the first day of work on the model, I would have to say I started around 8:15 am and finished up to this stage at 11am. So it was pretty fast work. I went through and scribed in some areas I want to go back into a little more tonight and tomorrow and I am going to sand it and clean it up on Friday.

Spring 2011.Casting.Line

Just working on some creative caffeine around the idea of line. Here is my favorite image from the set:

The rest can be viewed on my Flickr here.

Spring 2011. RP. CloudRP Tests 1

Today my box arrived from Ponoko's CloudRP. Initial comments:
- Ordered Jan. 31st, arrived Feb. 10th; not a terrible turn around
- Very inexpensive with a prime membership. If you are doing a lot of printing, it is worth getting one.

I love the stickers Ponoko uses. It is so much fun to see them on your porch!

Inside was some sweet sustainable packaging. I am in love with this for some reason. 

Test pieces look good. They are small, but will do for my needs at the moment. 

Nurse-In, 2/10/2011

My mom brought to my attention an article that went viral today about the Nurse-In scheduled for this Saturday. (here is the link for those who haven't heard). I think there is a general distaste for breasts in this country that I do not understand. I will be attending Nurse-in in support for these women. I do not have a child but I was breastfed when I was a child and I think it is within every women's right to feed their child in public. I understand the Hirshhorn was not responsible for these two contractors that asked the women to leave, but that is not the point. What's more important is that they thought this was wrong, and in fact they were breaking the law asking her to leave. Women and mothers need to know their rights and I think the protest needs to take place for awareness.

On a side note, I want to visit the Hirshhorn and the Smithsonian anyway! So it's all good!

Spring 2011. Whale Food.Semester Kick-off Party!

 So, the theme for this semester's kick-off party is Modified Pudding. Seeing as I am not a huge pudding fan and I did not have any I made my favorite mold-able snack treat--Rice Krispy Treats! (in the shape of a really big salmon/whale).

It's pretty big! That's about a 18" long cooking sheet!

It's watching you!

Spring 2011.Week 2. Figure Studies

Had my first two classes with figure models this week. This is not my first ever, in fact I think it is my 3rd figure modeling class. I love anatomical studies and figure drawing.

Quick 1 minute poses

More 1 minute poses

5 minute pose

5 minute pose

20 minute sculpture 

30 minute sculpture

Spring2011. Casting. Cuttlebone Casting

Today we did cuttlebone casting. It was a fun experience though mine unfortunately did not make it. I want to thank Rachel for her time and expertise in helping us pour our metal though!

Spring 2011.Week 1.Sketches

I think my focus for my wax studies project is somewhere between a study of anatomy and an obsession with decay and death. I don't know if the analysis of death reads in my sketches so far, but I don't know how totally important that is to the series. After work tomorrow I am going to crank a bunch of sketches out and sculpt a few of them. I feel like I know where I am going, but I am not quite there yet.

Spring 2011.Week 1. Anatomical Studies and the Analysis of Death

For casting, we have a project I have already mentioned briefly to take an asymmetrical and a symmetrical object and take them from a skeletal state to a skinned state. This means having a mesh like outside to a fully rendered image. I keep thinking of this like it is a 3D model and you are looking at it in wireframe, ghosted, rough rendered, fully rendered in its four states. When I started to think about it, I started to think about the human body. I originally in my head was thinking about how we have skeletons all the way to skin, but I then thought thats way too literal. So, I then started to think about when we die, the only thing that ends up of use is our skeleton and from there I started to think about how over time if left exposed even the skeleton will begin to wear away over hundreds or thousands of years.

I started to think about what things look like when they wear away, like the pocketed surface of things and I took some pictures of cracked rocks and surfaces I could find and I am taking a lot of surface texturing ideas from them. (On a side note, there are about 100 of these and I will be uploading them to my Flickr tonight).  I started to draw out distinctive looking bones and figures and I think what I want to do from here is to take these textures and begin to apply them over the surface of the bones to show how over time nature breaks down them. So far I am working on the 'SKIN' end of the spectrum with the full bone intact.



I am going to keep working on them throughout this weekend so just check back. Also, the rest of the texture samples can be found here.  Enjoy <3

Sping 2011.Week 1.Blender Work

Just my experiments with blender. I honestly am pretty slow right now because I am still trying to learn all the tools but after about 2 hours of work I made it to here:

I am actually loving Blender a lot. it has a lot more functionality for this kind of thing that I have found in other programs and the interface is rather easy.

I am going to take the clay version and see if I can cast it in plaster and it would be totally awesome to make a mold and a wax and cast it in bronze then compare. Either way, I am going to keep up the work and see where this takes me.

Week 1.Updates to the Updates.Casting/RP/Figure

Everything is really coming together this semester! I picked just the right classes and I really think that all of them are going to connect together in an awesome way.

Casting-
Going a new direction in my Skeleton/Skin project so that plasticine model I made of the little man I guess no longer applies, but he got me to thinking about it and I want to use him in my independent study. I really think it would be cool to take a design (like him) and transfer it into different materials but more on that in a minute. I think for casting I want to work with the human form and like warp and rotate it as it goes and to a symmetrically balanced pose and an assymetrical post and go from the skeletal lines of an early drawing and build it up with different textures and layers. I was thinking it could be like a sitting figure or something. I will get my anatomy books and work on some possible poses then break out the sculpey.

RP Study-
Okay really excited and I have a few things I am working on. I want to take the little clay face and put him into blender and model him. I took some photos as reference and I going to start to get to work. I also would love to take him and cast him in plaster and maybe using some type of injection molding turn him into a wax model I could cast. I think it would be really cool to see all the tool marks and things from making him by hand and then seeing it done in 3D modelling. I also think it would be really neat if I could have the plaster or bronze version then laser scanned and 3D printed to show all the different things you can do in the design world with traditional sculptural techniques meeting 3D techniques. I also would think it would be really cool to see how it can be scaled up and down in the computer to become any size.

Figure-
This class its just starting but I think it is going to be really cool. He said there is an opportunity to do wax casting and the professor is crazy into 3D modelling as well. I think this class has a lot of prospect.

Okay, sorry for the text blog today. All the pictures and things will be up shortly. I am working off an old desktop at the moment until I can get my Macbook Pro, so I have yet to set up the camera or anything to be able to put pictures up.

Google Art Project

 For all of you that haven't heard of Google Art Project, I highly recommend a visit. It is a digital collection of the art works in many major museums including MoMA, the Met, and the Van Gogh Museum. It is the largest project of it's time and brings museums all over the world to your finger tips allowing you to zoom to amazing detail. Also, I have a feeling with the introduction of web 2.0 craft and sculptural peices will be done in 3D using laser scanning technologies.

Spring 2011.Week 1.Updates

The spring semester is upon us, and I couldn't be more excited. I have a wonderful class line-up this semester and I think I can make big things happen.

Casting-
Last class we went over the introductory stuff really, I can't wait to get my hands into this! Next class we will be working on cuttlefish bone molds. I did some research on them and they seem to be pretty interesting. Apparently they originated in the Mediteranian somewhere in the 1st or 2nd century and was perfected in the 6th and 7th century. From there, it appears that this technigue was found all over Europe going as far as Germany where some 4th century belt buckles were found that showed distinct signs of cuttlebone mold markings. The cuttlebone itself is the hard bone found in the head area of the Cuttlefish which is a type of squid and apparently a delicacy in Italy (especially their ink which is used as a type of sauce for pasta!). The cuttlebone technique is one of the simpliest casting techniques out there and I am excited to try it out next class.

We also got a project, that was posted on the blackboard site, we haven't gone over it yet but, I have read it over and I am doing some preliminary thinking. It is to created a series of wax models, one symmetrical one asymmetrical, that go from the skeleton to the skin of the model. I instantly thought of buildings, animals, plants, organs, and finally settled on some of Da Vinci's really cool "grotesques" and anatomical facial studies. I figured those are very symmetrical (the face) and easy to research from the skeleton (literally) to the skin. For the skin I was thinking it didnt have to stop with the actual skin but it could go as far as clothing ect. I started just to make some really simple clay models and I made this little guy. He has a face only a Momma could love, but I adore him.

Rapid Prototyping-

I did some small prototypes to test sample work and sent them off to CloudRP on monday and I should get them back pretty soon so I can decide which sample I like best to order all of the materials in. I also have been working on my Research Grant Proposal all week. There are a lot of books on rapid prototyping, but most of them are very scientific. There are not many "design" related books on rapid prototyping, so it is hard to show that I'm "knowledgable" on the research that is out there. Don't get me wrong, I have spent all winter looking at books, but everything I have found is just limited.  I will keep working on it throughout the week and hopefully something comes to me. I would really like to get the funding for the test samples for the studio. I think that would really benefit everyone.

Jewelry Produce

Thank you to everyone who visited the opening of Jewelry Produce at Towson Commons today!
 If something you liked but wanted a different color or style please visit www.etsy.com/shops/trishdobsondesigns. We are also open tomorrow from 4pm to 7pm! Great chance to get handcrafted holiday gifts! Also, keep checking back, Rowe will release its new line of movement jewelry in early January.

Rapid Prototyping...you are so cool!

Let me take a minute to share what I have been up to the past two weeks and the reason I have not blogged. I have been totally consumed with my new arrivals: "white, strong and flexible" rapid prototypes from Shapeways (www.shapeways.com, Check it out if you haven't yet, it is amazing).

For anyone who has used Shapeways before, you all know this feeling well, but for those that have not that read my blog, there is an amazing feeling when you see the little white and blue box arrive on your doorstep. It is a truly child-like euphoria as you tear away the tape and dig through the small sea of shipping peanuts to fish out your little bag of wonder. Then its on to inspect! Did the tests work? Does the lid fit snug? Is the indentations deep enough? All of those measurements and visualizing you did on the computer sitting in the palm of your hand.   The feeling you get when everything went right and you hold in your hand a little piece of magic. But, I'm getting off topic.

Recently, I have been working on a line of jewelry as I stated above, and in this line I have been trying to test ways of hand finishing the models to give them some color and life. I think I have finally achieved that step in my line called "Rowe" based off an old family name. Rowe is a colorful fun approach to adornment that utilizes the latest in 3D rapid prototyping technology and the simplest of natural forms.

But enough of the talking for now! I think it is much cooler just to show the pictures of what has been going on!

White Strong and Flexible/SLS Print, Blue Acid Dye, gauche, resin

SLS Print, Scarlet Acid Dye, watercolor, resin, laquer

Model Shot <3

 Just a teaser,  a lot more being finished this week!

And, it would not be complete without a video of my new little container. It has a lovely little hinge, but what I love the most is the satisfying little pop it gives with its tension fit lid.

**video coming very soon **

Week 12 - Recap.

First off, 100th blog post! Continuing on....

This week I got  a lot accomplished. I feel as though I am on track for the rest of the semester FINALLY!

Design and Production:

My final prototype models came in, and they were prefect. Very few changes were made and the final versions were sent out today. They will arrive next week for final assembly. I ordered the boxes, stickers, and business cards. That means I just have to design and send out the earring cards and care cards. They can probably be done right before Thanksgiving with any luck once I see the exact size of the boxes. I was happy I could even find boxes in orange and I think with my stickers it will be really nice.

Jewelry 3-
Moving right along with the injection molding. It has picked up the pace a bit and I have probably 1/3 of the pieces molded. I hope to have the rest finished by early next week so I can finish them all and dye them all before the end of the week giving me about a week to assemble them for the critique. Also, the 3D models came in that I want to integrate. They are small which I don't know if I will like the feel of them onces I see them on the piece. Originally, I was going to cast the large one in the epoxy. I think that might still be the plan, but, I will have to see with time restraints if that is still possible. I also sent out the hinged version of this model out so, I should be receiving it shortly.

As a side project, I also created a double-scale ring with moving ball bearings and floating rings that are capped off with a ball. It worked perfectly. I want to scale it down and send it out with a few other models I made with ball bearings and moving elements. They are all tests for something larger I have cooked up for over break. 

And a group shot of everything that came in this week.