Sketches to models to metals- oh my!
I showed you this initial sketch of mine earlier, and a little of the process to build this.
Here's a bit more! As you can see, it starts by building a simple 3D model:
This model is based on a really simple two-dimensional heart-shaped outline, which we bevel. Each part of this is built with the simplicity of the final model, in terms of number of panels to assemble, in mind. Then, we run it through a neat program that unfolds it into flat panels and I can just draw over that! Here's 3 minutes of that process in real-time, it's kind of relaxing and mesmerizing to watch:
Once we've got the basics together, we can split up all the parts and clean up the linework. This is something I've done a number of times- like this cool lamp I designed and the heart sculpture below, which were both designed digitally with plans to be cut them out of wood:
Here's the cleaned up version of it- the black areas I've shown here indicate the POSITIVE space on the front of the sculpture. The colored areas denote what acrylic colors will be behind those shapes. This is a light sculpture, so translucent acrylic will be behind the shapes with lights inside illuminating them to give it a nice glow at night and allow the sun to shine through it in the daytime.
And this is the two sides assembled, waiting for the center spaces and acrylic:
This image gives a sense of scale- these are each bigger than a person!
The flat shapes are all angled so building this is like making them out of paper- just attach and match the right sides and it's ready to weld! Soon, we'll have some install and finish photos to show.
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