Friday, December 13, 2013

Chimeras

I did an Old Skool rapid prototype earlier this week. A pendant that was made from wax and invested in a flask Tuesday, burned out overnight Tuesday night, and spin cast Wednesday afternoon. Sandblasted to remove the investment and bead blasted to a satin finish ten minutes later. Total time start to finish: 24 hours.

A laser-sintered 3D printed pendant would have been what? Two hours, plus, I don't know, an hour to create the digital image file for the printing? (sigh) I guess that's the future. How much would that cost? I mean, amortizing the computer and printer. More than my Old Skool method, so at least that's safe for a few years. Anyway, I showed it to one of the students, who said it was a combination sperm, octopus, peanut, and diving helmet.

A chimera? Works for me.

Oh, and I finally finished this guy, and I call him "Blinky". Can't really classify him as a mechanicule, so I'll throw him into the chimera bin as well.

2 comments:

  1. Your student's description of the new one is nearly perfect: only thing missing is "beautiful".

    And Blinky is gorgeous, I love the beetle iridescent finish. A stunning extraterrestrial scarab.

    Scary to consider the advent of laser printing. Have you ever tried it? Your quandary reminds me a bit of my own when it became clear, about 10 or 15 years ago, that everything was going digital in illustration. It terrified me, infuriated me, I resisted mightily (mainly because I couldn't imagine being able to work digitally, plus the digital work I was aware of was, frankly, pretty awful). But I hunkered down and tried to learn how to do it, and now I love the freedom and possibilities it opened up for me.

    Not saying your situation and what you face is similar, just rambling...

    Your work sure is beautiful, John. Whatever happens, I beg you not to stop making it!

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  2. I think you know I have no choice about making it, and thank you once again for the compliments. "Praise from Caesar", and all that! As to a further response, you deserve an essay, coming right up.

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