3D printing jewellery with Shapeways: Two months in.

It's been two months since I started playing around with Autodesk 123D and Shapeways, so here's the second report of what I've managed over the past month.

CharGyse 3D Printed Designs - Find these and more at www.shapeways.com/shops/chargyse

My first shipment of items arrived from Shapeways about a week later than it would normally take (production of sterling silver pieces was behind schedule on their end). I've been waiting to post this update so that I could include the photos of them.

Photos of the earrings and pendants
These are the photos I took only minutes after unpacking them from the box. I have updated the shop images with close ups, so you can follow this link to the [SHOP] if you want to see the close ups of them all.

Earring pendants in Sterling Silver

Earring pendants in "Frosted Ultra Detail"

You can find these earring pendants in the Earrings section of the shop.

Necklace pendants in Sterling Silver

Necklace pendants in "Frosted Ultra Detail"

You can find these necklace pendants in the Pendants section of the shop.

Bangles to go with each set
I got the bangles done on time, doing two different designs; the second more dainty than the first.

The "SevenBangle" style - one bangle, but with seven pretty sides to it

The "DiAngled" bangle - shaped like two bands attached to each other at an angle

You can find these in the Bangles section of the shop.

Blender renders for a quick preview of the pieces

I did a little searching around and found a video tutorial on how to make a golden material in Blender. They've disabled embedding by request, but the link is here: Realistic Gold Material Tutorial Blender 2.62 (Cycles) 

I followed the video but changed the colour I used so that it would look less like gold and more like a silver material. Here are some quick screenshots I took of some stuff:

Oh yeah - I also modelled a little something up for the Shapeways "Flextest" challenge

After the first shipment arrived though, I realised that I would need to change the Blender material textures. I remember seeing a "Brushed Steel" texture tutorial somewhere, which could be handy in achieving the layered look of the silver pieces - if I can find it again.

COMING SOON:-

Beads
I have managed to get the beads modelled up - but I've yet to upload them to the Shapeways site.

Rings
I haven't managed to do the rings yet, but I have decided how I'm going to do them. The ring band will be based on the DiAngled bangle style (the dainty, minimalist, second style above).

A new collection of designs - in "Stainless Steel"
Looks like the series based on Fibonacci numbers is going to go on hold for a while. Instead, I will be working on "Stainless Steel" versions of everything I have done so far, which should work out cheaper than Sterling Silver. Good for those who want a metal pendant, but at lower prices.

Marketing and Selling Stuff
Now that these are things that exist, I have to get them noticed out in the wider world with marketing materials and stuff.

3D printing jewellery with Shapeways: One month in.

I've been playing around with the Autodesk 123D Beta and Shapeways for just over a month now, so I wanted to write a little report of what I've managed over the past month.

Tumblr



I've created a tumblr blog especially for images of the growing mountain of jewellery that will be generated over time by me. Follow it and eventually you will see photographs of the pieces up there as well as the computer generated renders of the designs before they have been printed.

Pendants



I've designed, modelled in CAD software and uploaded nine designs for pendants, and each has been listed publicly and are available for sale in both sterling silver and a translucent plastic known on the Shapeways site as "Frosted Ultra Detail".

Click Pendants to see them all.

Earrings



I've modelled matching pairs of earrings for each of the nine pendant designs, again in sterling silver and Frosted Ultra Detail.

Click Earrings to see them all.

Cuff-links



I've also designed and modelled the matching pairs of cuff-links for each of the nine pendant designs, available only in sterling silver, and a glossier sterling silver for a little extra [the cuff-links are polished/buffed before they are sent to you].

Click Cuff-links to see them all.




COMING SOON:-

Photos of the earrings and pendants

Yesterday I put through an order for all of the earrings and pendants designed so far. They should be shipped by April 18th at the latest so I should have them ready for photos by the end of next month. I've been looking at potential models and photographers for a shoot, but nothing has been decided just yet...

Bangles to go with each set

My "homework" for the next week is to get ready the matching set of bangles for sale - that's designed, modelled AND uploaded. Thankfully, my experience with the software I'm using has grown a lot over the past month and I'm now able to complete such tasks a lot more quickly and efficiently than I could in the beginning.

Charm Beads

I've been looking into creating the designs on a much smaller scale for charm beads, potentially in the threaded charm bead style or the Italian charm bead style... We'll see how it goes over the next month.

Rings

To complete the collection of each design, I will be working on ring versions for each design this month. I have no idea how I want to do it yet, but I intend to make them fit in with the rest of the collection in sterling silver and possibly Frosted Ultra Detail. We shall see.

A new collection of designs

We've been having lovely weather in Cardiff over the past week, and all that nice weather made me ditch my laptop for the little 2 by 3 inch notebook I made a while back. I had to make sure I was doing some kind of work while I enjoyed the nice weather during my self-enforced work hours, and ended up drawing up some nice designs based on circles and Fibonacci numbers. Keep an eye out for those in the next couple of months. Here's a sneaky peek:



I'm really looking forward to next month!

My First Nine Designs for 3D Printed Jewellery

17 days after checking out Shapeways, I've got a collection of 9 designs uploaded:

Each charm is available in Silver, Glossy Silver or a plastic material they have called "Frosted Ultra Detail".

They are available for sale separately, so you can buy one on its own to hang and wear as a necklace, or buy multiples to hang from your own earring hooks or string together to wear as a bracelet.

Fancy yourself a bit of a fashion or jewellery designer? Buy a variety of them and incorporate them into your designs, mixing and matching with other beads and materials however you like. All of these are 3cm by 3cm and quite thin, with four corner holes, each hole 4mm in diameter for cord, thread or wire to be threaded through.

I'm really happy to see items bought from my shop be combined with other materials and used as part of your own jewellery or fashion designs to be sold at markets, online or offline, just be sure to leave me a photo or a message linking to it so I can see what you've done with them!

You may wish to modify the charms with paint or other treatments to add your own personal touch, or leave them in their natural state. Shapeways has a forum section dedicated to Post Production Techniques that you can check out for tips and ideas. Go wild, it's up to you! :)

Click here to check them out in the Shop!

Searching for sand paper.

That moment when you've been researching how to cut glass bottles,

and have consumed plenty of Harveys Bristol Cream sherry,

so that you have a nice blue bottle for cutting,

and realise that the rough and fine sand paper you have kept

- in your collection of potentially useful things that never actually see the light of day

(except when you add another potentially useful thing) -

may actually have a use now,

and are searching for it in every place you can remember it being

- while tipsy,

since you've decided you're going to do a trial cut on a spare Desperados bottle

that you just happen to have kicking about although you finished it a long time ago,

- but you are still probably too tipsy to be attempting such things,

when really it would probably be easier to just buy one off the Internet.

But where's the fun in that?

Glossy Buttons

I've been doing a spot of 2D texture work for a friend's game.

I've never done glossy before! It's quite exciting.

Cereal box doll houses, the Desperados Dojo Mansion, and zombie survival simulators.

So here's the story.

Yesterday, I heard something post through the door after I had already been down once and signed for a parcel for one of the guys living downstairs. I don't know why I thought this second thing would be anything interesting, but lo and behold, there was a brand new Ikea catalogue, addressed to no one in particular.

I nicked it.

Mine now.

I spent the rest of the day thinking about how when I was little I liked making little environments for woodlice out of sand, and a paper house with an amazing special thread operated lift for my Polly Pocket figures [I surprise myself with this memory. Perhaps I'm remembering it better than it was... no, it was definitely as wicked as I remember it], and totally loved watching Art Attack and Blue Peter when they made little rooms and models for toys to live and play in.

And then I wondered. Now that I'm adult enough to use a pair of scissors without a guardian present and childish enough to still love this stuff... Why haven't I actually made a sturdier one out of cardboard yet?

In my second year of Computer Game Design I thought about modelling my bedroom in Maya for practice, and got part of the way there. Ever since, I've been thinking about recreating the main areas I liked to spend my time. Didn't quite happen. And now I have five empty cereal boxes beginning to clutter up my bedroom floor because I haven't decided what to do with them yet.

My original plan for this cardboard was to go around measuring my room to recreate it to scale out of the cardboard, and do the lounge and kitchen and bathroom after that. Even make little mini-us's to live in it.

Except while I was measuring I had the idea to recreate our flat in Unity 3D, and add zombies or monsters and turn the flat into an FPS. Or a zombie survival simulator. Exciting idea.

In the end I decided to use the cardboard to make a Desperados Dojo Mansion for my Lego Man. I got about this far before I decided I wanted to make the FPS/zombie survival sim of my house more.

Three walls, a floor and a bridge to fight on. But nobody to fight. Hmm.

I think maybe if I had done some solid pre-pro on it, I might have been more focused. Oh well. It's currently sat on my windowsill, along with my purple should-sort-through-but-haven't-yet folder of.. stuff, and green bag of old journals dating from as far back as a decade ago [probably].

I haven't decided if I'm going to keep working on it or dismantle it for the cardboard to make the cardboard version of my room. Although I am going to finish another box of Maple Pecan Crisp by tomorrow, so the Desperados Dojo Mansion is probably safe for now.

Unless it falls out of my window.

It's not going to fall out of my window.

Cyfarthfa Street, Plasnewydd, Roath, Cardiff

Here are two photos of Cyfarthfa Street, looking very different in both. The second one here is from the day of the previous post about colours, when the pink/orange cloud reflected warm light onto the shiny wet roof tops. The first one was taken today to show you just how different the place looked a few days ago compared to today's ordinary cloudyness. I will paint this street one day.

21st September 2011 - A typical grey cloudy day, with street looking fairly dark and subdued.

17th September 2011 - With shiny pink rooftops and deep dark clouds further away, the street itself looks brighter.

Side by side. I flipped one to make the comparison a little easier on the eyes.

Colours - Do you see what I see?

I just saw a very interesting episode of Horizon on BBC iPlayer all about colour and the perception of colour. I found it particularly interesting how the colour terms we learn can affect how easily we perceive different shades of a colour, quite drastically in some cases...

I also finished my second page of colour mixing experiments the other day:

And before that I was reading all about fashion and the colours that suit a person. Haha. I can't quite figure out if I'm a Deep Autumn or a Deep Winter. I suspect I'm somewhere between the two, like Miss Kardashian in the example on the page linked.

And wow. There was some crazy beautiful lighting going on outside just now. It has been on and off showering today, so the rooftops are shiny, reflecting pink light coming from a big cloud that was just above. I took some time out from typing this to attempt to take some pics.

The rainbow from earlier.

This is a different rainbow picture; the first rainbow I saw after moving to Cardiff, shown here for the contrast with today's pictures.

White Tiger

Nearly done! I think I just want to add a glaze or two of colour to the black scriveners ink of the background, blue or maybe green, and add a little more of the ink here or there.

Pencil grid, pencil & black biro line work.

Black biro line work with watercolor shading added.

With the black scriveners ink added.

I'm really surprised with how well the underwater parts turned out in the photo of the painting. For a split second I thought I'd uploaded the wrong image until I noticed the splodgy reflections in the background. When I look at the actual painting I can't help but see biro squiggles!

Playing with watercolour / watercolor triads.

Instead of doing any more work on the white tiger last night, I spent nearly the whole day doing this instead:

I went through my entire Daler Rowney [Aquafine ?] 12 half-pan pocket set, sorted them into some experimental triads [using the yellow-green as a yellow in some and the bluer-green as a blue, and the oranges as reds] to see what different colours I could make.

The whole process took me so much longer than I thought it would - literally all day - but it was worth it. It forced me to mix colours I wouldn't ordinarily think of mixing, not to mention use colours I don't normally like using. For example, I always thought of R2 [the fifth colour across the top of the first image, or the middle one below] as far too bright to be used for anything that wasn't going to be super bright. Rookie mistake! It actually makes a really nice peachy kind of colour when watered down. And I've had these watercolour paints how long?*

Silly Char; the clue is in the name.

So in doing an exercise like this, you learn so much about what your paints can do for you. Now I know how to get a pretty peach colour, a dark bluey grey, and which blues and reds/oranges/browns to mix to get different purples and greens and browns and greys. I also realised that the bluer green of the two I have [third from the right in the first image] can probably be used as a blue by itself in some pictures quite happily. See the last two columns in the first image - they feel almost fruity to me, sunny, warm, and maybe even Mediterranean. I can't be sure about that last bit though; I've never been to the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, the left-hand columns using the colder blue feel like they can be used to represent colder climates and northern areas quite easily.

Top and bottom of the left column: I can't not see a forest by a mountain.

One thing I haven't experimented with yet is the black colour in my set. I want to see how it reacts when mixed with each of the other colours in the set, and also what kind of feelings I can get out of it if I replace a colour in a triad with the black. I'd really like to try recreating some of the colour combinations I saw while watching 300 with my flatmates last night. But before I start on that, I really should finish the line work of my tiger!

* Years. Possibly a decade. I don't even know the names of any of my colours; I lost the little tint chart telling me their names a while ago. I'm sure it's lurking around in my stuff somewhere...

W H Smith: 5 Oil & Acrylic Painting Boards

A while ago I went out and bought a set of five 12x9inch white painting boards from the W H Smiths in Cardiff. Two of these I gave to friends to draw on to decorate the flat we've just moved into in Roath, while the rest I kept for myself to think of something to do with. Here's what I've done - excuse the quality of the photos, I took them using my phone camera. I'm thinking I might join the Canon club soon, but we'll see.

~

A tracing of a belly dancer, lined with biro and metallic gel pens, the background and floor coloured in with watercolour, spattered lightly with orange paint. She's still there on my desk, standing in the lamplight while it's on. I still need to finish reading that copy of House of Leaves.

~

A self portrait; pictured resting on an empty Lucky beer bottle I acquired from the Prince of Wales in Cardiff during a little post-gym pint night a year or two ago, she's now stuck to my bedroom door - on the living room side. For this image I used a photo of myself and added grid lines to assist me in getting the proportions right. Drawn in pencil first, then with biro outlines, added some metallic gel pen and then painted in the hair with scriveners ink that I bought from a museum somewhere.

The symbols at the top of the image show my "Four Pillars of Destiny" based on my date of birth, while the clock pendant is the same one I'm currently wearing. I bought the necklace at a car boot sale in Saundersfoot with my mum, for the low low price of 50p! It was originally £1, but I got to have it for 50p because the clock itself didn't work. It now hangs around my neck set to the time I was born - ten to noon. You know, just in case I ever forget...

~

A white tiger, again from a photo [this one found via the wonders of the internet] using grid lines to help me get the proportions and details right. My flatmate says using grid lines is cheating, but he's a monkey. This one is a work in progress, using pencil and black biro, and I will possibly use more scriveners ink to fill in the background of dark water. I was intending to finish it today but it will probably be done by tomorrow instead.

Using FB to Live The Dream!

Today is a big post dedicated to a few pretty entrepreneurial people [say that really fast ten times!] who regularly pop up on my Facebook feed with the exciting things they've been doing lately.

Each one inspires me and each one shows that if you have a bit of passion, and drive, and the determination to take down those barriers that prevent you from making your dreams a reality, then you really can grow that idea or dream and bring it out into the world for everyone else to see. Just work hard, and make it happen!

So, in no particular order, here they are:

---

Alice Cat

www.modelmayhem.com/AliceCat

Alice is a sweet little lady who really has bloomed in her chosen trade of modelling over the past year or so. On her Model Mayhem profile she gives this quirky little description of herself:

"The best way to describe my modelling style (my style in general in fact) would be that it's a mish-mash of cheesecake cuteness, a sweet and silly Sandra Dee classic Pin-Up, mixed with a dark, gothic edge that shines through in bizarre little bursts."

Give her a look, especially if you're a bit quirky yourself and have a secret desire to get into modelling [or if you fancy getting in on a bit of the style - she has been selling off a few of her things lately to make room for more!]. She also expresses her creativity in the form of Cubles - cute little plushies, each one lovingly handmade by Alice - and she really does love making each one!

www.facebook.com/Cubles

---

Inkspill Illustrations - François Savarimuthu

inkedspilled.wordpress.com

François is a designer, illustrator and printer living and working in South East Wales. A truly passionate artist; he always seems to busy working on multiple projects and commissions. One look at his intricate and highly detailed work and you just know that patience and love for his work are definitely traits he carries.

"I Illustrate, Design & Print because I love producing work that meets a purpose, working with others is a passion of mine and when I can incorporate my love for art and design into that scenario that's when I'm most happiest."

www.facebook.com/francoisdraws

---

Paint the Moment - Chloé Bruce

www.facebook.com/paintthemoment

Chloé was one of the initial FB users to catch my attention through my news feed for selling her work online - drawings, canvas paintings, canvas bags, cute handmade cuddly things, photography work and even tattoo designs. She seems to be one of those people whose passion for painting and creating art spills over into any medium she can get her hands on!

"Art has been a huge influence in my life since I was young, from the days when finger painting was all the craze up until today, and now all aspects of art interests me. I love expressing my feelings, creativity and imagination through my work, whether it's a photograph a painting or even a piece of design. It's what I know best."

www.paintthemoment.co.uk

---

Not Your Hero - Pete Harries

www.notyourhero.com

The most recent work to be thrown up into my view has been Pete's Not Your Hero work. He's been working really hard over the past month to get his t-shirt business started, and if you check out the info on his FB page you can see he really means business!

"Each T-shirt is an individual experience, each one of our T-shirts has a story. With art specifically design for that cut of shirt and packaging specific to that design. At Not Your Hero we want to bring you shirts that you will look forward to putting on in the morning.

I love T-shirts.

And what's not to love? Such a simple garment with so many possibilities.

Actually I take that back, T-shirts are far from simple. Colour, texture, fit, design. Does it represent you? Does it show your beliefs? Or maybe your interests? Is it comfy? Does it smell nice? T-shirts are a complex blend of these elements, of which there are thousands of possibilities. The trouble is when you have thousands of possibilities combining them can produce a variety of outcomes, that's where another one of my loves comes into this story.

I love art.

Film, graphic design, music, photography, fashion, painting, video games, poetry, storytelling, cooking this list goes on... I love getting the chance to experience great art and I love being able to participate in creating great art for others to experience. When creating a great T-shirt there is a distinct art in selecting and creating the elements that will go into the shirt to create the finished work. To create an experience."

Well now, that sounds like a lot of love to me :)

www.facebook.com/pages/Not-Your-Hero/156016117806105

---

Toxic Games - Q.U.B.E.

www.facebook.com/qubegame

Q.U.B.E. was the final year Computer Games Design project of a few guys in the year above me in uni. Facebook's A Year Ago Today feature is telling me that a year ago today, Dan Da Rocha was "off to Gamescom in Germany in the morning to promote QUBE! :D"

Clearly, it's been promoted pretty damn well because they have been all over the place now, attending conferences and being interviewed for the game, which is to be released in the next year! Very exciting. Check out the Q.U.B.E. game website here, and the blogspot here.

www.qubegame.co.uk

---

Well there you go, five nice varied examples of loving your art, whatever it is, and working hard at it! Because sometimes this stuff doesn't just happen - you MAKE it happen ;)

Leave me a comment below if you enjoyed reading this post, found it useful, inspirational, or if there is anything you wanted to say or see me respond to next week!

Sometimes it's like this stuff just happens...

Have you ever looked back at something you're particularly proud of doing and thought to yourself, "Did I really just do that?" I do it every time I make a pretty picture, every time I get a compliment on something I've made, every time I find a piece of artwork I did a long time ago... It really is like it comes out of no where.

During my final year of Uni, the title of the blog I set up to follow the work I did ("I'll make it pretty, you do the rest.") became kind of ironic. While I was there working on my final major project, trying to work out how to javascript some magic 3D/2D view switching into action in Unity3D, there Tim was focusing on the textures and the lighting and the baking. He was the one trying to make it look pretty, while I was the one trying to handle the rest.

It wasn't until I had finished spending all my energy on my dissertation and hand in for the final major project was over that I realised I hadn't drawn any sweet art in a long time. I actually began to forget what I was capable of. When I moved out of uni accommodation to live in a flat with some friends a month ago, I found a cardboard tube of old life drawings that I had done in blue biro on big paper back in my first year. I couldn't believe it. There was even a drawing of Ollie Elliott, freehand and in pencil, and you could easily tell who it was if you knew him. I barely even knew him back then.

I don't know which surprises me more; the fact that I can draw from observation, or the fact that I could forget something like that.

A photo a day.

Well... the page-a-day didn't quite work out. I think the problem was that I got discouraged when I found I was having so many blank pages on days where I wasn't feeling in a particularly arty mood, and ended up losing track of the whole thing. Never mind, I still have the pages to doodle on when I want to.

Instead I've started a new 365 project. I take a photo of myself everyday for a month. And again the next month. And again and again until I make 12 months! But I don't just take a picture of my face like Noah did. Sometimes I edit them, practising and experimenting with digital tools to see what effects I can come up with and achieve.

Okay. I confess. It's partly an excuse to make pretty pictures of myself to put onto Facebook and to put into a book of my own for when I'm older or gone. A part of me wants to have lots and lots of sweeeet looking pictures, but I'm not a model... And I thought that since I'm not a model, then I shouldn't be taking or making pictures of myself and editing them like I wanted to put on display anywhere...

I think Alice Cat changed that belief. She wasn't a model. She was just a sweet looking little girl a couple years below me in school, and then a few years later, BAM! Now look at her. She's working away at a career she loves and she's looking pretty damn fine doing it. It's awesome. It's inspiring. It made me start taking a picture of myself everyday, and hopefully everyday for at least a year.

And sure, maybe I'm not doing it with a career in modelling in mind [or maybe I am.. I've never had a solid vision of a career path in mind], and maybe I missed one day and sneaked in a screenshot image of my sleep pattern diary, and maybe some of the photos are really lazy ones where I haven't even edited or colour corrected them, let alone tried to do anything arty.

But even the unedited ones still show something of who I was and where I was that particular day in the series. Not to mention how I really like how a few of them have turned out. If I can, I'd like to keep this up for the rest of my life. Join me! Feel free to post any links to your similar projects in the comments :)

dA Portfolio

Wow. I totally forgot I had this.

DeviantArt gave us all some kind of portfolio space ages ago. I like it, but I haven't updated mine in over a year. Hmm. Nor have I signed in on dA for a few months.

ArtFire Studio

Teehee. Does this make me a shop keeper now?