Lowering the 8-foot-tall Gigante 3D printer
As an artist who works three dimensions and often designs in CAD (Computer Aided Design), I was immediately fascinated by the opportunities afforded by 3D printing.
This new technology offers much promise for creating not only original art, such as my 5-1/2-foot-tall sculpture Epic Swoon, but also maquettes, or small models, to show patrons for commissions.
This article will tell you more about how I got involved in 3D printing and how it influences my artistic practice.
To read about my adventures with 3D printing, choose your post below and click, or just search.
Enjoy!
Things change
When I first learned about 3D printing, I couldn't wait to do it myself. I pre-ordered a printer from 3D Systems, which doesn't even sell consumer 3D printers anymore, and waited 7 months to receive and use it. For an industry that's actually been around 30 years, 3D...
Enlarging 3D printing designs has challenges
When working with 3D prints almost 5 feet tall on my Cerberus 3D Gigante 3D printer there are plenty of potential pitfalls. You know that if you've been reading this blog for a while. One pitfall is similar to what happens when enlarging an image without constraining...
So Much for Cookie Cutter Claims About Creating Art With 3D Printing – Take 2
One of the huge misconceptions about 3D printing is that it is so easy you can just push a button to make multiple copies of a design. (Let's not even think about CREATING the design.) HAH! After detailing how I had to replace another 3D-printed sculpture that got...
Dreaming of wild filaments
In the decade I've been playing with 3D printing I've used several types of filaments. Right now I am using mostly PLA along with some Ryno (which I used to print 6-foot-tall Debutante, right) and a little PETG if I don't have Ryno in the color I want. I've also...
Modifying a 3D-printed sculpture – or not
I've been playing with this potential modification of one of my favorite sculptures - and then we had a 6-hour power outage. When that happens, it's definitely game over. Since I don't believe in accidents... What do you think? Check out the video to see some options.
Fun With CAD
When I first started playing with 3D printing 10 years ago, I had a head start. That's because I was already using CAD, or Computer Aided Design, to create my metal sculptures. CAD is one of the "dirty little secrets" about 3D printing. Lots of people buy a 3D printer...
Switching on the art lights
If you're a longtime reader of this blog or even a longtime fan of my work, you may remember the lighted sculpture show "Illuminate" that was held 3 years ago. If you're really lucky, you got to attend what was one of the best shows I've done in the 20 years I've been...
How to achieve precision with 3D printing
As a self-taught artist, I’ve learned everything I do by trial-and-error and online research. For instance, I taught myself how to run my coal forge by downloading a book from the 1800s. That learning includes everything I know about CAD and 3D printing that I didn’t...
So much for cookie cutter claims about creating art
So much for the belief that sculptors will pump out thousands of the same piece creating soulless cookie-cutter multiples. Ironically, that charge was blown apart when my 46" tall 3D-printed and hand-painted sculpture Seymora seussicus (right) got destroyed during...
Fad or trend? 3D printing settles in
I'm old enough to remember a lot of fads, including hula hoops, Furbys, hoverboards and Tickle Me Elmo. 3D printing came on like a firestorm, too. Suddenly everyone wanted to create things from scratch using these amazing devices. The promise was strong, but then the...