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Experiments in Art & Digital Fabrication

Rocket

Here’s an old project I never wrote about… Every now and then I just experiment with things, and this piece started with using Inkscape for an illustration of a rocket. Here it is. Pretty boring!

Rocket digital

I ended up creating a scene for the rocket. Look, it’s going to Mars! Someday I’d like to go to Mars…

Since I tend to think of any illustration as cutting paths I tend to avoid strokes and just use solid objects, which comes in handy, especially if you decide to use digital fabrication techniques to create things.

Separations

I next took my illustration, which was essentially a two-color design on a black background) and created color separations. One for the silver, and one for the red.

Cut lines

I then created DXF files I could load into Silhouette Studio so I could cut stencils and paint the scene onto an 8″ x 8″ canvas. (Yes, sometimes I mess around with paint.) You might also notice I added registration marks, these are things you learn from years of working in the print industry and printmaking.

Rocket on canvas

Here’s the result of cutting two stencils and spray painting them onto a black canvas. It turned out okay, but I didn’t love it. (Probably because I don’t love painting.) What I do love is the fact that with vector artwork it’s easy to scale things, so I did.

Rocket on wood

Here’s a 12″ x 12″ version of the artwork, but this time I used a piece of painted wood and just applied cut vinyl to it. I really like how this one turned out. In fact, it’s hanging in the shop right now.

Sometimes I get so caught up in creating 3D (or 2.5D) work that I forget how much I like doing 2D stuff. I should probably do more in the future.