At the Design Hub, we are constantly putting our beloved laser engraver to work, and now we’re looking at YOU: artists, photographers, models, and students of ARC! If there is any interest in engravings of any photo/drawing/art work that anyone would want, we are here to help you capture that magic on wood.
Our photography intern Kyle Chan has been testing out his own photographs taken from both a dslr camera as well as his iPhone X.
He tells us that, “Being a photographer, seeing the photos printed out and having a tangible piece of artwork is always thrilling, and to create one through such a thrilling process makes the work that much more meaningful for me.” Kyle gifted his photos to his girlfriend for her birthday, and was extremely excited to see his own work engraved into something unique and tangible that will withstand the tests of time.
With a strong rustic flare, these laser engraved photos make for a really cool grad present. What’s even cooler is the fact that it was created by the hands of our very own American River College peers.
The Design Hub of American River College is now introducing a first time ever opportunity for students all around the campus who are graduating this Spring of 2018 to get their portrait taken by specially selected advanced photography interns of the Design Hub.
The price per portrait ordered by each student is still yet to be determined, ranging in the area around roughly $10, as a vague estimate. In the last few weeks of April, we will set up a temporary photography studio in the ARC Bookstore. We could take a certain set number of graduates on a first come, first serve basis. There would also be monetary gains for the photographers. The portraits will be made using our laser etcher on 1/8″ thick birch plywood (5×7 or 4x6ish). The photographs will be PS edited so that they come out best on the plywood.
The people involved in this project are Brandy Worsfold, Randy Schuster, Aaron Stanley, who works in the bookstore as a Bookstore Buyer, and all of the photography interns for the Design Hub. Randy ordered this work and assigned the photography interns to this position. He created this fantastic opportunity for the graduates and the photography interns, and worked with Aaron Stanley from the ARC bookstore to help bring the idea to life!
This project is being created to give the graduates a long lasting portrait that they can take with them for the next steps in the life, and in their futures. The Graduation Portrait Laser Engraver first was created in late February/early March, and is currently being set up to be executed in early May. The training for the photography interns to prepare for portraitures has been occuring during the month of March and April, and we predict to begin taking the pictures in early May. We plan on continuing taking portraits for other projects during future semesters.
Painted by artist intern Erika Gonzales, photo by photography intern Angelique Doty
Here we meet up with Erika Gonzalez, the artist intern at the Design Hub involved in past projects such as the Ishango Bones and the Cell Membrane projects. Now she shows us her beautiful new sculpture that she is painting for Jiajun Guan. The people involved in this wonderful new project are: Erika Gonzalez, Jiajun Guan, and a team of 3D modelers and 3D printers.
Painted by artist intern Erika Gonzales, photo by photography intern Angelique Doty
Jiajun Guan found Erika painting the Ishango Bones (discussed in the other blogs and twitter posts) in the Design Lab 211, and was so inspired by her fantastic artistic talents with the paintbrush that he asked Randy, our tream ead at the Design Hub, to recruit her to do some work for him too! Erika was assigned to paint the generic anime character for Jiajin Guan, and she finished beautiful painting in 11 hours of work from March 8- March 12! Soon this sculpture of the generic anime character will be moved from the Design Hub Room 311 and will probably be moved to a place for student to stop by and look at it, or it may be placed on Jaijun Guan’s desk.
Painted by artist intern Erika Gonzales, photo by photography intern Angelique Doty
Even though this beautiful sculpture is the only of her kind, we can all look forward to seeing Erika Gonzalez’s fantastic art skills in the future projects that she will be participating in. She will be collaborating with Jiajun Guan with the Snow Wars project, specifically, working on the development of “Snow Wars Santas.”
She uses the same techniques as the cell membrane and Ishango bones projects: she paints the sculpture first with acrylic paint, then seals in the paint with Mod Podge. What was different with this sculpture was the way Erika painted the eyes: with an ink pen! She used the ink pen to add gentle and minute detail to the character’s eyes, giving them a certain life and sparkle. We are definitely looking forward to future art and 3D printing collaboration projects to come!
The Design Hub of American River College conducted one of the first projects using the Laser Engraver. Shailza, one of the laser engraver interns working on this project, demonstrated how it produces the gentle, artistic shades of black and white on the sturdy wooden boards. Plywood is used as the canvas, and the laser carves in its drawings. The Laser Engraver obeys the commands sent by the software on the computer to create whatever artwork the intern orders it to. For this particular project, the deliverables are name tags made of wood for all the interns who are working for the Design Hub.
This project of engraved name tags gives all the interns a sense of community, since we are always collaborating and working together to contribute each unique skill set to the various projects. The original idea for this project was right at the beginning of this spring semester because it gives a feeling unity and family to the new incoming interns just now joining the team. The engraved name tags were completed a couple of weeks ago, and can be viewed in the Design Hub lab. Even though the actual project for the engraved name tags is complete, the Laser Engraver will be frequently used during the full course of this semester.
The Full Spectrum Laser Retina Engrave 3D software orders the laser to cut out the name tags. The shaded pink section we can see in the photo to the left is the area that the laser already engraved, and the white areas are what is left to be carved until the project is finished.
Shailza, a hard-working intern trained in the art of laser engraving, showed a one-on-one demonstration of the laser engraver in action! First, you open up the file in the special software, Full Spectrum Laser Retina Engrave 3D. She showed the computer settings required for the engraver.
FUN FACTS:
Whatever image that the intern wants to print must be in xps format
The raster power CANNOT be at 100%- we have found it most effective to be set at 65-70% for the best wooden artwork.
The raster speed is set between 45-50%, and the vector layers power is set at 70%. The IP address should show up on the laser screen.
And “Slow jog” isn’t just something a student does when they’re late to class on a Monday morning after sleeping through their alarm, it’s also the setting on the control panel to give the intern more control over the laser so it doesn’t go flying off in a frenzy.
Once the settings are properly set, the wood is positioned to be carved into, and watch the time at the bottom of the screen allows the students a time frame for when their project should be completed. The average time is 7-8 minutes- like for the name tag project- but it depends on the size of the wood/project.
The laser engraver, Photo by photography intern Angelique Doty
The next project also on the Laser Engraver leads us to meet Jacob Olson, who brings ideas to life through the art of 3D printing and laser engraving. He is trained in laser engraving and is a solid modeler for the Design Hub. He also tutors design technology programs such as Autocad, Revit, Sketchup.
Jacob takes family photos, and creates images printed onto wood through the scientific world of computers, cyberspace, and LASER TECHNOLOGY (cue the “Twilight Zone” theme song).
Jacob is providing this project with his own family photos of his great grandparents, inspired by his father’s idea, and giving them as a present to his grandpa. The end product will be a collage of family photos laser engraved in the plywood. Jacob showed us around the laser engraver to get a feel for it and showed me exactly how the machine works: the water filter from the bucket pumps up water and keeps the laser tube cool while the exhaust fan pulls out smoke and filters out the exhaust to prevent turning the interns’ hard work into a barbecue. There’s a cycle of water that goes from being pumped from the bucket, to the laser tube and back to the bucket in a little circle of life.
The artists of the Design Hub have an ongoing task of creating new ideas to contribute to being engraved into wood using the Laser Engraver. There has been extensive training to prepare the interns on how it’s used, including training sessions they attended, as well as sample tests before running the actual name tag project.
The CNC Router interns gave a tour around their machine in the back room of the Design Lab Room 311. The router was being tested first to make sure that it works properly before executing the projects. It is being tested on plywood.
This particular project on the CNC Router is the letters, “ARC” being drilled into the wood as a test before other, more complex images are carved into the wood. After the initial testing takes place with just the letters, “ARC,” then the router interns will move on to further advanced projects such as carving out detailed photographs.
To do this, first the intern must use the software, V Curve, to upload, design, and save the file onto the computer. Then load the image to the CNC control panel which will command it to cut into the wood. Home on the CNC Router control panel tells it where to start cutting. The interns can actually set how far deep they want to cut into the wood also at the home button on the control panel. Randy ordered the CNC Router interns to test out this machine to prepare it for further use later on for more projects. There is an ongoing series of projects using the CNC Router throughout the semester. It can be viewed in the Design Lab, where some of the beautiful woodwork is displayed. This particular project of engraving a family photo from an image on the computer screen to a piece of plywood is especially meaningful for people who want pictures to last longer than they would on paper. It’s a special way of remembering those we cherish, because one can have the gorgeous frame with them for life.
Our photography intern Kyle Chan has been testing out his own photographs taken from both a dslr camera as well as his iPhone X.
