Netsuke Fox Priest

Ne·tsu·ke

ˈnetso͝oˌkē/
NETSUKE are miniature sculptures that were invented in 17th-century Japan to serve a practical function (the two Japanese characters ne+tsuke mean "root" and "to attach"). 

Traditional Japanese garments—robes called kosode and kimono—had no pockets; however, men who wore them needed a place to store their personal belongings, such as pipes, tobacco, money, seals, or medicines. Their solution was to place such objects in containers (called sagemono) hung by cords from the robes' sashes (obi). The containers may have been pouches or small woven baskets, but the most popular were beautifully crafted boxes (inrō), which were held shut by ojime, which were sliding beads on cords. Whatever the form of the container, the fastener that secured the cord at the top of the sash was a carved, button-like toggle called a netsuke.

So this is a pretty cool project I am finally getting traction with some 3D esoteric modeling.

Below is a fully 3D Model of this character. Ready for manufacturing in any media.

I intend to make a full Chess Set of Netsuke Animal Characters. Think it will pay extra homage to this incredible art form from Japan.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OTHER NETSUKE FIGURES

Escher Dragon Reimagined

M.C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) is one of the world's most famous graphic artists. His art is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world, as can be seen on the many web sites on the internet.

He is most famous for his so-called impossible constructions, such as Ascending and Descending, Relativity, his Transformation Prints, such as Metamorphosis I, Metamorphosis II and Metamorphosis III, Sky & Water I or Reptiles.

I've been enamored by M.C. Escher since I was a child. I've re-imagined one of his works his 1952 Dragon wood engraving print.

M.C. Escher's Dragon 1952 Wood Engraving
(Click on the image to see more detail)

My workflow is a little unique. I am converting 2D quality art into a reimagined version.

In this case I was able to use M.C. Escher's incredible detail of shadow and contrast of dark vs light to create a 3D Surface Model.

More detail of my 3D Model
(Click on the image to see more detail)

I was able to get a part cast and the initial casting results were mixed. Lot's of nooks and crannies.

My plan is to create a Necklace that is moderate in size and send it to the M.C. ESCHER Foundation as an honorary piece to show how much detail is actually in M.C. Escher's work. 

For information on this famous DRAGON work of art, you can find it described in the following Wikipedia article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(M._C._Escher)

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY EARLIER EFFORT ON THIS BELOW INCLUDING MY WAX CUT PIECE FROM THE 3D SURFACE

Been a little busy starting a new Retro Salon in Denver

I've been a little busy started a business on 4/10/2017 

https://www.londonalleysalon.com/

Located in the heart of Capital Hill, we offer Gold Star service. Our staff & edgy environment will take you back to the British Invasion, when the Beatles ruled the radio, gogo boots rocked, and the Twiggy pixie cut was all the rage.

blog.londonalleysalon.com/

London Alley Salon

1233 East 13th Avenue, Denver, CO 80218

(303)-830-0333

A little help from my friends...

This is a Soap Bar project my friend Rob Stein is doing. He started with a 3D Model he created. WeWe th imported an STL file of it into Fusion 360. And then he created the CAM Tool path. I added a CAM Pattern to get the footprints machined a little more efficiently. Rob is a life long graphic artist. He has a tremendous portfolio and diverse interests.

MC Escher's Dragon 1952 2D Image realized as a 3D Artform

I've been enamored by MC Escher's work since my youth. MC Escher is one of those larger than life individuals that everyone can learn from. This DRAGON is a work of his he did in 1952. It has some incredible features that are very interesting and pleasing to the eye.

This image stood out as having potential to be realized into some 3D Art Form. I was able to take this image and create a Workflow that allowed me to carve it in 3D WAX. I'm rather happy with the results as you can see in the image below.

Work·Flow ˈwərkflō/

Noun: the sequence of industrial, administrative, or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion.

This incredible Bear Growl image is the basis of this work... The original image was a 2D flat color bitmap.

Fusion 360 I was able to create a Full 3D Model using the 2D Image as reference.

Machining software allowed me to create tool paths for this model with little effort.

I used my Pocket NC to machine the Freeman Gold Jewelers Wax model. Wax is 2" wide x 2" high.

After Firing the PMC 960 in the Kiln. This is prior to blackening with Liver of Sulfer and prior to final polish. Doesn't look that great at this scale but considering it's only 2" diameter it actually looks fantastic to the naked eye.

A little validation checking

Validating the accuracy of the Pocket NC

This is a positional check for X and Y. Are they centered about A and B Centerline? There are 2 checks that can be made. 

1) Rotating B constantly does the center hole run TRUE as it is spun? It's really about how concentric is the platter backside bearing to the front side locator hole?

2) Once that is true rotate the indicator in the spindle 360

This is a positional check for X and Y. Are they centered about A and B Centerline?