Watch video of Eintseine Robot

A video about an interactive robto of Albert Einstein from Hanson Robotics Texas I would like to remind you that the Facial Action Coding system mentioned in this article is from the research of Psychologist Paul Eckman.

I studied emotion as it pertains to art, and sculpture as my undergraduate study. It is good to see this man's work being used and recognized. If you watch the show Lie to Me then you might also be familiar with the work of Paul Eckman.


So cool to see all of this come together. Also check out the link to Hanson Robotics in Texas.

Watch Video- Robots are becoming more and more life like. -

" Jules is a Conversational Character Robot designed and built by David Hanson. Jules is Ai, made with a light weight material called Frubber™ , which enables his/her face to be mobile and expressive. Jules runs on batteries and was commissioned by the UWE with a statistically perfect androgynous face.
Go to HANSONROBOTICS.COM to learn more" From you tube informationSorry if this months page takes a long time to load, so many interesting videos to share.

Learning about retoplogizing. An excellent video!

Subdivision Topology: Artifacts from The Guerrilla CG Project on Vimeo.

Can I really digitally print in metal?

This is an excellent video that discusses Powder Metallurgy.

I know it seems like it is something that is not afforadable not doable for the average person. But shapeways is making this connection to the common artist, the every day guy. Check out this video


And their prices are extremely affordable. http://www.shapeways.com/

3D camp Houston was a success. Next year bigger and better.

It was last Wednesday that my husband invited me to the 3D modelers and animators meetup. I was interested in the presentation on Zbrush by Johannes Huber.

It was there that I met David Morris. David told me about a project he had been working on for just 8 weeks. It was a 3D camp, planned for this past weekend. He envisioned a place where people could get together and talk about 3D. My husband Mike delaflor and I jumped on board.

David was doing exactly what I wanted to do. I had actually been thinking about this for a year. I was going to do it this fall, but instead decided to perhaps make it a part of my graduate practicum. I had already talked to Next Engine, who have some wonderful affordable desk top scanners. Ex One who you have seen in previous posts. I have been contacting them about their direct metal printing and last month I went to see there printing sandcasting Molds. Ex One said when I was ready to get this going they would try to get Shapeways on board. For those of you who don't know about Shapeways they are affordable service bureau for 3d digital printing, and they too are now offering digital printing in metal!



My goal was to get some vendors there and also offer some informative lectures on different processes of 3D. Well David did just that with 3D camp. I’m so excited and totally impressed with this young man. I think you will see this 3D camp grow in the up and coming years. I’m looking forward to presenting next year, and hopefully get the above vendors to demonstrate.

This year I demonstrated the 3D scanner, though I must say it was a crowded area and hard to get a good scan with so many people bumping the table. Still I get was able to sing the praises of this scanner that we are reviewing and using in our up and coming book, Digital Sculpting with Mudbox: Essential Tools and Techniques For Artists.

I also had this video playing and my article that I wrote for Sculpture Review on digital printing and milling where I talked about the incredible advances of Synappsys digital printing and their Data Direct to Mold process that is being used on The American.





My vantage point of 3D is coming from a traditional studio and using it to create traditional art. I suppose my focus then is a bit different than the traditional 3D artist. My graduate studies at Goddard- A Master of Fine Arts In Interdisciplinary Arts is based upon bridging the gap between the traditional and the digital studio. That is my interest. Though I have to admit, programs like Mudbox and Z brush are very intriguing and I expect I will be using them much more in the future. Oh no am I converting? Still I like the clay under my nails and my heart longs for dirty hands.

I encourage others to get involved with 3D camp next year, and plan on attending. I’m expecting it will double if not triple in size with a year of planning, some more backers, and some good promotion. If you would like to be a sponsore, If you are interested in presenting or are a vendor that would like to show at 3D camp next year please feel free to contact me or David.

Great job David!





Some of my favorite things there revolve around output. This is a home made cnc router machine. To check it out further go to http://buildyourcnc.com/default.aspx



Many seemed to be interested in what a fine artist had to say in a 3D camp.





Another of my favorite had to again deal with output. It is the homemade 3D printer. This one is called the cupcake, and I must show that it can print a cupcake. I believe the cupcake costs about 700. to put together. There is another homemade one that I want to investigate but it costs approximately 3,000. Kind of steep to do for a hobby or to check out, but this other can print ceramic and chocolate, something worth investigating. I plan on reviewing all of these home made machines in an upcoming article.

3d Printing in ceramic!

I'm looking forward to working with Solheim Rapid Prototyping/ Rapid Manufacturing Lab at the University of Washington's Mechanical Engineering Department, collaborating and certainly want to add their process to the new book that I intend to write, my articles and a lecture. I love seeing video and am certainly glad that this was created. I will be trying to contact them on their process and new technology and will be sure to let you know what comes from that.

For students about entering an art show, and Culture Shapers.

A Great Judging Day at Culture Shapers

Everything was a buzz yesterday at judging. It is good to see the other judges, all in different field but seasoned professionals and some old friends. They all take their judging very seriously and everyone is impressed with the quality of work that comes to Culture Shapers each year. One new judge expressed his impressions over the well-run and very large process that is done by Culture Shapers.

If you think that seeing the final show is inspiring, you should see how much incredible work is there on judging day. There is so much work and many very incredible pieces that never make the final cut. You have heard me say over the years that judging is, many times very subjective. It depends on the judges and their personal likes, their background and training, etc. There were some pieces that I would have liked to advance but I could not.

Suggestions
I always try to add these suggestions to students.

• Use the forms provided. Gives us information. Sometimes the information or description that is provided can change a judges view of a piece. For example, if you submitted something in photography and it was developed in a dark room, you should mention that. Or if you were trying to express a certain emotion or were inspired by something tell us!

• Go to the extra effort and time in presenting. If you have a great sculpture and it is poorly mounted, it will show and may change our vote for your piece.

• Don’t cut corners when creating. When you feel you are tired of your artwork, walk away and come back to it. Rushing through art shows in the finished product. It is better to give the art your full attention until it comes to completion.

It may be too late for you to use some of these suggestion this year, but do pay attention to them next year, and for all the shows that you enter.

Judging Process
For those not familiar with the process of judging here is a quick run down.

Each judge ( there are three judges) is given 20 yellow post-its. We walk around the show and place the slips on those piece that we like and that we think should advance to the next round. If another judge has put a post-it on a piece then I might not put mine there. Many times we agree on what should advance and then I hand in extra post-its. If it did not advance there are a few reasons.

• It did not compare to the quality of work that we had seen.

• You may have not done some of my suggestions that I mentioned earlier.

• It got lost amongst the other work. I sculpture this happens a lot. I am so glad there are three judges. Smaller pieces or those that just happened to be placed in a dark area of the room might not get a judges attention.

• It may be a part of school project and there are several pieces that look like yours. It is hard to judge these, unless it is spectacular and really stands out.

Then we are given five pink post-its. We can only place these on the pieces that have yellow ones on them already. Oh this year I walked back and forth between two pieces that I liked, one was with a bird cage and hand and the other was i think titled “Heaven and Hell.” I put it on one and I was so sorry I did not have two pink slips. It was then that I noticed that another judge had marked another one that I had liked. I asked permission to move my pink slip and that allowed me to advance both of these pieces.

Then the pieces are lined up. We are then given our slips of paper that we write our comments on. I must interject, if you have come this far your work is superior. The forms however give us a numbering system and the words “below average, average, etc.” I hate this and cross them off of my sheet. I wish Culture Shapers would delete them. For us judges it is just a numbering system and should not be called “below average.” As I said, if you have made it this far that term should not be used. Now this is my opinion and I hope one day to have those off of the forms. Anyway... We go through and look at each piece. I love this part. I get to sit down and become familiar with your work, to really examine it. This is where you can sway me by your quality, and words. Each judge hands in their numbered pages and we go to lunch and wait for them to add them up and them put them in numerical order.

We are not aloud to speak to each other until the final round- after all the artwork is lined up. This is an essential part of judging, especially in sculpture. Many times there are many different mediums. I count on my fellow judges to point out details, difficulties and intricacy in each of their favorite pieces. Pieces can be moved on this final table but only three spots. Usually judges agree. Sometimes they fight for their pieces- your artwork. But it is all still friendly.

In all I loved the choices. Of course in other categories there were some pieces that where last in the finals that I would have put first, but that is again subjective and my own opinion. There was a discussion between us artists if photographs should be used allowed to be used in the drawing section of the show. Some judges were passionate about not allowing photographs. I think they want students to draw from life. I however think using photographs is very good and I know many professional artists that would agree, in fact, both my husband in his work and many other illustrators and artists use photographs as reference. We often take our own photography so that we can get the proportions, lighting etc just right. I’ll even ask my husband, “ Can you strike this pose?” Or he will ask me. Can you hold this medical instrument. For us photography is part of the process. But again that tells how different artists and judges are.

I want to encourage each of you to continue working on your art. For those who want suggestions or critiques or whatever. Please feel free to contact me, but... do not send me anything that you think you might enter in the show in the sculpture category next year as it will have to be disqualified. You can find me on Facebook, check out my websites— Fine art , God's Word Collectible Gift Line. I have also started podcasting and have a new section of the podcasts called Creative Christians. We will be interviewing famous creative Christians. For those interested you can find a list of the podcasts here Or you can listen to them from the God’s word Collectibles Facebook Fans page.

Oh yes, be sure to check out my blog on my website, as I often post articles about Culture Shapers. Last year I also wrote an article about the winners at Best of Artists and Artisans column.