[Nfb-krafters-korner] 3 D Printing

[Valerie]

Hi Terry,
3-D printing has been really helpful for me with my art classes. I currently use some of the printed images for my art history class. I have a little sculpture of the Venus of Willendorf, which is a sculpture made in the days of cave art. I also have a sphinx from Egypt, and the head of Aries from Greece. I don't often look at a person's facial features because I feel uncomfortable invading their space. I mostly have gotten ideas for facial features from the heads of Barbies, figurines my grandmother had on her shelves for decoration, toys or plastic figurines in general, and occasionally from feeling one of my sisters faces. It's very rare that I will ask anyone else if I can feel their face. If I want to know what animals look like, I usually look for plastic figurines. I have found it more difficult to get an idea of its proportion from stuffed animals because some of them look as if they could be made to resemble some some sort of cartoon. I need more details sometimes, such as the texture of the animals fur or hair, what they look like when they're about to Leap, run, or just when they're laying down. It is easiest for me to make sculptures of dogs and birds because I live with them every day. In my house, we have three guide dogs, and I have made my sisters statues of their dogs, and whenever  necessity dictates that they must retire their current companions, I'll make replicas of their New four-legged children too. I chose not to have a dog, but I have my 11-year-old birdy, and I know her shape well, and it is fairly easy for me to replicate her form. The most difficult part is creating the wings when I want them to be outstretched. Occasionally when I try to get them to stay in place, the Clay will crack and break. Hopefully one day I can get some 3-D images of other types of birds. Another way I find out what animals look like is to ask my professor to give me a rough outline in clay form that I can take and build on, and that usually works well. I do the same thing when I want to know how to convey a particular facial expression.
I think 3-D printing could be extremely useful in the medical and science fields. I know for a fact that my teachers have found it to be a great resource when trying to explain some things to me. :-)
> On May 13, 2016, at 6:29 AM, Powers, Terry (NIH/NCI) [E] via Nfb-krafters-korner <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> I saw some examples of 3 D printing at National.  One was a tree trunk and the other was, if I remember right, a persons face.
> Our blind group, at work, had someone come in and give a talk on 3 D printing.  They let us feal a 3 D model of a molecule.
> 
> It makes me wish I was young again so I could enjoy this new technology and maybe be a doctor or do something in the sciences.
> If only my epelepsi had not hit, maybe this dreem, might have come true.  I did dream of being a teacher, when I was a kid.
> 
> Maybe after retiring, I might try out this oven baking clay.
> 
> My sister did clay, while the kilm was available.  I guess interest, declined.
> I have a panda cookie jar and a collie, she made!
> 
> Since I can not see very well, I started collecting beany babies and some small statchues, to learn what animals looked like.
> How does a totally blind person do a pictury in pottery or a picture at all, when they can not see the universe?
> I have never been able to see facial characteristics so I would have no idea how to draw a face.  Also, I know faces have different shapes.
> I guess we draw what we have felt or had someone describe to us.
> I am more into  shapes and designs.  That is how I got into plastic canvas.
> 
> Terry P.
> 
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