Contemporary jeweller John Field is exhibiting his new digital tech range at Edinburgh International Arts Festival Fringe at the well-known Dazzle jewellery exhibition in Dovecot Studios.
His new ‘Pebble’ range of brooches, pendants and earrings are 3D printed with the hollows coloured gold and white, contrasting with the grey of the polymer and is quite a departure for him. It was not until this year that he plucked up the courage to try 3D digital technology, specifically Anarkik3DDesign to 3D model objects, and 3D printing to produce the units for his new work.
As he says ‘In my early days as a jeweller I mainly made one off pieces, hand carving or turning exotic hardwoods and adding precious metal elements. Often one piece, a pendant say, would open to reveal a pair of earrings. Many pieces would come with a bespoke stand.
‘I have also worked with my wife Dawn on various ranges of jewellery, mainly using roller printed silver sheet as a basis. Our asymmetrical range started with me cutting stencils, first out of nickel silver sheet and then out of stainless steel from the lid of a discarded teapot. I then started to use CorelDRAW to design the stencils and had them laser cut. Later I used it again to update the designs and had them photo etched, first in stainless steel and later in phosphor bronze.’
During the usual hectic run up to Christmas in the workshop he was needing something to look forward to, to get him through to the New Year. When visiting Edinburgh for Dazzle he had seen and experienced in 2001 the very early research by Ann Marie Shillito and team at Edinburgh College of Art into haptics* (digital touch), the technology that makes Anarkik3DDesign software programme particularly unique for applied artists and the way they work**.
As a contemporary jeweller John Field reckons that he first met jeweller Ann Marie Shillito in 1989 when he stayed with her while he worked on that year’s Edinburgh Festival Dazzle jewellery exhibition. Over the subsequent years they became good friends, Ann Marie became a research fellow, finally spinning out the company, Anarkik3D, to commercialise haptic 3D digital modelling for applied artists.
He had considered buying the Anarkik3DDesign many times in the past, but the cost had put him off. He saw on the Anarkik3D’s website that there was a loan option which seemed like an excellent low risk chance way to try it out. Before committing to loaning the package, he spent time looking at the video tutorials on the website which gave him a flavour of how the software worked and some idea of what it was capable of.
First introduction to Anarkik3DDesign
He travelled to Edinburgh for a tutorial and to collect the haptic device, with some basic ideas of what he would like to achieve initially with the programme. He would normally have been more methodical and read through the manual provided more thoroughly but was too excited and eager to learn, hands on, using the haptic 3D ‘mouse’ and software.
As it was, after a brief introduction of the haptic controls from Ann Marie he was able more or less straight away to experiment and create interesting objects in 3D, based on the ideas he had envisaged. Answers to any questions were there in the manual but it was an invaluable experience having Ann Marie on hand to help and suggest possible avenues of exploration. John recommends learning the keyboard shortcuts as you progress through investigating the various functions of Anarkik3DDesign, as this speeds up progress later on and encourages a smooth workflow.
Up and running, and into 3D printing
Ann Marie made sure the programme was working on John’s own laptop and after travelling back with everything set up, and the haptic device, he says he was buzzing with ideas. After less than 2 weeks of part time experimentation he placed his first order, for one copy each, of 17 different designs to be 3D printed. He had them made in a range of materials to see what the options for colour and surface texture are. The image below shows John’s process from digital to physical. Anarkik3DDesign is optimised to ease the route to 3D printing.
One design was for a hollowed out oval shape that when 3D printed in a grey polymer resembled a pebble. From this one design he was able to develop a range of jewellery which he now sells from his website and elsewhere. This shows how it is possible to make economically viable designs after only a few hours using Anarkik3DDesign haptic design package.
What it does, it does very well
Although he still doesn’t find it possible to translate absolutely all his ideas into 3D designs using the package, this is more than made up for with the serendipitous ideas that come from using the programme. What it does, it does very well, meaning that as a contemporary jeweller John can produce designs, such as beautiful organic shapes, that he could not envisage making any other way. He has found the procedure that is involved in using the programme captivating.
To design some of his more complex objects takes some forward planning, with each process having to be completed in the correct order. This can feel like solving an intriguing puzzle. At the same time though it is very satisfying seeing new designs evolve in front of you on the screen. He finds it similar to how, when working on his lathe, the shape of the wood changes and suggests a finished form quite different to the original concept.
Having used Anarkik3DDesign for about 6 months now, he has developed a new range of cast silver jewellery based on their asymmetrical range of jewellery that has evolved over 30 years.
John still has many more avenues to pursue, and new ideas crop up all the time. His current project is for a cast bronze sculpted shape that fits in a bespoke locket. All designed using Anarkik3DDesign and 3D printed.
John is very pleased with how his learning journey with the programme has gone. He can use the haptic device fluently and although the software interface looks deceptively sparse the possibilities are endless.
Context re haptics
* ‘Haptic’ in the context of 3D digital modelling is the sensation of actually touching and feeling your 3D model as you manipulate your virtual object. This sensation is delivered by a small desktop haptic device, Novint’s Falcon. It has a moveable grasp attached to 3 arms which provides force feedback whenever the cursor, moved in 3D by the grasp, touches or pushes against the surface of the object. Anarkik3DDesign’s software (Cloud9) has interface tools to change surface quality from very soft to very hard to aid 3D modelling effects.
** This sensation of touch and feel, and movement in 3D, just has to be experienced to understand how powerfully natural this way of working is for applied artists. So natural that John probably now takes this phenomenon totally for granted as he didn’t mention haptics at all in his account of working with Anarkik3DDesign!
His response to this: ‘I guess I was just immersed in the experience as it all came quite naturally. Obviously, it really is an integral part of the system though and I was fascinated by the ease of being able to move items in 3D. Also, it was more than just a novelty to be able to feel when I came across a surface with the cursor. I look forward to deforming the surfaces of objects as this is a fundamental aspect of the system that I haven’t really utilised yet. Maybe that is why I didn’t think to discuss it?’
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