I never thought that the polygon would really be of interest to me, but now that they have come into my life, they have changed it.
There are lots of different types of polygons, and they are really not that interesting on their own.
Yet, the far from boring little polygons, have moved the entire design world away from rectangles, revolutionizing the world of architecture, film, design and additive manufacturing.
One might not think that this is actually a big deal, but look at the buildings designed by Frank Gehry, for example.
There, is a truly brilliant use of polygons.
This wonderful world of polygons has been opened through the language of mathematics and the facility by which, our favourite tool; our computers, can manipulate them.
I have been enlightened; introduced to the power of polygons, math and geometry, through a wonderful piece of software called Zbrush.
This program, and others like it have been used to create animation for movies, as well as, computer games.
The computer’s ability to manipulate millions of polygons with ease has changed the motion picture industry allowing a lot of special effects to be created digitally.
This has saved the lives of many stunt artists, as well as providing us, with some absolutely amazing visuals.
That is all fine and good if you were a film producer, you say, but what can polygons do for a sculptor?
Until recently polygons had only existed in the 2D world.
They have now taken on the qualities of matter in 3D form.
Polygons have certainly changed my life and now are changing the way I sculpt.
They have, in fact, become my new medium!
Through the use of Zbrush and associated software, I am combining the figures that I create manually by working in wax with an interior structure that is created virtually; sculpted with Zbrush.
It is a merger between the analogue and the digital.
The result is an organic figure with a very mechanical, square edged inner structure, created by sculpting millions of polygons.
Then of course, you have to get your creation out of the computer and into the real world.
This is more difficult, but with the advances in 3D printing we are moving forward.
There are some problems such as “non-manifold edges” (don’t ask) and the limited tolerances of today’s additive manufacturing printers, but these are just technical obstacles that can and will be overcome.
I must admit that I am encouraged as I bounce along the bottom of the learning curve, as this new world slowly and sometimes painfully opens up before me.
I’ll let you know how it works out!
Until then wish me luck!
By Blake & Boky