This project was a way to turn a limitation into an inspiration. Given the bed size of the glowforge, the largest square canvas I could work with was about a 10 by 10. I wanted to make larger art, so I decided to make a custom frame and use 9 separate canvases to make this:
(edit) One other cool thing is that if you look at the first photo and the assembly photos, you can see the silver shows up only at certain angles. It is much more prominent in the first photo.
This also gave me a really interesting idea for the next project. Stay tuned.
I just LOVE what you did with this technique. Long ago, when you first started doing this and posting about it, I gave it a try. It was so much fun…and I had a good outcome. I may have to try it again, soon…although not on the scale as large as yours.
So could you show the original image? Or just describe it? Is it a grayscale that you used vary power setting? Just trying to understand the technique a bit more and how you got such interesting effects with very few layers of paint. The black canvases were black or you painted them black?
The original image is greyscale with Vary power. The canvases are originally black. As far as the paint layers go, it can be a bit of an adventure.
Thin layers can give a lot of detail, but sometimes the laser goes right through and you lose even the black part of the canvas. I have also used high temperature black engine paint, which can alleviate some of that. Thick layers of different colors can be interesting, because greys tend to cause the layers to blend.
Short answer: It’s a bit of a crap shoot, but that’s kind of why I love it.
