I decided to make something complex for my first project as I am the kind of person that learns from getting into the weeds. I found a picture I liked on Pinterest from Breath of the Wild that I then worked on in my iPad and traced out the specific layers/details. I use sketchbook with my apple pencil to get the out lines I wanted.
From there I worked in Inkscape and traced the layers to bitmap and made them all individual colors. I printed each layer on Proofgrade Maple ply and used a watered-down paint to paint/stain the layers.
I then wood glued the pieces together. One thing I learned very quickly was that I should leave the mask on the acrylic as long as possible. I do have polish and scratch removed that I applied right before putting it all together, so that helped. I also learned that its super easy to color acrylic etching when you leave the mask on!
I took the entire piece to the belt sander to clean up the edges then made a frame our of PG Maple Ply. All together this build taught me a ton. How to use Inkscape, how to properly distinguish the order of operations, and how lasers are CRAZY ACCURATE.
I am so proud of how this thing turned out and I cannot wait to try some more.
Awesome! And this made me think about how talented so many people here are with SOFTWARE. Yes, GF is amazing and we need a certain skill level to use it properly and get the best out of it, but it’s the talent with the various applications we all use to create that’s really astounding to me. Can’t wait to see what’s next!
As i was looking more and more into the and realised how simple it was to use I figured i could take all my drawings in my ipad and just bring them to life in a way that was so different than paper. I have been struggling with inkscape but this project really pushed my knowledge to the next level. I find myself hoping between Gimp2 and Inkscape so many times before it the project gets to the . I am also starting to look at things differently…like looking at a coaster at the store and thinking…HEY i can engrave that and it can be something i drew.
Amazing first project! i admire you for getting in this deep and coming out the other end with something wonderful as well as learning many things while doing.
Its called Sketchbook. Its a simple drawing app that lets you work in layers and exports as photoshop documents. It works really well on an ipad pro and with the apple pencil. i take photos, recuse the opacity and trace out what i want then bring it to gimp then to inkscape to make a vector.
Dont get me wrong! i was SOOOOOOO JACKED when the gift for good measure printed but i knew i wanted to do something hard next to really test my abilities. I appreciate the kind words
and realised how simple it was to use I figured i could take all my drawings in my ipad and just bring them to life in a way that was so different than paper. I have been struggling with inkscape but this project really pushed my knowledge to the next level. I find myself hoping between Gimp2 and Inkscape so many times before it the project gets to the 
Really good job!
