Bio-mechanical/Mechanical -
I began a study of the Artist Leonardo Da Vinci, I looked at sources of a dedicated book to his artwork and studies, I looked into his Animal sketches as well as his well known Human Anatomy studies. I originally thought that attempting to make a wire sculpture of a horse, and try interpret a mechanical side into it would be interesting. I thought of a horse and came across these images. Horses are considered my favourite animal and i find there body shape interesting, from their legs to there torso's and head.
Since I had taken such an interest in the human anatomy myself and wanted to study more to see what I could possibly work into myself; I took a look into how Leonardo Da Vinci drew his hands. I wanted to know how to pose them to make them express different meanings and emotions because I believe hands can tell a story in some sense. I also wanted to look into his shading techniques as I think I needed to advance in this more as I am determined to make my boards look as realistic as I can get them to back up my story behind my final piece as well as be recognised.
Since I had taken such an interest in the human anatomy myself and wanted to study more to see what I could possibly work into myself; I took a look into how Leonardo Da Vinci drew his hands. I wanted to know how to pose them to make them express different meanings and emotions because I believe hands can tell a story in some sense. I also wanted to look into his shading techniques as I think I needed to advance in this more as I am determined to make my boards look as realistic as I can get them to back up my story behind my final piece as well as be recognised.
This is one of Leonardo's well known drawings in his human anatomy studies, This image is a study he did based around the human's body proportion which I believe is something key that I needed to look into since I was keen on creating something based on the human body. If my proportions were wrong it would most likely throw off the whole piece and be quite obvious to the eye if I was to create a model. This also is very relevant for if I was to be drawing images such as this.
Whilst looking through the book further I found interesting sketches/studies of the anatomy of inside a human, also the drawings of muscular underlay of people, expressing the definition and form. Looking more into his works made me all the more interested in looking further into the human anatomy myself. So from this I composed my own Artist board in sketch, not only to show my research into this but also to practice drawing in a similar style as this is the sort of standard and detail I would like to show through my works also.
These are a few pictures I took of my own hand in some peculiar poses to try and show the extent of which our own hands can bend. I thought about looking into the human hands as I think they are quite an interesting part to our bodies and something we rely on quite a lot for such use. We depend on our hands throughout our daily life. I wanted to set myself a challenge for this project so a hand it would be, although at this point I wasn't quire sure how I was going to make this work or even what I could remotely make it look like.
These are photos I took of my classmate Seannie, I asked her to pose her fingers in a bent form to show how far we could push out fingers on an outwards bend. I also wanted to look into how far spaced apart out fingers could set/or were set, so she spread out her fingers to show me how her hand looked flat, such as her long slimline fingers and spaces. She also let me take a photo of her hand and arm, so she could show how much her wrist could move compared to her hand, our wrist and arm can at least sit at a 90% angle. I took all this into thought. I Also took note that her arm bone was quite long too, from this point i was intrigued at making a hand and arm to an extent but this all depended on what could get done in the time I was given, also on the pace I was capable of working at.
Beginning Board Work -
This was the start of my Leonardo Da Vinci board, I wanted the background the give the effect of an old worn book as though they were aged sketches, Like Da Vinci's works would look like now (probably)
I drew the skull that he had done in his own studies, and also attempted to imitate the muscular sketches he had done(like the image further up). I was aiming for my boards to look crowded and collaged so that there was limited negative space, but also enough space so that you could determine the sketches from one another without it looking too messy.
This is the start of my mood board I did based on the photo's I took of my own hands, I did the tea background a little heavy so the sketches ended up being heavier also, this probably ruined the softer tea theme I was hoping for but I carried on anyway to see what it would turn out like. These Hands weren't fully sketched in but more lightly and darker towards the edges. I just hope the background doesn't draw the attention away from the sketches so much.
These were the starts of the other 3 hand images I was beginning to sketch. I wanted this board to show the different angles and poses of the hand, and attempt to show the lightness and shadowing on the hands. I didn't go into full detail with the sketches but I attempted to do my best by sketching them the best I could. This wasn't only difficult but also a test on how much I was prepared to take the challenge of drawing realistic images from perspective to my up-most full potential.
More Hand Studies -
I decided to take some more images based around the hunch of my hand and the length of my arm, I wanted to undergo more of a study of just how much my hand was able to close and how I would be able to imitate such a pose with a posable hand of my own which at this point I decided I wanted to try make in the wood workshop, but also combine the Jewellery workshop metal parts into this as well. By now I had already gotten sort of an idea of how I would assemble finger joints together with such a slot of a male and female ended joints, I designed that there would be a bolt through each end of the fingers to make it so that the fingers could move and pivot backwards and forwards but so far I wasn't sure of the strength it would have and if it would only be a loose movement (Baggy/Floppy)
This is just a small update on the Leonardo Da Vinci board that I am currently sketching, I began to look into his skeletal studies too that came under his Human Anatomy studies. The skeletal form took quite a bit of influence on me, and I thought that the bone structure would be much more easier to imitate in the wood workshop rather than making something realistic. This would also work well I think with the Mechanical side I was aiming for. The bone structure could substitute the the metal finger parts that a real robotic hand would have. I was certain I wanted to bring the wood workshop into this as this was my favourite workshop to be in, I felt that working in wood would be my stronger point and would go in favour of my design. I was now determined to go do a thorough study of the hand and arm bone structure and how I would be able to imitate the shape, I thought of carving and sanding but I was to make samples first before I was so certain on this idea.
Plaster Of Paris + Alginate -
This was an experiment I was trying out whilst also designing my final piece, I wanted to know if I was able to create something as well as my other, as I wanted there to be more to be out for the show. I first saw this method done by a classmate of mine called Megan who was doing masks, she had used this already with our print teacher Lina, I asked Megan of her Methods on how to do this, so that I could include it in my research file I was gathering random information in of processes I had taken a look at on my journey. When I asked her she was keen on letting me use some and trial it for herself as she had done this once already, I was very grateful and I took up her offer. Firstly we attempted to cast my hand and arm in only Plaster Paris, Before we started to pour and brush this on I had to completely coat my hand and arm in petroleum jelly so that the plaster wouldn't stick to my skin and arm hair. Once we had done this, we attempted to take it off but it crumbled and broke and there wasn't any form to the plaster; we repeated this method multiple times as though we hadn't done the measurements properly. We also used alginate with it as well to try and strengthen the mould but this failed also. In the end we tried to stuff 2 rubber gloves each with newspaper and try a 'plaster mache' method (paper mache but with plaster) we coated the stuffed gloves with lots of coats of newsprint and even tried to apply the plaster with a brush after but noticing when it was drying it was cracking and breaking away into a dust, this was another failed attempt. In the end I had a 'hands' on experience with this trail and error method,
Quick cardboard finger joint representation -
This was a quick put together I created with cardboard and cut down paper clip. This was a quick sample of what I originally thought I wanted my finger joints to look like, long slim and clawed-like (pointed) at the end. I knew this wasn't what I wanted them to look like now so instead I attempted quickly to show what I wanted my joints to function like and where-about's on the finger I would place them. With this corrugated card from a box I quickly cut slim-line fingers and split one end down the middle(center) to imitate the female joint, whilst I cut a rounded head for the male joint to fit into the female one.Each end needed to be the same measurement as they needed to fit snug enough into one another. The cut down paper clip pins represented where the bolts would be, obviously the bolts would provide a more secure movement where as this fell apart and flopped all over the place.
Update on Artist Board -
Beginning of creating sample joint -
This was a quick sketch to show the ways I would cut out these slots on the band saw, and also the 2 alternative ways in which to cut out the female joint. The 2 ways were..
1) cut down each edge of the female joint but then also cut in at an angle to try take the piece at the bottom that would be difficult to get to.
OR
2) keep repeatedly cutting down the slot hole all the way to the bottom so that there is only a rough edge left that we can smooth down with a chisel.
I chose the second option, as I thought this was easiest and that then there would be less material to take away with the chisel when it came to that part. The diagram on the piece of MDF also shows that we needed to smooth down all the edges of the wood as the joints wouldn't sit together if they're faces weren't to be flat to one another.
I decided I wanted to use the wood 'Oak' as this is one of the strongest woods there are. I wanted to use such a strong wood as I wanted my hands finger joints to be as strong and sturdy as they could be as this was a point I needed to ensure throughout all my pieces - Strength and Stability. As show cutting them out was successful it was just when it came to trying to smooth the faces of the wood. I'm not experienced with the chisel as evident, so I managed to break the oak and ruin the joints. For the male joint I went in at an angle and already took too much away to be able to save. The wood was hard to just use my hand with the chisel so I used a wooden mallet too, and because of that I was a bit too heavy handed also managed to ruin the female joint by attempting to take too much away and cracking all the grain instead.
This photo above on the left was what the joint looked like before I messed with it, It was only supposed to take a small amount away from the bottom but instead went in and took out an angle. On the right is the catastrophy I created when I went at it too hard with the mallet and broke all the side face, The joint was useless now and was unable to be rectified.
Existing Model Example Doll -
When I was in the workshop I came across this Doll toy Model that Brad had previously created for a fashion student that was left in his room. I asked if I could study it and explained that this is exactly what I meant with the joints and that this was probably something that I had seen previously before and had remembered the way it was assembled; that influenced me to use similar joints for my own work.
Both arm and leg joints were male and female inspired joints, but rather this was connected by small pins with the ends cut off. This might have been a strong hold at the time but wasn't a long lasting grip as 2 of the joints hung quite loose and fell around. This doll backed up my evidence that my joints would again work successfully. It was also made out of ash a similar grain to pine but a little stronger.
Joint Sample 2 -
I decided since my first attempt at the joint was a failure and broke, I tried to recreate in a slightly bigger scale out of pine, just to get used to making the joint. This time instead of attempting to guess the measurements we created some instead. The joint needed to be as long as the wood was wide, Which was around 5-6 cm. The measurement in the middle was 5-6 cm down and around 2 cm wide. To mark this up I used a marking tool (?) which was a bit like a mallet but with an extended part through the top with a long nail through it. I used 2 of these one to mark the 5-6 cm mark, and one to mark the 2 cm mark. This tool worked like a scribe but you set up the measurements you want and run it along, it makes a indented line across the wood to show where I needed to cut/cut up to.
Once I had cut the joints this is how it turned out and it managed to make a stiff movement, I was not ready to make a start on my final piece.
LEFT - Large chisel and file.
RIGHT - Wooden Mallet
MARKING TOOLS
Shaping the Wooden Sample -
At this point I started to round the edges and try get used to making the wood look more bone-like. This was the perfect sample to experiment this on. For this I used a compass to try and get the edges as round as possible.
For the rest of the joint I used the detail sander I tried to make it look as slim and bone-like as possible but it didn't look too right at this point so I worked into it more.
This were the results after I worked into it more and slimmed it down., I thought that making them slimmer and more thicker towards the end would make it look more skeletal. I was happy with this sample and knew what I was to do, Now there was to work on the smaller scale.
Skeleton Half Arm Model -
This was a skeleton arm model that Brad had kindly brought in for me to look at whilst I was attempting to recreate my own skeletal arm/hand. Evidently the way that the fingers join are completely different the that of what I was attempting to do. Although it had a few ends of its fingers missing it was one of the greatest assets to work against whilst designing my arm.
This helped me grasp the detail I needed in my own finger segments I was creating, Looking up closely at the models fingers and arm is was evident that carving into it was going to be involved. The bones also didn't look so smooth like I had thought they would, (as suggested by my sample).
Figuring out how to attach the fingers/bones and create and efficient slot and bolt moving mechanism but also make it look good aesthetically was quite a challenge.
DRILL BIT FOR THREADED ROD IN SAMPLE 2 -
This was the size of the drill bit that I needed to use to drill a hole in my Pine sample (Sample 2) As I marked on the wood the 3 mm drill bit was too snug and wouldn't let the threaded rod have any space to go through, let alone move around it. Where-as the 5 mm drill bit let it have more release and allowed the threaded rod to slot all the way through without being too loose.
Idea for finger end pieces -
This was a quick idea that we thought of for the finger ends considering they had to be so thin. I wasn't so sure on the idea but It might come in handy if I haven't enough time and I need to make something quick.
This was when they had already been glued together and then sanded to make them look like finger ends. To me they don't seem like they are strong enough and are very brittle material, so I would prefer not to use this idea.
Scrap Metal findings and creations -
These are pieces of scrap metal rods I found and bought in Theresa's Workshop, The springs, rods and wire I wanted to see if they were all useful things that I could possibly interpret into the mechanical decoration of my hand. I created the springs by using the thin copper + brass wiring by coiling them around a pencil with my fingers. The Steel (?) wiring I did the same with. The thicker the wiring the tougher it was to manipulate the shape with my bare hands.
This was a bike chuck (I think) that someone I know from outside of college brought in, He had it in his had and I wanted to take a photo of it, It looked kind of like something I could have manipulated into the arm bone parts but then I realized that I need to make my hand look more believable and as though it could work, rather than throwing any scrap metal into it; But it all adds into research.
These are all the coils of the different thickness's of copper + brass wire, I took snips off of these to make the springs.
1.6 mm Copper Wire -
1.2 mm Copper Wire -
0.9 mm Brass Wire -
1.6 mm Brass Wire -
Scaling up my hand pieces -
This was a sketch I produced on an MDF board based on the skeletal model arm. This is the original scale plan that I was going to work towards, also so that I could keep all my pieces in order so that I didn't mix them up. I had planned particular sizes for the bottom pieces so that I could work towards them.
This was also the perfect template to make my idea of the pistons against, I used this template to create sample rods to see if they would fit. The hollow part of the piston needed to be at least half way down one finger and just under half way to the next, the 2 rods that create the piston need to be around the same size so that there's enough material so that it can move; but also so there isn't too much so that it restricts its movement.
After I had cut all the rods I decided to redraw the hand scale drawing and make 3 fingers of them out of MDF. To make the fingers bend a little to make the effect of the pistons (obviously don't move) I used the sanding wheel to sand the pieces edges to an angle so that when the faces met the fingers curved.
On this MDF sample I decided to fix the sample piston pieces onto it to have a trial run. I fastened the rods to the fingers so see if the lengths were accurate enough and to try and work out how to fasten them to the fingers when I came round to making them.
I successfully fastened the rods onto 2 of the fingers, the first tube for the bottom bigger end of the finger was a fatter tube with a thick copper rod (sanded to look silver) going into it. I drilled holes into the side, The idea was to originally to have the rods on top, but realising that the finger would have restricted movement to bend inwards but bent extremely backwards as though it was double jointed. The most successful way would be to either have them underneath or at either side of the finger. I chose to have them at either side of the finger. I also thought that there needs to be so much of a space between each finger in order to ensure that the rods could fit and also not obstruct the movement of the pistons and stop the fingers movement also.
For the 2 ending points of the finger since the tubing was thinner I need to find something that would fit into the smaller tubing; Since the rod from the one above was too thick. Instead I settled to use thin straight copper rod. and hook the ends so that they hooked around the little nail pins. Doubtfully I knew that the hooks looked too loose and that the rod was too thin and was going to shake around in the rod like so.
Start of creating fingers -
First we made a sample of 2 parts of the finger, I decided to do it out of layered wood of different sorts as we were limited for the oak, also that I thought this would be much more interesting and look very different to something you would probably usually see. Brad sent the wood through the circular saw (that I cant use) to skim off thing strips of wood from scrap wood from the storage cupboard. The 3 woods were..
OUTSIDE EDGE - PINE
DARK BROWN - WALNUT(?)
MIDDLE - ASH
This idea also resolved the problem of cutting each and every one of the slots as I could adjust each end by just moving the layer of Ash in the middle. I went and created at least 2 fingers so that I could now sample the shape of each to see if it would work or not.
Brad helped explain what I could do and exampled how I was to get this shape, successfully trialing me through it I came to this outcome which turned out very much how I wanted them to look, this was the start of a long process of sanding shaping and getting the right amount of detail into each and every skeletal segment.
Since this came out as a good trial run i decided to keep this finger and include it in my work, I then began to keep creating the rest of the layered up wood rectangles, then begin shaping and creating the start of my hand.
This is what the pieces were all clamped together looked like, I used the sketch on the board to work against to try and get the sizes and proportions similar but from this point it all depends on how I shaped them down that determined the size of the pieces. So far they seemed wider and fatter but i didn't want to take too much away from them as I thought it would ruin the striped wood effect that I had made.
This is what it began to look like, since it would take too long to take it down with the detail sander all in one, i drew the shape onto the side of the rectangles and cut them on the band saw to the shape; that way there was less material to try and take away. Once i had lined them all up on the board it all began to start looking as though it was all coming together, as for yet though I wasn't quite sure how I would possibly attach the thumb at an angle. Or even how all the fingers were going to come together (How they would fasten together as a full hand)
This is what it began to look like once I had started getting all the pieces sanded down and shaped, they were all ready to start being drilled and assembled together like I had originally planned to with the drill holes and bolts through the male and female joints.
At this point though The slots might have fitted together but there was to be a lot of work made so that they sanded down to shape, enabling them to allow enough movement when they were all fastened together.
Originally I hadn't put much thought into what the finger ends were to look like, from looking at the skeleton arm model I had to look at had firstly cut the fingers for the opposite way so that they were curving off like nails, but instead they were supposed to be face up. I'm luck i realised this before I had began drilling the holes as flipping them the right way up might not have been so easy. Therefore I would have probably had to restart the whole finger ends again.
On some parts of the finger joints I had either done them too short or too long and some needed taking down whilst some needed filling in with extra pieces of wood. I hadn't really understood what I had gone wrong with, with the slots but we managed to correct this somehow.
I wasn't so keen with the shape that the fingers still stood at and I knew from the beginning that I would have to include the method of carving in here somewhere; And I had the perfect tools for it to get the perfect shape. On each end of the bone segments there is quite the grouve that needed to be taken out to make it look more skeletal-like.
Once I had drilled the holes for all of the fingers, we started looking for enough of the bolts and nuts to go onto the ends of each one, but turns out there wasn't enough. Brad suggested using Nylocks for the ends of the bolts as these were stronger and would need to touching up for tightening. They stuck out a little more than I intended but if they were to secure it enough they would work but seeing as there wasn't enough bolts or nuts I stuck. We tried mixing and matching but some would probably turn out weaker than others as there was some thinner and shorter etc. So instead I set out on a mission to buy my own bulk of nuts and bolts.
ABOVE -
MIX MATCH OF LONGER AND SHORTER BOLTS WITH NYLOCKS AND NUTS.
To stop the nuts and bolts from sticking out so noticeably Brad suggested that I could make a rounded grouve on the outer edges of the hole so that the nuts would sit more snug into the wood. I don't know if this would help the bolt be any tighter by letting the nut go further onto the bolt - but they seemed secure and tight enough anyway to work well. For making the grouve I first used this large drill bit and did it by hand but this wasn't taking enough away and was a slower process than it would take by doing it with a drill. So Brad sharpened an older one down to a better shape which I then used in a drill: shortening the time it would take as well as also making the grouve a better shape for the nuts to sit into.
ORIGINAL DRILL BIT BEFORE SHARPENING.
Jewellery Workshop Process -
Instead of using the older pipes I re-cut some more of the copper tubing to a more capable size; seeing as the scale of my hand ended up being bigger than I originally planned. Instead of them being copper coloured Id rather of had them black. Interested I took a liking to someone else's work in my class yet again. She had used a method called oxidising. A method of putting the copper piece into a liquid; holding it in for a few seconds and rinsing off under the cold tap. This was a quick method I set upon myself to do to all of my piston pieces. To determine which piece was for what finger so I used pieces of brass wire and labelled each one with a tag to distinguish each set from one another.
Arm Lengths -
I now began creating the layered lengths of wood to produce the arm bones, as I was determined to create the arm lengths to make my final piece bigger. Whilst doing this I was still undergoing fastening all of my finger joints together. To get the wide parts of the bone I needed to layer up more wood than I did for the fingers (as they were obviously wider) So this time I had more strips of wood to fasten together. In some areas I had to bulk up another 3-4 layers at some ends to that I could create the shapes I needed.
HAND -
This is what all the finger joints looked like once I had bought all the appropriate bolts and nuts from 'Mills' in town. (£1.50 for 25 bolts and 50 nuts) I tightened them all up and they were ready to stay like that.
For the pistons, i was still unhappy with the pieces of wire hooks that went into the end finger pistons. So Brad suggested a method that was more of the chance of failing but was worth a try. On this machine they thing piece of rod was connected into the chuck and the tool on the machine would skim a slight layer off the rod (we were attempting to make it thinner) By slowly taking skims of the metal away it would take more away from the part that was more secure in the middle with support of the grasps of either end; but it wouldn't take much off at the other ends and was making quite the off shape, In the end the rod couldn't take the strain anymore and caused in the bend in the chuck. The method failed.
ALTERNATIVE -
Instead we came up with an alternative to hammer the end of the thin copper wire we were using and drill a hole through it the best I could. This worked out in such a better way as it was more secure on the pins as it didn't fall off the end of them as it was drilled exactly the right size to fit.
I created multiple ends for the pistons making sure the holes were all drilled central and that they were shaped round enough for them to look neater. to mark on where I needed the drill to go through, I used a scribe and hammer to indent a guideline hole for the drill to find and drill through it. (I used the scribe and hammer alot to determine where I needed to drill through)
SCRIBE MARK ON MIDDLE OF ROD.
Here I started to fasten all of the larger pistons on first with the same method I did on the MDF sample with Nail pins as these were small enough and would do the job. I decided to put 2 on the fingers on the outer edges away from each other as I didn't want them colliding in the way of one another, but also I think doing this made it look better aesthetically.
As you can see below since the oxidizing method is only a top coating on the copper tubing; it began to rub off on my finger joints due to the friction of them moving against one another, but this was something that wasn't reasonably noticeable plus I didn't want to change everything now.
This is a close up of the end finger piece showing how the thinner rod pieces that were flattened (hammered) and drilled sit on the pins. The problem that occurred now was the rods and tubing shook around on the pin and caused the fingers movement to be obstructed by the pipes sitting too close to the wood (the pipe kept getting caught underneath the wood when it folded) I needed to think of a way which would resolve this without the method being drastic.
Meanwhile I was to yet create the parts to fasten beneath the fingers for the wrist part, As seen on the skeletal model hand and in my research there is a lot of small 'ball-like' bone parts that all clumped together to create the wrist. To make this I made lots of square pieces; again by clamping layered strips of wood. I made five for the first layer, one each for underlying the fingers; Rather now I made the piece in the middle longer than the rest and they were the only ones going into a slot (Nothing going into them now) I needed these for the fingers to stick onto. These sections wouldn't be moving the fingers will only be glued to these as I had created slot in the end finger pieces. Still including the slot part assured that the bond between the 2 would be stronger than if I were to only glue the faces.
THIS WAS A TRIAL CLAMP TOGETHER - NONE WERE GLUED HERE
This was the drill bit I used to drill the holes into the sides of the fingers for the nail pins to go into. The drill bit was ever slightly smaller and I put the electric tape on the top to have as a guideline as to when to stop (the tape marked as far as I needed to drill) That way I wouldn't drill all the way through the thing segments.
The solution to the pistons wobbling sliding along the nails, were that I stripped a small cable and took the very slim copper wiring out and used it to wrap around the nail like a little tie. This wasn't strong enough alone so I had to use a light amount of super glue to fix them. I didn't want to glue them to the piston as this would stop it from pivoting on the pin; But rather clue the wiring around and onto the nails end. To do this I first made a little hook shape on the end of the wiring and glued it to the pin. I then proceeded to keep wrapping it around until I had enough.
Once I had done this, I fixed it in place with another coat of super glue whilst spraying it with the mitre fast to create an instant bond. This was quite the 'fiddly' job so I brought my own tool into this to pinch the wire and be able to pull it tightly; Tweezers. These did just the job and I eventually managed to put one of these 'ties' around every pistons - pin.
Here I began clamping all my wrist pieces together and marking where they all needed to be glued together from one another as some fingers needed to be brought lower down the hand (The model fingers do this but also because some of my fingers looked too long compared to the others beside it) This is what they looked like square but before I glue any of them together I was first to shape them and carve the marks into them to try make them look bone-like as best I could.
I marked on each of the faces so I knew where each one would sit next to each other, the multiple lines just marked which number was which so I didn't mix any of them up. I began shaping them all to look appropriate some still looked a little square but I could work into them a little more before they were all glued together, seeing as there was another few to be stuck underneath too.
IMAGE - (WOOD UPSIDE DOWN - THIS IS FOR BOTTOM RIGHT BONE)
Whilst also shaping the small bone parts for the wrist I began to cut out the outline and begin shaping one of the bone arms. Cutting out the outline was helpful as then I didn't have so much to take away with the bobbing sander. I originally used to bobbing sander thinking it would help me get the curves I wanted but instead the detail sander and a block of wood and sander paper was the best way to try and slim down the bone and get the shape i was hoping for. The wood I layered up might have been wide enough to the sides but the wood was quite thin the other way so I wasn't to fully create the detailed ends I was hoping for. I couldn't add any more material to it either as this would have thrown off the whole stripes, as they wouldn't be able to meet up the same underneath.
To thin off the middle bit for the other bone I used this wood Scraper tool (seen in the background of the sandpaper picture) I used this to thin the wood down as it was hard to do so with the vigorous sanding so instead I used that tool as it took away bigger layers of wood for me.
IMAGE ON RIGHT -
THIS IS WHAT THE LEFT BONE LOOKED LIKE BEFORE IT GOT FULLY SHAPED
This was the start of the Right bone end, This part is supposed to ball like shaped to represent the elbow point; But the wood wasn't thick enough to create such a shape so I had to do the best I could.
To get the curve in the middle (It was difficult to cut out on the band saw, I had to keep going in and out the get pieces out, but this left saw marks on the inside which were difficult to sand out)
I took the bone onto the bobbling sander to try shape out and correct the cut away piece, I also used extensive sandpaper to try and 'ball-like' the end the best I could. Considering I didn't have as much material to work with, I tried to take out as much of the side by carving and using the detail sander to create little lip parts at the bottom side of the bone, I repeatedly kept doing this to try and get the definition as best I could, (The stripes made it harder for the carved detail to show better, So I had to over-do it to make it be seen)
The inside part of the bone still had a lot of work to still be done to it as there were still all the jagged marks made by the band saw. I would try resolve this by using sandpaper/detail sander.
The slimming of the bone was coming on good, (The head isn't as wide as I needed but it worked out well)
When I had fully completed the bones The looked a little short, When I first saw them complete I wasn't sure if I wanted to do anything to them or not, But considering the size comparison in both. The hand looked much bigger in proportion to the arm bones. So as I had originally planned I was going to put bolt parts in the middle of both, Instead of wasting material this would be a better way as to elongate the bones and not make it obvious.
Firstly I was to find a suitable large bolt that would be as wide as the bone but would be able to fit inside the ends without there being little too material on the outer edge to hold it - causing it to break. We found just the perfect ones, and we were to begin sanding off the head and figuring out just how much length I needed to add.
Before I worked out that I was to cut the bones in half parallel to one another where I was to place them both, (One bone is set to be longer anyway so I needed to sit the 2 right where I needed them to be) I cut the bones in half the best I could on the band saw; considering neither of the 2 would sit flat at the machine.
To try and work out just how much extra length I could get away with I tried to work out a little sum in my head. Measuring my own arm and hand, There was at least a 10 cm difference in the 2. On my model there was only a 3 cm difference. (The hand measured 25.5 cm where-as the arm only measured 28.5 cm; 3 cm difference) Which meant I could probably get away with around 7-10 cm added length the model I was creating.
This end of the bone still needed sanding and shaping to the shape of the bone on the right model.
(These were all ideas to try and be able to make a large piston sit in the middle and go into the palm of the hand)
These were all sketch ideas by me and Brad to try and decide on a method to attach brackets on the bolt parts we were to be putting between the in half bone pieces.
1) Originally there was the idea the try make brackets of a squared headed triangle shape with holes in to let the bolt to run through. Then there was to be a pipe with slits in to be glued onto the bracket with a large hole drilled through the pipe to allow the other tube to go through for the piston. (Like a supported bracket raised up)
2) To bend the created brackets at a 90 degree angle and then try attempt at bending a long bolt by heating it up with a blow torch and bending it with pliers. Only this might not have worked right as the bolt might snap with the heat and being force so far. (The bolt wouldn't be at a 90 degree angle but for 45 degree one instead or more) We tried to make this happen but the bolt broke due to the strain of bending.
This was the sheet of sketching I did to try design the method of extending the bones, and seeing if it was possible to manipulate wires into it to try and make it look more mechanical, but this was something for later on, we had to focus on trying to fix it all together first.(Idea at the time)
1) To either have wires coming out of either side all tattered and broken
or
2) Have a few of them fixed to make it look like the wires continued through the entirety of the arm (Also to try and disguise the rod a little)
or
3) twist/plait them around the bolt to hide it completely if it didn't turn out to look so pleasant with the arm, and fix/glue them to either end of the bone.
This was an image of all my fingers coming together, The side edges of the fingers had been sanded at an angle also to ensure that all the fingers had a reasonable amount of space between each one to be able to move. Here I had glued ALL of the wrist bone parts together (both rows) they were now fastened and waiting to dry in the electric tape.The electric take was used as this worked a little like a clamp, when pulled in tightly and stuck.
Here I had created the brackets and drilled and hollowed out the ends of the bones to loosely hold in the rod for now. This is originally the idea I had with the brackets which would hold the curved bolt but seeing as it didn't work out I had to try and think of an alternative.
This is what the four fingers and the wrist part looked like once i had taken the tape off (The first time they hadn't glued properly and they needed redoing again by taking off the previous surface of the glue and re-taping up again) The second time around one of the fingers ended up having a gap between where the faces didn't seem to meet up.
CLOSE UP OF WRIST BONES -
HAND + ARM PISTON
This was the large scale piston I had been creating with the Hand grinder (Photo's on Brads phone using machine) I had to recreate the exact same idea I did with the fingers for it to pivot. It took a few times to get the end right as I had slipped off a few times and gone at an angle making it too big, or wrong so that the male joint couldn't fit/sit straight.
The piece of rod that is sitting in the middle was to be hammered so that each end would flatten off (Into a grouve I made in the metal also - Like the finger joints with the drill) The piece in the middle then would be completely disguised with the metal and wouldn't be able to fall out either. (Stronger bond between 2 metals, rather than metal and wood; or wood and wood)
This was the rod before I sawed it down with the Hacksaw to the appropriate length I needed it to be.
Before doing so the Metal pistons faces were grinded to the shape similar of that of the dolls arm so that there would be a stopping point as to how far the piston would let the hand go. (The hand/wrist and arm can only really sit comfortably at a 90 degree angle each way. On the right you can see that hammering the rod is what this looked like when the outer edge in sanded the rod is indistinguishable and cannot be noticed, Unless there is a tiny lip that hasn't completely been hammered flat enough into the grouve.
Now I was able to try and glue on the thumb at an angle, (I had to also create something for the wrist part onto the thumb but also leave a long extended face that was sanded at and angle to sit against the other parts at an angle (The thumb doesn't sit on top with the other fingers, it's more set beneath them)
This is now what the hand and arm looked like with one another in comparison, The rod lengthening was a good idea as now it looked more in proportion to one another, and not only added more of a mechanical aesthetic to it, it also played a function.
Since the bolt bent and broke on the first method instead we flattened out the brackets with a hammer (from them being curved before) I now drilled other smaller holes in it instead so I could have wires(tubing) coming down from the pistons and through the 6 holes I made on each bracket.
The brackets were a little different in shape from one another since they were done with the hand grinder so I tried my best to mark out and measure with a scribe a specific distance between each of the holes so that they looked equal and more realistic rather than the holes being scattered anywhere.
This was the size comparison of the piston to the bones, and also where I planned to sit the piston between the 2. As you can also slightly see I re-created the same wrist bracket mechanism to support the hand and the arm together but also have the ability to still pivot.
The same happened again with the thumb and needed reattaching to the bones again.
THIS IS THE THUMB AFTER THE SECOND GLUING.
This is what the thumb looked like as I began to shape off the unnecessary material with the detail sander, (I also used a different bolt for the thumb as the ones I had bought weren't long enough to reach all the way through, so I used one from the workshop)
Now what there was to do was to drill a smaller hole all the way down through the metal; and a bit further with a small thin drill bit, The first part was successful.
The idea was to drill all the way through with a small drill bit, then enter again with a bigger drill bit up the the metal plate(not go through it) This was so the head of a screw could fit down the bigger hole but the thinner part of the screw would go through the metal and screwed further into the smaller hole.
The idea was to drill all the way through with a small drill bit, then enter again with a bigger drill bit up the the metal plate(not go through it) This was so the head of a screw could fit down the bigger hole but the thinner part of the screw would go through the metal and screwed further into the smaller hole.
Whilst trying to go through the hole again and up to the metal plate with the drill, It lost control and managed to split my work into two, I was back to square one again with the fingers, this time with finding a way to double strengthen them.
Although it broke we did manage to get the hole down through how we wanted it to, Just the one half that we entered needed re-drilling again.
As you can see now that the bracket is fixed into place, For it to fit up into the hand i had to use the band saw to saw up back into the bone parts to create the slot for the metal to fit. Now it was all fixed in place and stuck back together (now fixed by 2 rods and glue) I could now focus on putting my wires/tubes from the pistons. The wires/tubes originally would have been better black as pistons (realistically speaking) work by fluid from the tubes. Originally I was going to place a wire from each of the pistons end but I think it looked too much with at least 3 cables coming down from each fingers. I settled on only putting one in each end of the pistons as this gave the same effect and didn't clutter/take away the effect of the skeletal hand underneath.
As you can see we still kept the idea of the bolt bit instead cut into the bolt with a V at either side of the nut in middle, Then I heated it up with a blow torch and began to slowly close it up so that both faces of the V met close, this worked and made he ideal curve I needed. Whilst I had done that, I also drilled through the large bolts connecting the arms so that the smaller bolt went through and was fixed by 2 other bolts. The sat the piston exactly where I wanted it to underneath the arm.
I then drilled into the palm of my hand at an angle with a bigger drill bit so that the small folding end of the piston was able to sit in the hole (glued) also. The pivot I chose to place underneath as I would rather the hand bend inwards than outwards, just like the fingers.
All that was left to do now, once the piston and everything was fixed into place I was to glue all the bone ends with glue and try and stretch electric tape to fix it as the glue expands, if the tape wasn't there to keep it together then the glue would have expanded and the wood would sit on the bolt right where I wanted it. I also take in the bottom the try and angle them into one another as on the Skeleton they bones at the bottom cross over to make the elbow. I tried my best to make this happen but could only do so much since the bolts kept the bones fixated straight.
After it all being set and ready to dry, I continued with the wires, gluing them into the ends of each bigger pistons. To get them to go into the piston properly I had to cut the end into an L shape, so that the bit sticking out could go over the nail through the piston. I repeated this for all of the wires/pistons. Once they had all been glued with super glue and Mitre fast spray, I followed them all through the holes in the brackets (Which needed drilling slightly bigger) I couldn't fix the wires in place at the brackets as when the hand moved the wires obviously moved with it and I didn't want the wires to restrict the movement of the hand and arm.
To neaten up the cables running down in the middle, (since they were all loosing and falling around everywhere; making them easy to catch and pull) I used the copper wiring I had from the stripped cable and used them (again) like a tie wrap to keep them close together. (This could probably have been super glued too but I didn't at the time; as I'm not sure if this might effect the movement of the cables running through it)
This was what it looked like after I had finished doing things to it anymore, (Apart from the tape that needed to come off)
This is what it looked like in scale to me, Now I had to think of a way to try stand my model up, As I didn't want to 'slump' it onto a plinth, as this wouldn't encourage people to pick up my design and see that it is able to move.
The metal piece in the background is what we will use for hold up my arm at an angle (seeing as there were 2 large pointless holes that weren't being used on the brackets down the arm, there what we will use to fasten to the steel metal that will be fastened to a curved piece of wood.
These are all images that I was looking at from a book called 'Anatomy for the Artist - Sarah Simblet' This book I borrowed from a Teacher called Richard, who was very kind for letting me use it for my research and development, This book helped me figure out all the parts of the bone and have an in depth study of the skeletal hands and arm (as well as working with the arm Brad had brought it also)
MOOD BOARDS SO FAR - NEED SHADING
In my boards that I produced I tried to develop on the skeletal form by bringing in small elements of mechanical forms. I wanted to show that I had undergone an in-depth study of the human skeleton arm and hand, and that I had also looked into other areas of the body such as the foot + leg. Some of my boards backgrounds turned out a little heavier than I really needed and might have spoiled the effect of my sketches and the dark sketches possible look too dark and are overpowered by the dark tea background. Since I realized this I tried to make the rest of my boards backgrounds much lighter, and possibly have a softer touch with the pencil; In hopes that the sketches will stand out more. I know i probably should have made the boards look better by working with different mediums but seeing as I was designing I wanted my boards to look as though they were larger studies of the ideas that I probably would have drawn down in my sketchbook. I wanted to show a path between each sheet, but my sketchbook fill in the answers in between.
My final piece if put in position correctly is able to hold things, here it is able to hold a paint tube of white gouache. The angle I have taken the photos makes the arm part look as though it is smaller and shorter (out of proportion again)but I hadn't positioned the hand in the best posture.
STAND MADE BY BRAD -
Hopefully the plinth will be set out enough so that people can walk around the stand, As I don't want to back part of the hand to be off show, and I want to make people know that you are able to touch and move it. I will express this at the show as that was my main goal to make a 'moving mechanical looking arm'
I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey into creating my final piece, even though there was a lot of mishaps, breakages and corrections to be made, I am fully glad that I was able to make a model just as I had envisioned. In my opinion I would have liked to have coated my arm in a couple layers of lacquer to make it stand out more and have a nice finish; but due to the time I had left between my deadline and end of year show there wasn't enough time to do this. As if there was anything to go wrong (like the pistons sticking due to the lacquer I wouldn't have enough time to rectify this problem before it was open to the public. I will do this in my own time.
ARTISTS I LOOKED AT -
CHRISTOPHER CONTE
influential work as looking at his bio-mechanical arm was quite interesting and was well interlinked with the theme I was doing (Bio-mechanics/Bio-mechanical arm) Showed links between the human body but manipulated by machinery. He also did other things such as skulls and animals which were also some of the things I was looking into. Connected Bones and created relationships between the metal and skeletal features.
RON BELL
Ron bell also shared the same relationship by using skeletal parts such as bones and animal skulls. He used these and manipulated them into looking like working machinery. This was relevant within my works also as he too fused the two (skeletal and machinery) to make it look like realistic bio-mechanics.
The link above is quite a relative point which boosted me to be more confident about how I was to create my work as there are other artists that produce items such like mine with had produced there own metal pieces to combine with there model.
(although my bone work was created in wood, I still wanted to get the same effect these artists did in there own. I wanted to hand create my whole entire final piece. Such as try and recreate the skeletal form in my own way.
LEONARDO DA VINCI
Leonardo Da Vinci was an Influence on my work as he was the first artist I looked into, Looking into his works first originally made me want to create something skeletal but also intertwine with my chosen theme. Since I saw his works I wanted to use his drawings studies as influence with my own, I liked that all his studies same sketch bases and were all logged into a journal. When producing my boards I wanted my works to look similar to how he would lay them out on a page and how detailed he would make his drawings. This was the true quality of a highly skilled designer that had an effect on my ways of seeing my work. I further investigated into the human skeleton since I saw his studies.
