14 DAY TRIAL // Remember the 3Doodler? That 3D printing pen that let you draw in the air? Remember the potential it had and the low likelihood of anyone ever putting it to full use because of how tedious it could be to build thick, solid things by hand?
Well, an artist by the name of Niki Firmin proved particularly persistent, to the point where she managed to use the 3Doodler to create a 3D printed cow snout.
A bizarre thing to make, to be sure, at least until you learn why she made it: so that she would turn a 2D picture into a more lifelike, three-dimensional one.
Many painters tried their hand at creating paintings in such a way that they seemed to jump out of the frame. However, they did it only through optical illusions.
What Firmin did was really turn the 2D picture into a bas-relief of sorts, as the attached picture will show. That she was able to do it by hand, using a 3Doodler pen, only makes it more impressive.
She used black and white filament sticks to get the snout to look the way it should, and she was even able to include the hairs that always stick out of the chin of these animals.
After attaching the snout, a little paint was used to blend the two areas of black and white together more subtly and voila!
For further proof, I'm sure Firmin will allow you to pick the cow's nose if you ask nicely. Trompe-l'œil indeed.