Mixing Media with Sara Berti

When Sara Berti first saw the 3Doodler, she knew it would be an invaluable tool for her mixed-media art. “Who wouldn’t want to use this revolutionary new medium?” she says. “It’s the world’s first 3D printing pen!”

Sara is an Italian sculptor who spends her time living between Turkey, Italy and Hungary. She likes to work in parallel with new and old techniques and combine them in creative ways.

Just like her use of other materials and media, here too Sara aims to demonstrate the possibilities of creative freedom, but at the same time incorporate the experience of classical traditional art as the starting point.

She collects materials for her work from different places and occasions—like doily gloves or feathers from Hungary, or metal pieces from Italy.

Sara describes her artwork as “a kind of a symbolic summary of the network of the contemporary (art) world, where everything is extremely international and interconnected. In this way, the combination of natural and artificial materials— the two extremities composing our world—adds an inspiring transcendental dimension to the works.”back to top image

Breaking Free of 2D with Niki Firmin

Self-taught artist Niki Firmin had just finished a detailed realistic drawing of a calf in colored pencil. The piece was for an exhibition with the U.K. Coloured Pencil Society, and Niki was pleased with the result. But she still felt it wasn’t quite perfect.

“I just felt it was lacking depth,” Niki says. “So I decided I would try Doodling the nose to give the piece that depth.”

Niki had been working for a 3Doodler distributer, and was already familiar with how the pen could be used to bridge the line between the second and third dimensions.

The Doodled nose pushed her drawing into a new realm of mixed media art. “I was over the moon with the result!” Niki says. “I had been looking to find ways to combine the 3Doodler with fine art and the final result blended in so well!”

Niki created the nose of the calf with black and white PLA, and added some paint at the end to blend the colors and make the nose look more realistic.

"I don’t think I’m going to be able to go back to 2D anymore.”" Share

“The calf is looking through a fence, so I found a couple of pieces of wood to put at the top and bottom for the fence and then overlapped the nose over the top of the bottom fence,” Niki explains. The final result was an engaging and entertaining piece which Niki playfully named “Moodle.”

Since the creation of “Moodle”, Niki has explored more animal portraiture with Doodled additions.

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to go back to 2D anymore,” Niki says. “2D-3D is the way forward for me, and I’m hoping it will make my work stand out in a very competitive market.”back to top image

Ram-a-Doodle Ram-a-Doodle

3D Fashion with Amanda Sekulow

When it came time for Amanda Sekulow to create a collection for her graduation from O’More College of Design, she knew exactly what she needed. “Every day I prayed that my 3Doodler would arrive,” she says.

Amanda had backed the 3Doodler Kickstarter, and was anxiously awaiting its arrival. But the clock was ticking. “I began in the autumn of 2013 by creating the concept and illustrating the basic garments,” she says. But she didn’t want to start final creation until she had her 3Doodler in hand. “I was determined to wait, as I wanted to use the 3Doodler in my designs.”

As she waited, the Melt into Spring collection took form as a series of white dresses combined with wearable art. The sophisticated dresses would use a variety of woven materials, with 3-dimensional additions created with the 3Doodler.

And soon the wait was over, and the pen arrived. “It showed up, quite literally, just in time,” Amanda says. “I was able to go back to school in January ready to get down to business!”

She spent the next four months creating, embellishing, and perfecting a total of 10 dresses before her final runway show.

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“There is more than 1,000 feet of ABS plastic in these pieces,” Amanda says, “along with 600 Swarovski crystals, and 810 work hours in total.”

"There are some dresses with intricate sculptures on them, others I let the fabric and plastic do their own thing." Share

While they stand together as a collection, Amanda made sure each dress made a statement on its own. “Each piece is so different, and has its own story to tell,” she says. “There are some dresses with intricate sculptures on them, others I let the fabric and plastic do their own thing. Some of the looks are polished and refined where others look messy and organic.”

And while the entire collection was a labor of love, Amanda says one piece stands out above the rest.

“My favorite piece was the finale piece in the show,” she admits. The dress in question has a high neckline with a chest and shoulder piece with attached apron made entirely from Doodled ABS. With 85 Doodled flowers and 119 attached crystals, this dress alone took over 100 hours to complete.

“I made the neck piece and bodice portion of the apron directly on a body form, so that it would fit close to the model’s body,” Amanda says. It was a risk, as the fit of the final piece would depend on the model who would wear it. “It ended up fitting her perfectly.”

Amanda says watching her final piece during the show was her proudest moment. “I have never been more excited to see anything walk down a runway,” she says, “and everyone else seemed to love it just as much as I do.”

Amanda says the final result of Melt into Spring is a culmination of all the work she has put into design and fashion. “The entire collection is a reflection of my feelings, motivation and life experiences in the moments when I created them.”back to top image