Whether you’re looking to boost collaboration, or offer up a creative outlet for your students, we’ve got you covered.

These heartwarming Valentine’s Day classroom activities will have your students full attention, while teaching communication and problem solving skills all while using their 3D pens!

Add a touch of whimsy to your classroom and dive into STEM with lessons about flowers, their function, and a plant’s lifecycle. Explore the different shapes and sizes or how they attract pollinators. There’s so much to explore and a fun 3D activity to accompany the lesson!

Spring Flowers

Students can explore their artistic style and develop one-of-a-kind 3D or multimedia art projects. 3Doodler’s 3D heart-shaped balloons are easy to design. Use them as pendants, key chains, or even added onto a card for a whimsical greeting. Follow our tutorial or explore your creativity with more complex patterns, swirls, or multiple layers!

Balloon Hearts

Add a tasty and personal touch to Valentine’s Day celebrations with custom cookie cutters students can create and use at home! Explore our tutorial or encourage students to come up with their own designs. The project could involve students collaborating as they brainstorm ideas and share 3D printing techniques. Students might want to give the cookie cutters as gifts for friends and family once finished. It’s a sweet hands-on project your classroom is sure to remember!

Cookie Cutters

The post Surprise Students with 3 Sweet Valentine’s Day Classroom Activities! first appeared on 3Doodler.

She uses materials that have a life of their own such as clay, paper, and fiber, with her 3D pen creations. Anela recently completed a year as an artist in residence at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. She will be traveling to Malaysia as a School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University Traveling Fellow in 2023.

Finding Artistic Inspiration

Anela relies on her imagination and also draws from the resources around us to inspire her creativity.

“For me, I draw strength to move through the world from my identity as mixed race-Malaysian-Chinese, lessons from the natural world, and people close to me who have passed on,” said Anela.

In this piece, Anela uses the 3Doodler 3D pen to speak to Malaysian batik, a lost wax process where wax is painted or stamped on fabric and then dyed. She also incorporated a plant from both sides of her mixed-race heritage: okra. It’s a plant that Anela believes both her white Southern family members and her Malaysian-Chinese members would have intimately known through food.

“A huge part of using vibrant colors for me is being unapologetic in taking up space,” said Anela. “As an Asian American you are often viewed and shaped by culture to be as small and unobtrusive as possible.”

The bright color in this piece represents reclaiming spaces as an active agent in the world. The colors draw from the traditional Malaysian dress she grew up with and family members who wore such patterns and colors as batik sarongs.

Surprising Ways with Mixed Media

“As an artist who is mixed race dealing with world building I believe it is important that my work reflects a meeting of materials, soft fiber and hard filament or ceramic meeting in ways that create beautiful complexity,” said Anela. “This interdisciplinary approach reflects the strength and commonalities between the different worlds I inhabit every day.”

She started this project using the 3Doodler Pro+ to draw the central okra stalk element and the other floral patterns. She continues to create until she has enough in varying colors and styles to lay out the design. Next, she begins the papermaking processes to transform the PLA drawings.

“I work with a fiber called overbeaten abaca which is a plant fiber that I beat for 8 hours in a machine called a hollander beater,” said Anela. “I use it because it is extremely strong and connects seamlessly to the 3Doodler drawings.”

She used a papermaking tool called a deckle box to “pull” the sheet using the unpigmented abaca to create the base sheet of paper. Then, she dips each 3D drawing into a pigmented abaca container before placing it on the base sheet. Finally, she removes the abaca base sheet once the 3Doodler designs are placed.

Experimenting & Creating in 3D

During her undergraduate program, Anela used the 3Doodler Pro+ in a metals class and fell in love with the process. The objective was to use the 3D pens to think through modeling before casting. Anela found herself making rings and other jewelry directly with the pen and ABS material.

“I found it very accessible to start working very creatively,” said Anela. “I was building three dimensional forms, flat forms and building them up, and ended up making forms combining those ways of working with the pen that were used in my thesis show.”

She explains that it’s essential to use materials that spark excitement. Trying out new materials encourages the imagination. A new technique may transform an artistic approach.

“I think a huge part of any artistic practice is joy and experimentation,” said Anela. “When you integrate different materials it provides endless problem solving and opportunity to play with how the materials work together.”

Anela advises budding 3D artists to experiment and play. She finds that the more you experiment and add new tools and skills to your toolbelt, the more you will find the things that resonate.

“It took me quite some time to figure out how the 3Doodler Pro+ would function in my larger practice in a meaningful way,” she said. “Now, I’m working with clay in similar ways due to my experience with the 3Doodler pen. I can’t wait to see how all of this learning keeps expanding the relationships between my materials.”

The post Artist Spotlight: Anela Ming-Yue Oh first appeared on 3Doodler.

As we head into a new year, 3Doodler will look to collaborate with artists, educators, and entrepreneurs to explore ways we elevate creativity. But, of course, it’s also important to inspire new creators. With that in mind, we’ll share accessible stencils, tutorials, and more to support budding artists.

Let’s take a quick look back to revisit the projects and artists who inspired you the most. Plus, we’ll share a quick project to jump-start creativity in 2023.

Dina Velikovskaya

Dina also shared a behind-the-scenes look at creating the film using a 3D pen. First, all the characters were created using a 2d digital drawn animation technique and then outlined with a 3D pen. The result was sets of flat filament figures. Next, the director filmed the figures frame by frame in a stop-motion set, along with wire objects.

Rick Martinez

Rick continues to push the boundaries of art and technology with his creative use of materials. Keep an eye out for a 3Doodler collaboration with Rick later this month!

Cornelia Kuglmeier

See more of Connie’s helpful tips and tutorials on her YouTube channel, where she shares loads of doodling advice.

Edwin Ramirez

Spark Creativity in 2023

Now that you’ve seen a small sample of our vibrant community, we invite you to make this your year of 3D creativity. Get started by creating a custom work of art for home using our go-to phrase. What will you create?

Get the Stencil

The post Celebrating Creators, Makers, Artists first appeared on 3Doodler.

Barbara Taylor-Harris

“I am often told off in galleries. I always touch everything!” says Barbara. It makes sense. As a sculptor, it’s important to have a good sense of the way things feel and move. “Often the joy and knowledge of art comes from feeling texture, not just looking.”

Barbara’s work is all about texture. “I like people to be able to feel the magic and touch my work,” she says. “I started with watercolor, but I soon found flat paper uninspiring, so I decided to experiment with texture.”

Barbara began experimenting with a variety of materials, and came across the 3Doodler. She found that by creating texture with Doodled additions, her mixed media works of art were able to hold up when curious art admirers want to feel for themselves.

But it wasn’t always so easy to make her Doodled creations a reality. “My first project was a dancer, but I struggled to make it stand up,” Barbara remembers.

As she became more familiar with the 3Doodler, Barbara was able to hone her skills and create larger and more detailed pieces. “My last Doodles were creating magical forests,” she says. “I was exploring the use of supports with the 3Doodler.”

Now Barbara wants to take her mixed media experimentation even further. “I want to create 3Doodled sculptures which are designed to be lit from inside,” she says.

Barbara sees her 3Doodler like a brush or palette knife. “The pen is now another tool and filament relief another material for my paintings,” she says. “In both cases, the 3Doodler allows me to do things I often can’t do or do as easily with traditional materials.”

The post Mixed-Media Masterpieces with Barbara Taylor-Harris first appeared on 3Doodler.

This harmony between two seemingly opposing concepts is nothing new for Rachel. “My artwork is inspired by two sets of contrasts,” she explains. “In my environment, the contrast between man-made and nature; and in materials, the contrast between the control I have over the media and how the media naturally interact with each other. This inspiration manifests itself in my final pieces through contrasts in color, in line, shape and form, and in textures”

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Rachel collaborated with 3Doodler for the debut in MoMA’s design store windows with her Metamorphosis Lamp.

Metamorphosis Lamp

In person, Rachel is a whirlwind of life and laughter, and her artwork is detailed and brimming with energy. She has learned how to adapt and even harness the sometimes unpredictable nature of melted filament.

Sometimes she lashes it into shape, controlling the Doodled lines with a precise, steady hand. At other times she lets the PLA flow naturally, reacting and adjusting as its meandering motion takes her art in new directions.

Rachel allows her pieces to evolve in a very organic way. Some works, like the appropriately-titled experimental Frankenstein, start on a large scale, stretched horizontally across six feet.

Over the course of a few weeks, the piece was folded, ironed, molded, cut, flipped and formed into a leaf-like form made of PLA, copper leaf, and brass foil.

Rachel’s mix of chaotic control reflects what Doodling is at it’s core: endless experimentation.

The post Painting in Filament with Rachel Goldsmith first appeared on 3Doodler.

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.”

The post Mixing Media with Sara Berti first appeared on 3Doodler.

“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.

“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.”

Ram-a-Doodle

The post Breaking Free of 2D with Niki Firmin first appeared on 3Doodler.

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 filament in these pieces,” Amanda says, “along with 600 Swarovski crystals, and 810 work hours in total.”

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 filament 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.”

The post 3D Fashion with Amanda Sekulow first appeared on 3Doodler.