Application of a Direct-to-Project (AKA: Ditch-the-Paper or Ditch-the-Printer) transfer method using Procreate & Camera Lucida – Part 3 of 3.
The artwork shown here is my original work (©2020-2026), a quantitatively defined geometric rendition of Polaris, the North Star, drawn in SolidWorks CAD, printed, refined in pencil, and scanned back into digital. Cutting is not shown since I’m not that good and I’m holding the camera in my left hand & the graver or needle in my right. Figure 3.1 is on alternative ivory that has a diameter of 1.491”, and the artwork has had the background removed in Procreate using the procedure given in Part 1 of this thread. The golf ball marker (alloy unknown) in Figure 3.2 is 0.931” diameter, and the artwork has NOT had the background removed. No scaling was done to the drawing itself when one size project piece was replaced with the other, it was done in the software. Figure 3.3 of the magnified image was also done in the software, and you can go back and forth between magnifications much as you do with a microscope. Note the following:
Figure 3.1: Polaris (background removed) on alternative ivory “challenge coin”.
Figure 3.2: Polaris (background NOT removed) on unknown alloy golf ball marker.
Figure 3.3: Magnified portion of ball marker (iPhone 12 Pro).
The artwork shown here is my original work (©2020-2026), a quantitatively defined geometric rendition of Polaris, the North Star, drawn in SolidWorks CAD, printed, refined in pencil, and scanned back into digital. Cutting is not shown since I’m not that good and I’m holding the camera in my left hand & the graver or needle in my right. Figure 3.1 is on alternative ivory that has a diameter of 1.491”, and the artwork has had the background removed in Procreate using the procedure given in Part 1 of this thread. The golf ball marker (alloy unknown) in Figure 3.2 is 0.931” diameter, and the artwork has NOT had the background removed. No scaling was done to the drawing itself when one size project piece was replaced with the other, it was done in the software. Figure 3.3 of the magnified image was also done in the software, and you can go back and forth between magnifications much as you do with a microscope. Note the following:
- The drawing with the background removed is “full strength” because there is no need to increase the transparency in the Lucida app to “see through” it.
- The drawing with the background NOT removed must be altered in the Lucida app in one or both of two ways: (a) increase the transparency with the slider control, and/or (b) use the “Flicker” feature in the application. The “Flicker” feature is similar to putting your opaque image on top of your project piece and then lifting it up to cut & alternating up, cut, down, up … but without the hoopla. It is nice to have, but you probably will not want to use it while cutting even though it has a nice on/off timer control in the app. Using the transparency slider lets you simultaneously see through the image to the project surface, but it comes at a price to the image strength as it is no longer what I call “full strength”.
- When you look at 3.1 and 3.2, you will note the tool and my finger on the magnified image on the iPhone, but you can just barely see the real life tool and project piece right next to the edge of the iPhone and below it (bottom right of picture in the background blur). The real life project piece is about 5.5” below the iPhone. This dimension is fairly arbitrary and mostly depends on your preference since the Lucida app lets you zoom in to fill the iPhone display with the project as desired. This method may take a little getting used to, but it is not terribly different from engraving under a microscope – you are looking at the iPhone (or a connected monitor), but cutting several inches below that. The graver is a 0.086” square graver and the Lucida app emphasizes that sharpening to a finer point and narrowing/thinning the graver might be a desirable option for this project. Neither the needle nor the graver is in contact with the project pieces in these pictures, so the point looks just a tad bigger than it really is in relation to the drawing line widths.
Figure 3.1: Polaris (background removed) on alternative ivory “challenge coin”.
Figure 3.2: Polaris (background NOT removed) on unknown alloy golf ball marker.
Figure 3.3: Magnified portion of ball marker (iPhone 12 Pro).
