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Laughing Mantis Studio

Art inspired by biology, created by a biologist

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    • Woodworking
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When the Cows Come Home
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You can see my frequently-updated works-in-progress by following @laughingmantisstudio

laughingmantisstudio

Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D. | Breast Cancer Research Scientist
Woodworker/Artist
Husband to @tamarynart.
AKA: @danieldbrownphd
Pittsburgh, PA.
Instagram post 2191076635623724420_556906553 If you’ve seen my stories, you know I’ve started a new project called “I can’t carry it for you...” Hopefully you can guess the subject from that and the pic. I’ve always thought Samwise Gamgee was the real hero of the story, hence the title. I’ve now got a lot of the pieces rough cut (except for the characters!), so I thought I’d share in a post. It looks a bit complex, and it will certainly have a lot of layers/depth. But I actually designed this one to be quite a bit simpler than my last one. Even the edges of the layers were only roughly templated - the mountain details were made up on the fly as I sawed, letting me be a bit more artistic than precise. I chose the wood species without a lot of thought or deliberation. I could have put more into prepping just the right colors or grains, but I just wanted to see what happened when I started just grabbing interesting wood, throwing it into my bandsaw to resaw panels, and then went to town scrolling. The pieces are haphazardly placed right now - and I haven’t decided on how I want to do the eye yet. But I have a few different ideas. #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #woodworking #madeinpittsburgh #lordoftherings #lotr #samwisegamgee #buticancarryyou
Instagram post 2190045401871284683_556906553 If you feel like voting for a winner for this month’s @artofgeekchallenge (Disney-themed), click the link in my bio. Takes a few seconds. Just click the link and click a photo. There are a few pretty rad pieces this month. As mentioned in my story, this is just for fun.
Instagram post 2182383290491611193_556906553 Hyperspace star trails pen. Extra resin + thin walnut slices from scrollsawing hyperspace + new mini-lathe from @tlalexan = new writing utensil. #penturning
Instagram post 2181597427709007758_556906553 This is the last time you’ll have to see this piece (at least until May 4th). I made a stupid YouTube demo video for this thing. Link in profile. It’s just for me, really - but it’s there if you’re curious. It was pretty hilarious in that just adding simple text took forever - even just typing in Adobe Premiere caused my computer to hitch ~5 seconds for every. single. letter. typed. And I could only see it in ~1/4 frame rate. In the end, I just rendered it once it was barely good enough. Render time: ~40 min for a 2 min vid. Not even 4K. 😂 I need a new computer. The only reason I made it was as so that I could have an embeddable vid for my website post on it (purely for my own documentation. I like having a portfolio). ... #starwars #intarsia #madeinpittsburgh
Instagram post 2179372529347506694_556906553 “Punch it!” This post is to 1) show the sound clips included in the piece, 2) highlight the kind folks who provided help and 3) list the tools and materials used (I get many questions). See previous posts for info on the build. Special thanks to @cyclocrosscutter for convincing me to upgrade the sound, encouraging me with witty insults, and being an inspiration with his mediocre geek builds. Also to @worksbyahurst for generously sending me his sound files from his mind-blowing Millennium Falcon build. And to @hardwoodmikes for incredibly helpful coding advice. The wood: most reclaimed by me from various sources. Padauk, purpleheart, bloodwood, elm, spalted maple, sycamore, ebony, wenge, cherry, white oak, sapele, mahogany, pine, luaun ply, bamboo, unknown pallet & scrap wood. Chewie is made from a 1970s S. African stinkwood chair from @sledv_life_rocks . Han’s sleeve was curly maple given by the master woodworker/artist @copper_pig_fine_woodworking. Some walnut from woodworker @mpi_woodworking. Some exotics were a gift from guitar builder @rapfohl. The rest came from @ocoochhardwoods and @rockler_woodworking. My trusty scrollsaw: she’s not the best $ can buy but I’ve made some cool things with my @portercable w/ Flying Dutchman blades. Big cuts done on my sweet @rikon_powertools bandsaw, and @dewalttough table saw and planer. Drill press was a generous gift from my buddy @slapstufftogether (he carved a badass Yoda lamp that was an inspiration). Shaping is with @saburrtooth and @kutzall burrs on my @dremel. I’d be lost without my @ridgid and @boschtoolsna sanders (with @mirka_usa discs). I go through so much @starbondadhesives CA glue, @titebondproducts II, and @3m Super 77 spray and packing tape. @odiesoil and @generalfinishes for finishing. I used an @adafruit soundboard and their DotStar LEDs, as well as an @arduino.cc Uno to control them. Of course this thing would not exist without the IP created by George Lucas (@lucasfilm and now @disney). #starwars #starwarsfan #starwarsart #starwarsgeeks #igwoodworker #woodworking #woodart #scrollsawart #maker #scrollsaw #intarsia #woodintarsia #millenniumfalcon #empirestrikesback #anewhope #returnofthejedi
Instagram post 2178586136908206176_556906553 “Punch it!”, Daniel D. Brown, 2019, handmade wooden multimedia intarsia artwork based on Star Wars. (The basic demonstration video) I built this artwork of Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon over the course of 7 weeks from ~190 hand-cut (scrollsawed) pieces of wood from over 20 different species, most of it reclaimed. The star trails were also scrollsawed and filled with resin. Although the original plan was much simpler, over the course of the project I ended up adding a soundboard with 6 scores that play through 1 button (the small white one), and 10 movie dialogue clips that play through another (the left thruster stick). A rebel insignia button on the right of the frame powers the sound. Toward the end of the project, I decided to add radiating LED strips controlled by three different programs I coded on an Arduino, which can be switched by moving Han’s dice (from a previous project) containing an embedded magnet. The top of the frame has 2 hidden magnetic switches embedded within it. The light power is currently controlled by telling my phone “Hey Siri, punch it!” Or “Exit hyperspace”. I am planning a separate post for the details on materials, tools, and special thanks. Note: this is not for sale. This was for me alone. The entire process was documented in well over 200 stories, now highlighted on my profile in 3 parts. I have to give HUGE heartfelt thanks to the many many people constantly offering encouragement and advice. You’re seriously the only reason I posted all the build details. Of course, I’d like to thank George Lucas and the countless artists of all types who’ve made Star Wars such a fun Universe. ... #starwars #starwarsday #starwarsfan #starwarsart #starwarsgeeks #starwarsnerds #maytheforcebewithyou #igwoodworker #igwoodworkingcommunity #woodworkingcommunity #woodworks #woodart #woodworking #woodworker #scrollsawart #maker #scrollsaw #intarsia #woodintarsia #millenniumfalcon #artistsoninstagram #artist #artstagram #solo #chewbacca #empirestrikesback #anewhope #returnofthejedi #disney #lucasfilm @crafttheforce
Instagram post 2178579520108610062_556906553 “Punch it!”, Daniel D. Brown, 2019, handmade wooden multimedia intarsia artwork based on Star Wars. It’s time for some final posts on this piece! (More vids in separate posts). I built this artwork of Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon over the course of 7 weeks from ~190 hand-cut (scrollsawed) pieces of wood from over 20 different species, most of it reclaimed. The star trails were also scrollsawed and filled with resin. Although the original plan was much simpler, over the course of the project I ended up adding a soundboard with 6 scores that play through 1 button (the small white one), and 10 movie dialogue clips that play through another (the left thruster stick). A rebel insignia button on the right of the frame powers the sound. Toward the end of the project, I decided to add radiating LED strips controlled by three different programs I coded on an Arduino, which can be switched by moving Han’s dice (from a previous project) containing an embedded magnet. The top of the frame has 2 hidden magnetic switches embedded within it. The light power is currently controlled by telling my phone “Hey Siri, punch it!” Or “Exit hyperspace”. I am planning a separate post for the details on materials, tools, and special thanks. Note: this is not for sale. This was for me alone. The entire process was documented in well over 200 stories, now highlighted on my profile in 3 parts. I have to give HUGE heartfelt thanks to the many many people constantly offering encouragement and advice. You’re seriously the only reason I posted all the build details. Of course, I’d like to thank George Lucas and the countless artists of all types who’ve made Star Wars such a fun Universe. ... #aogdisney #starwars #starwarsday #starwarsfan #starwarsart #starwarsgeeks #starwarsnerds #maytheforcebewithyou #woodworkingcommunity #woodart #woodworking #woodworker #scrollsawart #maker #scrollsaw #intarsia #woodintarsia #millenniumfalcon #artist #artstagram #solo #chewbacca #empirestrikesback #anewhope #returnofthejedi #disney #lucasfilm @crafttheforce
Instagram post 2174880545123683083_556906553 I’ve been planning to shout out my IG maker buddy, Chris (and Erick) @dreaminthewoods for a while now. Being that it’s Veteran’s Day, today seemed like an appropriate day to do it. Chris is a truly awesome dude and a really good person from what I’ve seen. He and his buddy make some pretty sweet geeky things. Thanks for your continued service in making the world a better place! Go check them out and give a follow. That Han in carbonite was definitely an inspiration for my own Star Wars piece!
Instagram post 2170813989725012237_556906553 Here’s the penultimate update on this wooden intarsia artwork entitled “Punch It”. In poor night-time indoor lighting. But you get the idea. I can now clearly see the finish line! In fact it’s already hanging in my man cave. I still plan to try installing some fancier programmed LEDs with an Arduino controlling it (many thanks to @hardwoodmikes for his advice and help today in planning). The current LED system is just taped in haphazardly (and why it’s dark around the edges). The rebel insignia power button has its polyurethane drying right now, so that’s not installed yet. But very soon I’ll be taking some final photographs and videos and call her done. I’m SUPER stoked with how the @adafruit soundboard worked out. And I am forever in the debt of @cyclocrosscutter for insulting me until I “went big or went home” in regards to not using a greeting card module. Thanks again to @worksbyahurst for some of the sound files. I have more people I will thank later for providing woods and tools. I plan on making a whole post dedicated to “materials and methods” on this build at some point. #starwars #starwarsday #starwarsfan #starwarsart #starwarsgeeks #starwarsnerds #maytheforcebewithyou #igwoodworker #igwoodworkingcommunity #woodworkingcommunity #woodworks #woodart #woodworking #woodworker #scrollsawart #maker #scrollsaw #intarsia #woodintarsia #millenniumfalcon #artistsoninstagram #artist #artstagram #solo #chewbacca #empirestrikesback #anewhope #returnofthejedi @craft_the_force
Instagram post 2170519563391888045_556906553 This is a long shot, but I’m curious if any of my followers have experience coding Arduinos for controlling LED strips. This is my idea: I have an Arduino Uno and @adafruit DotStar LEDs. I’d like to cut them into strips to make individual “star trails”. Then program them to individually animate a light that goes from blue->cyan->white. If possible, a staggered effect (where the timing of each start is staggered by a few pixels) could give a cool “movement” through hyperspace effect. I’m not clear yet exactly how to setup up the loop in the code to pull this off (I know very very little about coding, but enough to understand in principle some of what I need to figure out). I’m thinking that having the whole thing in series like in the pic is the best way to do this? Set up a loop for pixels 1-10, for example, and another for 11-20? Or maybe have some of them in parallel, effectively duplicating the strip? I’ve read that more than 4 in parallel is “iffy” at best. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice? I’ll take anything at this point. I’m still waiting on the LEDs but I started playing with the arduino last night.
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