3D Printing a Van Gogh

Starry Night (1889) by Vincent van Gogh is one of the most recognized and iconic paintings of the Impressionist movement, perhaps even Western history. Painted while van Gogh was in a French asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, it depicts the east-facing window of his room, just before sunrise. The eternally intriguing painting features an evocative sky with swirling clouds and blazing stars, above undulating blue-black mountains in the background, a cypress tree in the foreground, and an idealized village nestled sleepily in the mountainside. Custom Prototypes (Toronto, Canada) considered the painting's thick, expressive paint application and high relief were ideal elements to showcase the artistic capabilities of contemporary 3D printers.

Thus a 3D printed replica of Starry Night was created.

Analyzing a high resolution image of the painting, Custom Prototypes created a digital 3D model of the "primed" canvas. The group was able to recreate a textured digital model using a combination of picture editing and modeling software Photoshop, Solidworks, and Materialize Magics. They also decided to recreate a period frame for the "painting" by scanning an original 19th century Impressionist frame loaned by a local art dealer. A stereolithography 3D printer was instrumental in producing the artwork in six separate pieces.

Then the bare 3D printed "painting" needed to be painted! 

In partnership with a professional art restorer, Custom Prototypes painstakingly applied color and finishing processes to reproduce each point on the surface of the painting. Aging processes and a final varnish were applied to the painting and the frame was painted and trimmed with gold leaf to achieve a complete artistic effect.




The painting was unveiled at the 2016 Additive Manufacturing User Group conference where it won in the Advanced Finishing category of the Technical Competition.

3D printing is a fascinating innovation with limitless possibilities. On the other hand, although 3D printing a replica of a painting is a novel idea, it is not quite an option for everyone. Many will still prefer traditional canvas and paper ephemera for its classic feel and ease of accessibility.

At USAonCanvas, we offer a wide range of giclee and fine art printing options. Our classics gallery hosts hundreds of painting masterpieces, including Van Gogh's Starry Night. Select your favourite to reproduce with our quality giclee inks, have custom fitted to its own classically ornate frame, and finally showcased in your very own home - no stereolithography printers required!

Let's Start Your Art Business!

It has become a widespread phenomenon for the individuals to manage their own production of arts and distribute them to public personally and commercially.

Today, we would like to introduce couple of websites that could ease the process and let you concentrate more on the creative work.

Etsy

Etsy is a well-known peer to peer e-commerce platform for handmade crafts and items - including artwork. This website can be a great place to start because there are many unique products - varying from vintage to modern - that attract specific customers. You will be able to set up your personal shop within a shared space of etsy.
There are some fees including listing fee and transaction fee (3.5%; which is relatively low compared to other websites).

Downside of etsy may be is that there are too many competitors at the moment and it is hard to climb up to be the first ones on the shelf to get noticed by the buyers. But there is still a good niche with unique products, so it is a good idea to at least give a try and open your own shop.

www.etsy.com



Amazon

Now here is the giant, the largest e-commerce community. It is known that amazon has 10 times more traffic that etsy which means there is more chance for you to attract more buyers to your shop. The system is very reliable since it's based on one of the largest companies in the globe and has a strong search engine optimization system, so with a right process you have more chance to lead the traffic to your door and introduce your amazing work. There are millions of products, not only just artwork and prints but covering almost every category of products.

Downside of Amazon is that the company takes a high commission fee when an item is sold. The fee varies depending on the item, but it's definitely something to consider.


www.amazon.com



Big Cartel

We have come to a totally different platform. This site is perfect for those who are looking for a dedicated space for your work. In Big Cartel platform, each store works as an individual website which brings attention of buyers solely to your products as long as they stay in your website. And it is very easy to set up a store with a straightforward instruction and also, some room for those who want to take an adventure with coding on their shop.

There is no transaction fee, however, there are different monthly plans (including a free plan!)that allow you to expand your store depending on the number of your products.

Downside of Big Cartel is that the simplified features may lack support for marketing and SEO compared to other big websites out there. Another important note is there is a limit to list your items (300 items max), and if you are approaching with a large scale business, Big Cartel might not be your best option.


www.bigcartel.com



Threadless

This platform is called POD (print on demand), where you (artist) upload your work on their website, and the company does all the work from manufacturing to shipping according to the orders they receive from the buyers.

Threadless is one of the most popular POD platforms for prints on apparels and garments.
The pricing is straigtforward. You set your own price on the products and you earn anything left after the base price. For example, a base price for a tshirt is $15, and you set your price with your print on the tshirt as $30. When the tshirt is sold, what you earn is $15 which is the cut after the base price has been removed.

Downside is, if you want to make a real profit, either you have to set your price high, or sell many with cheaper price. And it is hard to find the balance between the two. However, if there is a good demand of your design, this platform could be a breakthrough into your entrepreneur.


www.threadless.com



Society6

Society6 is another popular pod website offering much more various products. They cover from prints, apparels, homewares, phone cases and laptop skins. Unlike Threadless, you get to only set your price on the art prints and other products have a set profit for the artist. Society6 can be a good starting line for those who are looking to sell prints on the main shelf and maybe explore couple of new products on the side.


www.society6.com 



Take a note that it's good to have several shops open to spread the word and maximize the traffic which will increase your profit eventually. 

Last thing, if you are just looking to print your work for personal collection or gift for your friends and families, come visit www.usaoncanvas.com as they offer archival museum quality prints and other great services.