A low face count challenge.

There are so many amazing artists out there creating beautiful polygonal animal sculptures. While admiring their pieces, I found myself wondering about the animals being depicted. Was that someone’s Labrador retriever or just an idea of a Labrador? Where is the cut point where you can no longer see the individual in the sculpture? Can a sculpture with limited face numbers adequately represent a specific animal or pet? Would their family members recognize them in it?

I figured where better to start than my own ridiculous dogs?

Each sculpture started with a photo I selected to show a bit of their personality. The photo was used as a reference to create a 3D model which was then decimated and manipulated to reduce the detail (face count) and geometry. I went through many iterations before settling on a single option for each dog. The model was segmented and an unfolded, appropriately scaled version was generated. I printed out a template to trace onto the base material and hand cut each section. The sculptures were assembled while referencing the computer model and then painted.

I am excited to expand this series, but I think I’ll try a laser cutter on my next one.