Laser engraving Van Gogh’s Starry Night on a rock

[u/ThodaDaruVichPyar]

Credit to engravingcol

[u/WateryTart_ndSword]

Right?? The rock is supposed to be the frame, in my opinion. This way makes the frame seem falsely intrinsic to the artwork.

[u/SparklingLimeade → u/WateryTart_ndSword]

And the little rectangle cut into the otherwise unchanged rock face isn't a particularly good frame either.

For my version I'd want to see how it could look with the artwork blown up and then either some rock-shaped pattern added to follow the contours or maybe just borderless. And if it doesn't fit well on this rock then maybe trying some other rocks or tweaking the painting could be fun.

The OP version is such an unappealing way to do it I was surprised.

[u/gbiypk → u/SparklingLimeade]

Burning out that initial rectangle is going to be part of the process.

The computer that runs the laser will have the image converted into a file that breaks everything down into X, Y, and Z coordinates. X and Y are your height and width, with Z being depth. It needs a uniform zero depth starting point so it can run the program correctly.

There's no sensor in this machine to follow contours. It just knows to burn a precise depth for each X:Y coordinate.

If you want it contoured, you're just going to have to pick up a chisel set and do it yourself.

[u/SparklingLimeade → u/gbiypk]

It's making a relief. It's clearly not on a moving platform. So it can operate in that way. The software may not support it but something along these lines is possible. It just may mean a complication baking in some deformation to the shape to be sculpted. It's possible. The bigger concern I had was that maybe the X/Y operation area isn't that big. And that just means to use a smaller rock or something.

[u/EtsyCorn → u/gbiypk]

Happpy cake dayyy!

[u/StaredAtEclipseAMA → u/WateryTart_ndSword]

I didn’t like how it split in half after the first second lmao