What do Jerry and I have in common? A deep appreciation for whiskey and glass. Jerry Lin-Hsien Kung is a glass blower and tool maker living in Northern California. And I had a blast collaborating with him.
At some point, Jerry and I decided to collaborate. He sent me a 3D model of the whiskey glass he designed and produces. At the time, I’d been exploring dispersion, caustics and animation in KeyShot, a rendering software I use.
I had a suspicion that the form of the sipper would produce some epic caustics given the right lighting scenario.
The project is pretty simple. I wanted to create a looping animation and one that would rely on light and materials. In my mind, this could exist in a gallery as an installation. Using the 3D tools I had at my disposal, the experience remained digital.
I created a dispersive glass material to apply to the 3D model. I then used a carefully placed light and lighting environment to illuminate the glass. Finally, I used a special material on the floor to capture the caustic patterns.
KeyShot handled the materials, lighting and rendering while DaVinci Resolve allowed for post processing and final rendering. Despite being short and simple, this was a very gratifying project and I’m very pleased with the results. It was fun being able to show Jerry how his design was capable of producing art beyond its physical form alone.
"The best part of working with others : Seeing the world through their eyes, hands, and skills." - Jerry Lin-Hsien Kung
What about a print? While the print below is not available for purchase, it is a fun exercise to see how such a small object in real life can be experienced in such a different way at a larger scale.
This project was incredibly fun. It was short and sweet and offered me the chance to explore. Jerry supported me in the direction I wanted to take this project and enjoyed seeing each set of images and the progress I made throughout the collaboration.
Being able to put a different spin on someone else’s work is a really special privilege. As a creative myself, I know it can be hard to see one of your ideas or designs executed or interpreted differently than you intended. So, a big thanks to Jerry for allowing me to visualize his beautiful whiskey glass.
You can support Jerry by purchasing a glass (or more) from here.
