3D Printing my Chinese name_YUAN

Step 1: Step 1: Research the Meaning of My Name

源 /yuan/ (Simplified version is thesame as the original version.

Structure of Chinese Character: Left-Right

Radical ( Simplified version): 氵, means water

Method of Creation: phonagram

“源”is compounded by two parts,

one is 水 means water,

one is 原 means origin. Its pronounciation is after 原/yuan/, means the origin place where water comes from. And its extension meaning is the origin of things.

Step 2: Step 2: Innovative Interpretation

源 /yuan/ is the origin of a river.There is a Chinese poetry in which I think can best reflect the feature of 源, if you wonder why the canal is so clear, that is because there is flowing water from its origin. In this poetry, it pictured a natural scene and people find themself fresh after reading it. In this poetry, author compared reading with natural scenary, only by constantly aquiring new knowledges can make a person with vision.

Step 3: Step 3: Design

For the design of 源, I applied a natural scenary of which an endless stream of water flows down the slope. 源 is the flowing water, which is clear and always renew itself. I use plasticine to shape the scene, in which there are also mountain, spring, rocks and trees.

Step 4: Step4: 3D Modeling

Since it will finally printed, and water is very hard to present in a physical prototype, I made reference to Chinese ink painting, in the masterpieces, it used white space to replace water, and instead the scattered rocks were used to set off the water flowing. So in my design, I also use the same way of creation, using scattered rocks to reflect water, instead of getting myself in difficulties.

Step 5: Step5: Further Improvement

For further improvement, I want to apply a water cycle system, with which real water can flow down and it can better represent the meaning of 源. However, by now, I haven’t figured out how it can be modeled. Any great ideas please shoot for me. Thanks.