In this
Behind the Scenes feature, I demonstrate how to transform a two-dimensional drawing into a rubber stamp mold in order to create a three-dimensional charm. The picture above shows two different kinds of stamps and illustrates a fundamental concept when thinking about the design of your charm. The left stamp is a picture of a moonlit window that when pressed into any type of clay (i.e.,
precious metal clay,
polymer clay, porcelain, etc.) will produce a
sculptural relief with a raised image. The stamp on the right is a bee that when pressed into clay will create an
incised image and resemble an
intaglio print (i.e.,
engraving and
etching). In an earlier post, I compared these two techniques for pressing images and suggested ways to combine
low relief and incising. For my demo, I am using
Sculpey polymer clay to explore this process, but these techniques are the same ones I use for creating
Hint Jewelry's precious metal clay charms.
Each stamp was pressed into white polymer clay and painted with blue acrylic so you can see the dramatic difference between a raised sculptural relief on the left and an incised image on the right.
To work with sculptural relief, I think primarily in terms of shapes and patterns. When I work with incised images, I am thinking about line and texture. I focus on sculptural relief when making
Hint Jewelry charms because I like simple shapes and rounded edges. If I wanted to create something with more detail such as a human face, I would probably choose to create an incised image based on a line drawing.
Here's a detail of my incised bee pressed into
polymer clay. See the way the bee stamp creates a concave area in the clay. It's like when you walk in mud or snow and create footprints.
Honeybee, Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry):
pencil and paper
To create a rubber stamp, I first sketch my drawing in pencil and then scan it into the computer where I save it as a jpeg image. I re-size the image to be 1 x 1 inch and sent it to
Rubberstamps.net to have a mold made. Notice all the textures and shadows I created with cross hatching and circles on the wings. Almost none of that translates into a stamped image. If you scroll back up to the previous picture, you will see that any part of my pencil drawing that was a black line will be incised into the clay and anything that is white will be raised. Because the little stripes on my bee had some areas of white these turned out raised in the clay image. If I was to improve this desigm, I would simplify my cross hatching by creating more spacing between the lines and more area for white to show through.
In contrast, here is my moonlit window that was pressed into
polymer clay, creating a sculptural relief. Take note that with rubber stamps a sculptural relief only has two levels: a background and a foreground. For instance, it is impossible to have the moon and stars be at a greater depth then the window. I found that sometimes these varying depths just naturally occur because if a shape is smaller such as the little star in the front, it will squeeze less clay into the image then the window. This will make the star appear to be at a greater depth then the window, but I never plan for this in my stamps. It's just a happy accident!
To create a rubber stamp for a relief mold, I've found it easier to think in two steps. First I create a very simple line drawing like the window pictured above, scan it into my computer, re-size it to 1 x 1 inch, use the brightness/contrast tool to create really stark black lines and a super white background, and then save it as a jpeg image. Your pencil drawing can be small or big, but for me, I've found that a 4 x 4 inch image allows some freedom to express a shape with line. Sometimes if you do a small, tight drawing your shapes are less fluid.
The second step involves taking the scanned pencil drawing of the window that is now a digital image and reworking it in
Adobe Photoshop so it has a black background. The above picture of the window is the final digital image that I would send to
Rubberstamps.net to create a relief mold.
This editing process in
Adobe Photoshop reminds me of making an image for a woodcut print. The key is to maximize the size of the white shapes and to minimize the width of fine black lines. So for instance, I created larger white star shapes then seemed logical because when they are stamped into clay they become smaller. I make as narrow as possible the black lines on the window frame in front of the moon so that they create a subtle rounded edge to the shapes, but don't become a dominant part of the image.
Here are my personal guidelines for creating an image:
1. Maximize size of white shapes and minimize thickness of the black lines.
2. More white shapes then black lines.
3. One or two bold images filling space rather then a bunch of smaller images.
4. Black lines no larger then 5 pixels wide.
5. If I have a small white shape like the star, make it two times the size as I think it should be.
Over time all
Hint Jewelry charm designs have become based on the concept of a circle. I created a template in
Adobe Photoshop for the black background so I don't have to figure it out it every time I want to work on a new stamp design. I always start with this black circle template that is approximately 1 inch square because I found this to be the size that allows me to scale lines and shapes correctly when drawing in
Photoshop. Originally, I was accounting for the shrinkage of metal clay when sizing my image to 1.181 inches, but unfortunately I didn't follow through with this math on all my other designs. I've provided the different sizes I use for my stamp images, but when they are fired they shrink to be less then this size.
Digital Image Template
Grayscale
Resolution: 360 pixels/inch
Image Size: 425 x 425 pixels (1.181 inches squared)
Black Circle Shape: 425 x 425 pixels
Stamp Sizes
Extra Large: 270 x 270 pixels (3/4 inch)
Large: 225 x 225 pixels (5/8 inch)
Medium: 180 x 180 pixels (1/2 inch)
Small: 155 x 155 pixels (3/8 inch)
Final Digital Image for Rubber Stamp,
Beth Hemmila (Hint Jewelry)
I copy the digital image of my drawing (in this case a flower) as a second layer on top of my black circle template. I select the white area outside my flower drawing and cut it away to reveal the black circle in the layer below. Then I re-size my flower, move, and rotate my drawing to my liking so it looks well framed inside the circle. It's like taking a pair of scissors and cutting out the flower shape from a piece of white paper and pasting it to a black background. Because the black lines on the interior of the flower match the background, when you flatten the image it will look seamless. At this point, I usually take my paint brush tool in either black or white and clean up edges and fix lines so that the shapes will be clear when translated into a stamp.
I create charms in a variety of sizes, and because the molds are so small, I realized that it was more economical to group multiple images together on one stamp. This method works well with my process, because I use the stamps facing up, put clay on the top and then press down instead of laying my clay on the table and pressing the stamp into the material. See my earlier posting for a
video demonstrating how I press metal clay charms.
Rubberstamps.net offers a variety of stamp sizes, and my favorite is 4 x 2 inches. In
Adobe Photoshop, I create a new image that is 4 x 2 inches with resolution 360 pixels/inch. I copy and paste up to 15 of my smaller digital designs into this 4 x 2 inch file, arrange images so they each have some spacing around their edges, flatten all layers, and save as a jpeg. This collection of images in one file would be the final stamp design I send to
Rubberstamps.net to create my mold.
If you do not have access to
Adobe Photoshop or are not familiar with its drawing features, you could still do this process by creating a pencil drawing, going over the lines and filling in background with black ink, and then scanning this into the computer. The drawback is that you would have to create the exact size you want for your stamp and use micro fine ink pens for your lines.
Ready Stamps is another resource for stamp making that will allow you to send a sheet of paper with your drawing instead of a scanned image. I've never used this company, but an article on
Art Bead Scene shows you the results from sending a hard copy of your drawing to create
rubber stamp molds.
Be sure to check out my
Behind the Scenes series for more articles about designing for
Hint Jewelry and running an online business.
jet bead
