Project 2 Start!

So for this project our main tools are the laser cutter and/or penplotter. Now I've used the laser cutter several times before on some side acrylic things, but I'm mainly staying away from using wood and other flammable materials for 2 reasons.

1. Easy to catch fire(duh)
2. I don't want to damage the lens

Anyways, I've been always fascinated with those light fixtures that are clear sheets of plastic/glass that have engravings in them and light running through it, so I figured that I'd use that for my main material of my project. The other part was what did I want to have engraved(not too sure I want to cut). As of lately, I've been interested in chinese(biased?) inkwash paintings and vector-stylization, so what better way than combining both to make an engraving?

So here's the preliminary sketch with the pencil brush in PS5.

Very simple and sketchy.

Here's the solids filled in to be sent to Illustrator.

The materials are going to be slightly expensive, but that was a given. I'll be using a light-diffusing clear acrylic and a blue LED strip to light up the plastic. I'll put inprogress pictures once I get the materials and start engraving.