Laser Cut: Simple, But Sentimental

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For this week’s project, I was inspired by my J Dilla class. J Dilla is a legendary producer and MC in the Hip-hop community. He produced for A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, Common, Erykah Badu, DeAngelo, and so many more. He is known for his unique style, often referred to as Dilla Time. This style combines straight time and swing time, which creates conflict between each instrument. J Dilla’s drums were always off (on purpose) and this made his beats have more of a human feel even though he used an MPC drum machine. His dedication and talent changed the way hip-hop sounded and he is known as the best producer by the greats, such as Pete Rock.

This week I got the opportunity to meet Herman Hayes, J Dilla’s uncle, and hear about first-hand experiences relating to Dilla. Herman Hayes opened a donut shop in Detriot to honor his nephew and in reference to the last album he made before he passed called Donuts. It was super dope to hear about this black-owned business and learn more about Dilla and his life in Detriot.

This experience stayed in my mind since it happened. So, I decided to make a J Dilla donut.

I did not make a hand-drawn sketch because I thought it would be straight forward in terms of construction and shapes so I just jumped into making it on Illustrator.

These are the 4 inch diameter cut outs.
These are the 3.85inch and 3.75 inch diameter cut outs and etching.
I wanted the donuts to be 4 inches in diameter at the center.
I wanted the diameter to slightly decrease at the top of the donut to create a more realistic siloutte.
I found some cardboard in the free cardboard section of the shop. I thought this would be perfect to make donuts.
The first piece of cardboard to enter the laser cutter.
This was my first attempt at the laser cutter. It did not cut out even after I adjusted the settings 4 times.
It finally worked! Only for the one on the corner though.
This is the first piece that cut out. I repeated this process multiple times to gather my shapes.
These are the cut out shapes from the laser cut. I had 9 pieces.
To connect these shapes, I used hot glue and then I used my hands to apply pressure.
I tried to apply hot glue evenly around the shape.
This is how the circles looked after I stacked them and added the glue.
This is a Birdseye view of the hot glue gunned circular stacked shapes.
I used a marker to darken the etching.
The marker made the etching more eligible.
I used acrylic paint to give the donut more character.
This is the donut after I painted it. I used a red and white mix for the base and solid blue and yellow ticks for the sprinkles. I added white highlights to the edges to make the donut pop more. I also let the paint fall off the edges to give it a more realistic feel.

Glam Shots!

Rest Easy Dilla!

In conclusion, I think this was my favorite project so far. Although a simple design, it meant something more to me than the other projects thus far. I also got to utilize the laser cutter for the very first time. Honestly, I did not fall in love with the laser cutter. It actually freaks me out and more so frustrates me. I would have to say actually using the laser cutter was the biggest challenge this week. First of all, I’m completely stressed out with using it because I so scared it’s going to catch on fire. Little flames are expected when the laser is cutting, but that really had me nervous. I had my finger hovering over the stop button. Also, adjusting the preferences was a hit or miss. This took me the longest and would still be iffy once I thought I had it down. Even though it stressed me out, I’m glad I got to have hands-on experience with it. I feel like the next time I use it, if I ever do, I will be way more confident.

I plan on giving this donut to my professor that teaches the J Dilla class. He is such a big fan of Dilla and even worked with him. I think he would greatly appreciate this.

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Published by thirteenvic

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