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Jade Guitars: Hepta Rose
Jade Guitars: Hepta Rose
Materials: Paper, sketchbook, graph paper, pencil, acrylic paint markers, pen, ruler; 3d printer, online print databases; plywood, glue, clamps, hardwood, table saw; orbital sander, sandpaper, sanding block, table belt sander; wood stain powder, water, 500mL measuring flask, tablespoon, mixing spoon, foam brush, wet and dry towel, foam sanding pad; polyurethane gloss, foam brush
For my second Independent Study, I chose 3D Form. I decided my subject would be a model guitar, a wood body and neck fitted with 3D-printed pieces. I had been coming up with this design since the summer before my junior year, sketching ideas for it in my Sophomore year sketchbook.
Carpentry helped me with this project. Our work there began with tracing on 3/4in plywood with cutouts from the paper model. These were then routed out to the right shape and glued together with clamps as seen above. The final shape was 2.25 inches thick and was rounded at each vertice to a 15/16in circle. I then began to sand down the bevel going 1.5in on the lower area of the top and 0.75 in some other sections. I also added one on the back for a snug fit against the body. I then sanded the entire body to a very fine grit to smooth it out.
I began to apply layers of polyurethane finish following the polishing. It had to dry for a day between coats, so in the meantime, I worked on curving the neck. When it was done and sanded, it got a layer of clear coat. When it was ready, the neck was glued and secured onto the support made for it. I then sanded the body and neck to be congruent with one another. I continued adding coats of varnish enamel spray to make it even more smooth and shiny.
When I was completely finished, I created a roll of photos for it. I included multiple angles, getting full shots of the project as well as highlighting its intricacies.
I had many issues during the project which I either solved or chose to work with. I basically have never worked with wood in my life, as well as 3d modeling, so this was very new. From the beginning, I had formatting issues with the 3d models, as well as struggling to find the exact parts online. I had to make the headless tuner bridge on my own with a single saddle. This one was not supported because of my lack of knowledge and began to break. Also, at one point, I dropped the instrument on its front side and all of the knobs broke. I had to remove them, sand, and then apply more top coats. I also simply decided to leave it as is because it would be too much effort to remove and replace it. When I was trying to draw the body shape, I couldn't get it perfect. I resolved to working on paper rather than photoshop and this helped me. After creating the body piece, I had less issues; sanding was just very time consuming. I had a huge time constraint. Moving toward the end of the project, I had to make decisions on what to include and what not to. I decided to not add frets or fret markings to the neck at all, deciding to make it a fretless guitar that just simply needed strings put onto it. These would have both been difficult and time-consuming endeavors; fret placement is very specific to be able to get the right note out of the guitar, and I would have to get the measurements perfect for my specific neck. I would have also had to buy frets to put onto it. I also did not include pegs for a shoulder strap or panels on the backside to cover the electronics cavities, but neither of those matter much.
The first thing I did for the project is create the 3d printed pieces. I did this to build the shape of the body around the shape of the pickups. I measured the pickups of my personal guitar, the Ibanez Gio series 7 String. I attached them all near the end of the project whenever it was best. I then spent some time creating sketches of the shape, perfecting it, and then making the full size tracing on 1 inch cube graph paper.
I mixed wood stain pigment powder with water at a 33:1 ratio using a beaker borrowed from Mrs. Mackenzie and smaller measuring spoons from Mrs. Martin I then applied to the top and sides in a staggered pattern relative to the raw wood color. I let that dry and soak in and then sanded down the sections of the bevel that got stained. I slowly worked up to a lighter grit. I used a wet paper towel to lift the grain of the surface and then polished and dried it with a dry paper towel. This created more visible grain and preparation to give it a clear coat.
While I constructed the body, I also cut out the neck piece and sanded it to a thin profile. I referenced the neck measurements for my Ibanez Gio 7 string from their website and found that it was 48mm to 68mm top to bottom.
I've loved guitars since i was probably 8 years old, getting my first one for my 9th birthday. Ever since then, I've evolved into the musician I am today. The guitar is so important to me and my identity. I remember watching countless videos of luthiering and guitar making, and I always imagined making one of my own. I'm very glad that I was able to bring my childhood dream to fruition. I'm overall extremely proud of this project and the work that I put in for it. I now want to make even more guitars in the future, which I may or may not do. Either way, it was an amazing experience, and I have a great final product to show!
For my branding, I wanted to create a modern logo for the brand, which would be called Jade Guitars. I began working with simple shapes, making a series of transformations to form the letters to the name. I wanted to make sure it was a simple enough shape to draw, not being just a name but also a distinct polygon. I used my product design experience to create many different options for the logo, slowly working up to ones that were closer to the final design. I mirrored a serif font with the JADE logo, bolding the sides of the letter. I then recorded the exact transformations and made a larger one based on the measurements of the final low-quality render. This can contribute to a potential product design career or internship in the future and as a piece to share to show my abilities.
Social Inspiration: Modern Industry Standards
Social Inspiration: Modern Industry Standards
I wanted to design this project after a growing trend for higher-end modern metal guitars, specifically with downtuned and extended range hardware. I based the project off of varied groundbreaking and modern luthiering techniques. I decided to create a bevel going into the top layer of plywood and cutting into the surface, as well as the same depth on the backside for ergonomic designed comfort, another new precedent.
Blnaca Portrait
Blnaca Portrait
Materials: Sketchbook, colored pencil; pencil,
Posca paint markers, acrylic paint, brush
This was an independent project for Design. I originally sketched this, which made me want to paint the same thing at a large scale. I took a few different bright cool-toned colors and used them for either fill or outline. I then painted the background with a few coats of deep blue.
The creature is an evolved form of octopus that exists millions of years in the future after the death of humans. They eventually form sentient and take over the world just like us! But somehow, they need our help? Read more of the story on the Music tab, and listen to the tracks if you like!
In Their Hands
In Their Hands
Materials: Photoshop; plywood base, spackle and knife, primer, projector, pencil; acrylic paint, brushes, and hands!
For this independent project, I wanted to make a piece that was a protest. I wanted to stress that if the world remains in the hands of the rich, it will just be destroyed and used for profit. The idea was originally constructed online in a 1:3 ratio. I asked the Carpentry academy to cut a 2x6 foot ply sheet for me to use, since there wasn't a canvas available at that ratio. It's the biggest canvas I've used so far. It had some knotholes in it, so I spackled and filled them, subsequently priming the surface. I followed by projecting the image onto the wood and lightly tracing. After that, I was able to paint the scene using multiple layers, going from the top and left to the bottom and right. I couldn't blend the colors as easily as I could on photoshop, so I decided that I would use my hands, giving the piece its name.
I'm very happy with this piece! However, I think the online mockup was a bit better. I also recognize that the styles are distinct from one another and can coexist. The physical piece also has much more grandeur and the texture of my fingers is much more interesting.
You Are Here
You Are Here
Materials: Hard paper, acrylic paint, large and small brush,
Posca paint markers, fingers, notebook paper, pushpin head
I made this piece with my friend Ella in Art & Composition. The assignment was to make a piece inspired by Edel Rodriguez's creative process. On some works, he paints random strokes and then transforms the piece into whatever he sees in it. In the beginning, we chose to paint the paper black. This made us decide to do something at night or in space, and made a large, slightly deliberate swirl across the paper. Then, we applied multiple colors of blue and white and thought the swirl could be the Earth, in a surrealistic depiction. We went along with this, and I used my large brush to stamp color on to make land and clouds. We then added a paper and pin that says "You Are Here", inspired by pictures of the Milky Way with the same inscription, suggesting the viewer's presence in the piece to add to the grandeur. To complete the painting, we made a bright golden sun with Posca paint marker and then dotted on the black outer space with white and multicolored dots for stars. Ella then added the final touch to bring the mystery of the piece to the top: an alien space ship!
This was a fun challenge since it can be hard for me to draw something using this method of scribbling and searching. I'm very proud of this piece, because it's good and also because it was difficult.
Eyes Of the Beholder
Eyes Of the Beholder
Materials: Watercolor paper, pencil, colored pencil
This was my Personal Composition for A&C1. I worked almost completely with colored pencil. I left it for days at a time before applying more because it just took so long to do. I went a few weeks past the due date to actually finish it. The story or message behind it is that your perception creates your reality, and nothing exists outside of what you can see or have perceived in your life. Without your senses, nothing really exists. I tried to depict an explosion of color coming out of my point of view, including my third eye. I combined magenta, cyan, and yellow, the wavelengths of light used to make visible light. I represented this light as reality existing in nothingness. The piece was shown in the 2026 Youth Art Month exhibit at the County College of Morris.
Zoomed In
Zoomed In
Materials: Paper, pencil, Posca markers
Another piece for Art and Comp. This assignment was to zoom in on something and show a lot of detail. Your subject should be natural. I chose a human finger, looking into the fingerprint. I tried to highlight the intricacies of the human body and the imperfections that everyone has. I sketched the lines inside of the finger and traced them, interchanging between one lighter posca and a darker one. I then used even darker and even lighter markers for the shading and smudged them to fade.
Medium Quadrants
Medium Quadrants
Materials: Mounting paper, scissors, glue,
watercolor paper, pencil, gouache paint,
brush, colored pencil, oil pastel, markers
This was a station project for Art and Comp. The assignment was to create an image using 4 parts, each of those parts created with a different medium. I started by mounting 4 pieces of watercolor letter-size paper about an inch apart on mounting paper and cut it to size. I taped the ends of each paper to make sure I didn't severely mess up the paper underneath. I then sketched a long shot of a tall tree and went over it with each of the last 4 materials above.
This was my first ever independent project for Design. I had been building a universe about a species of sub-humans who evolved from neanderthals to live in caves far underground, so I was most inspired to make something about them. I made this drawing on Kleki.com and then projected it onto a primed canvas, where I traced the lines. I then left it that way and didnt color the final piece, feeling it preserved more detail that way. This piece was displayed at the 2024 Teen Arts festival.
Explore the lettering system of Ngia'auang, the language of the Ngia. Find translations for words and make sentences!
Many words are short, representing simple concepts to branch off of. Conjunction of multiple of these words along with new letters can make a new word that makes sense in context.
Alladoxaphobia
Alladoxaphobia
Materials: Canvas, pencil, acrylic paint, brushes, pen
Catnip
Catnip
Materials: Sharpie, carpet swatches, razor, cardboard,
hot glue; acrylic paint, brushes, Posca markers
For this Art & Comp project, I had to make a mixed media portrait using two traditional mediums and one non-traditional one. I decided I wanted my subject to be my cat, so I looked around the classroom for a non-traditional medium that was fluffy enough to replicate fur. I found a bunch of carpet swatches that were perfect for the application. I then designed a shape for the head and body using triangles out of a heptagon and cut a bunch of them out in different colors. After, I arranged them the correct shape and gave it the correct shading, then mounted it on cardboard. Finally, I painted the background green and made a rainbow zentangle background with Posca markers.
Textile
Textile
Materials: Phone camera, watercolor paper, pencil, ruler, lightboard, printer, glue, marker, paper cutter, scissors
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