Philadelphia artist Joe Menna, recently profiled by the Philly News, is a 3D sculptor whose art is realized by way of an EnvisionTEC 3D printer.
Menna’s detailed work is printed at Jason Wires Productions in Georgia. Owner Jason Wires runs an EnvisionTEC Perfactory® Mini Multi Lens with ERM, a machine which prints various crisp and high-accuracy materials. Menna’s figures are painted and sold to companies that use the 3D print as a master copy. The statues are reproduced in large quantities to be sold online and through comic book stores.
Menna knows his stuff: the digital sculptor is experienced in computer-aided design programs like ZBrush and FreeForm. According to Jacon Wires, Menna is a “top-tier” artist in the industry who participated in FreeForm’s beta-testing. Learning to use CAD software is certainly embarking on a direction requiring different skills than those of fine art. “It’s a completely different medium,” Menna said. As a 3D sculptor creating high-end collectibles — and as a comic book fan familiar with well-loved characters — Menna feels his work must remain as faithful to the details as possible in order to “make it everything it could possibly be for the fans.” With 3D printing from EnvisionTEC, it’s also possible to design figures that are fully-articulated with movable limbs, and Menna does so.
Menna also said in his interview with Philly News that low-cost consumer 3D printers don’t compare to what can be achieved on a professional-grade printer like EnvisionTEC: “They can produce something that has the amount of detail of Play-Doh, but for production you need the detail of fine marble.”