Surfaces youcan hold.

Turn grayscale images into relief, wrap them onto vessels, and export a 3D model.

Open the surface workbench Open the form workbench

Illustrative ivory ceramic vessel and matching relief tile with flowing vertical ridges — Plate 01—AWave relief / raking lightAI concept study

InputGrayscale height field

FeedbackLive lit geometry

Output3D vessel model

ExportSTL mesh

00 / Proposition

A depth map is a plan for a surface.

It is waiting for material.

BLACK / LOWWHITE / HIGH

Every pixel becomes a physical decision: height, edge, shadow, release.

01 / Apparatus

Two instruments.
One continuous surface.

The surface workbench edits the depth map; the form workbench builds the ceramic body. They share the same material logic, so the idea stays legible from source to object.

Illustrative plaster relief studies arranged on a graphite field

Concept plate / surface atlas

Instrument 01—S

Surface
workbench

Paint, layer, generate, blend, crop, remap, and test the height field while its lit relief stays in view.

Source: Image · brushwork · type
Control: Layered modifiers
Readout: Relief · normals · section

Open the surface workbench

Instrument 02—F

Form
workbench

Draw the vessel profile, shape the foot, wrap relief around the body, and resolve the object for export.

Profile: Revolved vessel curve
Surface: Placed relief layers
Output: Closed printable mesh

Open the form workbench

Three matte ivory ceramic vessels with ribbed, botanical, and stepped relief surfaces — Plate 04 / Ceramic forms · AI concept study

02 / Method

A short loop
between eye and object.

Illustrative study of three ivory wave-relief tiles with progressively stronger projections — Relief study / 02—MShallow → pronounced / AI concept

01
Encode
Build the grayscale field from reference, drawing, type, pattern, or generation.
IMAGE → HEIGHT
02
Interrogate
Move the light, orbit the mesh, cut a section, and tune what the surface actually does.
HEIGHT → SHADOW
03
Form
Place the resolved relief on the ceramic body and export the closed model.
SURFACE → OBJECT

Illustrative arrangement of plaster architectural fragments

Plate 06 / Architectural concept study

Ornament you can name.

Acanthus, meander, guilloche, egg and dart. FORM keeps a working vocabulary of period, ornament, and handling terms and highlights them as you write a prompt. Swap gothic for baroque in one click, or find the word for the thing you were describing the long way round.

Period: 16 terms
Ornament: 25 terms
Handling: 7 terms

03 / Field journal

Ideas to explore.
Things to make.

Art history meets the workbench. Start with our prehistoric object studies; practical guides to plaster casting, mold making, and 3D printing are coming next.Browse the journal

H—004Nile Valley, Egypt