The Birthing Engine - Refined Drawing

  - a contemporary automaton by Dug North

This is a drawing I did in Adobe Illustrator in preparation for building the automaton.

The advantage of using Illustrator was that I could work to scale. I could also try out different facial expressions, and colors before starting the actual woodcarving. I think this saved a lot of time and prevented some mistakes.

I don't always do a refined sketch on the computer, but looking back at this project now, I think it was wise and that I should do so in the future.

You'll notice that the doctor and the lady don't look exactly as they did in the finished piece. As I carve, I tend to fall in love with the figure at a certain point and decide not to go any further. I consider the drawing subject to change once it is rendered in wood.