The question
Could a loose drawing made dimensional in VR survive the trip into metal—and still open a bottle?
In 2017, I had become hooked on sculpting in virtual reality. Drawing in three dimensions felt immediate in a way traditional modeling never had. The shapes still looked like mine. The next question was whether one of those virtual objects could become something real.
Not merely a sculpture. Something with a job.
Drawing in space
The sketch became a place I could stand inside.
I started with a side-profile drawing of a dragon and imported it into Adobe Medium as a reference. In VR, I could place the drawing in front of me like a drafting table, trace its silhouette, turn on symmetry, and begin pulling the flat shape into volume.
I modeled every scale individually. I enlarged the sculpt until I was virtually standing on the dragon’s tongue to add a uvula at the back of its throat. Then I stamped my signature into the underside.
The original drawing included a corkscrew in the tail. Reality would have other ideas.
Reality edits the dragon
In VR, the dragon could be anything. In metal, it had to do its job.
The first design was full of small problems that did not matter on a screen. The corkscrew made the tail too fragile. The mouth needed to reach under a bottle cap and pull from the correct angle. The body had to balance on its feet instead of simply floating in space.
I exported the sculpt to Maya and sized it against a bottle built in real-world units. Then I adjusted the mouth geometry until the beak could grasp the cap.
- TailRemove the corkscrew. Strengthen the grip.
- MouthChange the bite to catch a real cap.
- FeetFind the center of gravity so it stands.
- BodyHollow the prototype to reduce material and cost.
- SignatureCut it deeply enough to survive printing.
Before it existed
The rendering was part of the engineering.
Once the form worked, I moved the model through Substance Painter and RenderMan to see how the printed steel might catch the light. The goal was not just a beautiful image. The previsualization helped expose details that could disappear in production—including a signature that was not yet deep enough.
Rendering let me inspect the object before spending money to make it. A few digital corrections later, the dragon was ready to leave the screen.
The first real dragon
A week later, I could hold it in my hand.
Shapeways produced the first functional prototype in 2017 using its steel printing process. To keep the material cost under control, I had hollowed the body and designed it around the minimum supported wall thickness. The result was lighter and skinnier than the manufactured version that came later.
It stood up. It fit in my hand. And, most importantly, it opened a bottle.
It worked.
Another route into metal
The same dragon, cast in brass.
I also used Shapeways to produce a lost-wax brass version. The polished surface made the opener feel less like a prototype and more like a small piece of jewelry. It proved that the same virtual sculpture could carry very different physical personalities.
From one to one thousand
In 2023, the experiment became an edition.
VIEW Conference offered me the opportunity to create a gift for its speakers. I suggested the Dragon Opener.
That changed the problem. The hollow steel print had proven the idea, but a manufactured edition needed to feel more substantial. Working with a manufacturer in Shenzhen, the dragon became thicker, solid, and finished with a dark patina. The same manufacturer produced the presentation box, foam insert, printing, and certificate.
Exactly one thousand Black Dragons were made. Each opener and certificate carries its own number, and my signature is part of the casting. VIEW speakers received pieces from the edition; the remaining dragons are the same numbered edition available today.
The finished object
Made to be used. Finished like something worth keeping.
The first Dragon Opener was an experiment in making a virtual sculpture real. The edition asked a different question: could that strange little experiment become a finished object other people would want to keep?
- Edition
- 1,000
- Height
- 3 inches
- Width
- 2.75 inches
- Construction
- Solid cast metal
- Finish
- Dark patina
- Made in
- Shenzhen, China
Each opener includes a matching numbered certificate and Dylan’s signature cast into the underside.
Black Dragon · Edition of 1,000
Bring home a small dragon.
The remaining Black Dragons belong to the same numbered edition created for VIEW Conference in 2023.
Get yours at EtsyPurchase and fulfillment are handled securely through Etsy.