Complicated Papercut Fish--My First Attempt
>> Tuesday, April 20
This is my first truly complicated ONE-PIECE papercutting attempt. I going for a fish shape with lots of ocean designs inside like bubbles, seaweed, shells, little fish, starfish, a sea urchin, etc. You can see that I am about halfway done.
I'm pencil drawing on one side to map out my designs and also make sure I don't cut too close to the edge and compromise the strength of the piece.
Then I'm drawing in the little patterns and pictures to make sure that the designs overlaps enough to keep the papercutting strong and correctly shaped overall.
Even though I'm only about half done it's getting a bit overwhelming, so I have "cheated" and folded parts of the paper over itself to double-up the design and half the cutting time. I actually like this effect, though--visual symmetry relaxes and pleases the mind.
I'll take more pictures once I've completed the project. One thing is for sure, though--if I want to get any more details I'm going to have to upgrade from scissors to an Xacto knife.
2 comments. Leave a comment.:
That looks excellent, your paper cut-outs are looking amazing! There's an artist named Jen Stark who's well known for her paper work, so you might want to check her out; it's pretty incredible what people create from a material as simple as paper. Also, one of my friends does paper art and she said to keep lines crisp you should only use one exacto per line that you make. So basically you make a cut, switch the exacto, make a cut, so on. But so far it looks great, I'm excited to see what comes of it!
Wow, Stark's work is incredible, requiring a patience that I don't know if even I could muster. Geez.
Now by one xacto, do you mean replace the blade after each cut? I understand how that would keep the sharpness, but honestly the xacto I picked up from Walmart for $1.97 has been cutting sharply for me into regular copy paper for hours. Maybe when I start to do very, very fine work...
This fish I cut only with scissors. I'm working on a new papercutting as present involving musical scores--there is no way I could be getting those staff lines and tiny notes accurate without my xacto!!
Also, I've recently been admiring this artist's papercut work: http://www.etsy.com/shop/papercutdiecut though I am a little sad at how cheaply she is selling her working--it's stunning, to make an understatement.
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