PAPER CUTS

July 20 2015

I was determined not to mess about for ages with this one. I want to enjoy a Summer project, and let the final outcome breathe and grow. I kept the brainstorming to a minimum and settled on a topic I felt would support my development as an illustrator and a (hopefully) professional artist when I graduate. I have a Facebook page for papercuts and I knew progress picture go down well, so I could hit all goals, facebook reach, business promotion, networking, college assignment and skills development, with one kick.

I want to make work that is pleasing, thoughtful and accessible. A touch of whimsy, rooted in traditional crafts and folklore so I thought it was about time I just did it. I looked at legends particularly the Arthurian legends. Based on a mixture of pagan and early Catholic beliefs and morality, in the dark ages of myth and bucolic Englishness, there isn't a part of England that doesn't lay claim to some part in the story of the King with magicians, dragons, ghost ladies and brave Knights. More specifically, and true to my style I guess, I focussed on Lord Tennysons Victorian poetry as I love his visual imagery, and he makes it easier to understand. (Any excuse) So with my context in place I could work on creation.

I also researched the Golden Age of Illustration, and was influenced by Rackham, Tenniel, of course our own Ford Madox Brown and Gustav Dore. So not contemporary, I can imagine my tutors tearing their hair out, but I feel they were the guys with skills, which influence today's contemporaries and methods

After doing a flat papercut I decided I didn't care to just make plates and papercut them. I know I can do that. So I decided to go 3d and create a multi layered scene for each part of the poem to be made into a book. This is a challenge as it requires a standardisation of size and scale, some uniformity of placement, and of course making a book. Taking one step at a time, I began to sketch then cut each layer.

It was tricky, as it always is. I changed blades as soon as I felt the paper 'catch' and managed to not cut off anything important. The actual piece is only A5 and I'm really pleased how it turned out. Displaying was laborious. Each layer is stuck to acetate, then foam pieces are concealed and stuck to the acetate to give the layers profile. That is all trimmed and stuck together with pieces of card over to make it look all smart.