Paper Cutting and Folding

Paper is the basic stationary found everywhere and with everyone, be it a child or an 80 years old man, be it a student or the owner of a company, be it your bedside table or a table in the courtroom... Paper is everywhere. But is it just for writing? Or taking notes? Certainly not.

Paper is a material that has endless explorations. It can be cut, folded, crumbled to get interesting designs. Kirigami is the art of paper cutting, origami is the art of paper folding. However, apart from these two defined techniques, there are various personal explorations which give commendable results.

To obtain the artworks shown in this post, I've used the concept of tessellations. A tessellation refers to the repetitive and systematic use of a single motif. The condition is that each unit should be placed next to one another without any gaps.

All About Geometry

Squares and circles are two very basic geometric forms. I have combined them in a manner that they give visually appealing design. It is a simple play of forms, angles and depth.

Materials: Colored papers (3 different colors), scissors, cutter, cutting mat, paper punch, foam tape (double sided), glue

Step 1: Take 1 colored sheet. Make a table of 0.5x0.5 inch on it. 

Step 2: Cut the table cells out to obtain 0.5 x 0.5 inch squares.

Step 3: Take another colored sheet. Punch holes out of it. Collect the circles thus obtained.

Step 4: Take an A3 colored sheet for base. Make a 10x10 inch box on it and divide it into 100 squares each of 1x1 inch.

Step 5: Put small pieces of foam tape on each box. 

Step 6: Take the 0.5x0.5 inch squares and start pasting them over the foam tape. Keep them straight in alternate rows and tilted by 45 degrees in alternating rows. 

Step 7: Put a dot of glue on each square.

Step 8: Paste the punched out circles over each square.

Tips:

-The 0.5 x 0.5 inch table can be printed and then cut to save time. (Print via excel, word or Photoshop)

-Choose 3 colors of a particular scheme- be it analogous or complimentary. (Refer to Understanding Color Schemes post) http://everdaydesigner.blogspot.in/2013/11/understanding-color-schemes.html

-Always try to keep at least one neutral color in such artworks: beige, grey, cream, off white etc.



The Guitar Strings

Music is a universal remedy. I, personally, love music too. So when I sat down to think of a motif to use for my artwork, the shape of a guitar came into my mind. The guitar's silhouette and a stylisation of its string led to the following artwork.

Materials: 3 colored sheets, paper cutter, paper punch, glue, cutting mat.

The Final Result

Step 1: Draw or print the following geometric structure of the guitar on a colored sheet.

Step 2: Cut the guitar on the lines using a paper cutter except for the red line. That side will be used for folding the structure.

Step 3: Punch out the circle using a paper punch. 

Step 4: Obtain 16 such motifs: cut and punched. Lift up the guitar structure along the red line.

Step 5: Cut out strips of a different colored paper, 0.5 cm wide and 12 cm long.

Step 6: Take a base sheet. Make a box of 10x10 inch.

Step 7: Paste the guitar motif (2x2 inch each) side by side on the entire box. Paste in one corner, rotate the next unit by 90 degrees and then paste. Repeat this process.

Step 8: Make slits opposite to the broad part of the guitar. Thin slits of approx 0.7 cm so that the paper strip goes in.

Step 9: Take the paper strip and insert it into the slit. Paste it from the back side.

Step 10: Take the paper strip through the punched hole, onto the other side, and insert it behind the edge of the paper. Paste it from backside.

Step 11: Repeat this for alternating units.

Tips:

-Print one unit out. Cut it as mentioned and use it as a stencil to draw and cut other units out. It is better than printing 16 copies of the same thing because on pasting them next to one another, we get edges. However, if used a stencil on a single sheet of paper, these edges can be ignored for a neater look.

-Instead of cutting such strips of paper, quilling strips can be used.

-Make sure the cutter is sharp or else paper will crumble and make the work untidy.

-Use a cutting mat or a glass slab for smooth cutting.

Invest your time, and obtain beautiful results out of simple structures repeated to form tessellations! And then again, it's all with PAPER!