Monday 29 October 2012

The Cutting Process







After I came up with the final illustration, I started to cut. I took quite a while to cut all the small edges of the Christmas leaves and the little stings of the hedgehog. I separated the design in two parts. The upper part is to get rid of the rest part of paper and the bottom part is to cut out the drawings. I think this makes an nice eye contrast. I spent two days on cutting in total and I really enjoyed it. I was satisfied with the final outcome but I think I could have done better if had repare more.

Sunday 28 October 2012

Second Idea




 I showed my first design draft to my tutor and he advised me to get rid of the texts and maybe changed the cactus to another hedgehog as it might be confused. So that I created this design,The message of it is passing love, to me this is the design that warms and comforts. I hope the audiences could sense the love and warmth when they look at it.

Saturday 27 October 2012

Rough Ideas

Inspired by the video and images during the research, I came up with the first idea which is to design a fairy tale style illustration based on a love story between a hedgehog and a cactus.

The theme of this design is Passing Love, I drew some leaves and snows in the background reprsent the cold in winter, the little hedgehog is passing a glove to a cactus. In the middle I inserted some texts which is a sentence inspiring me.



Thursday 25 October 2012

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Inspiring Images of Hedgehogs






Images From

http://lilyhogshedgehogs.weebly.com/hedgehog-care.html
http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-hedgehog.html
http://www.tpicks.com/fascinating_photos.htm
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/sherlock-bbc?before=1351730831

Hedgehog in the mist



This is a Russian animated video and it's a story about a little hedgehog (voiced by Mariya Vinogradova) and his friend bear cub (voiced by Vyacheslav Nevinniy). The two would meet every evening to drink tea from the cub's samovar, which was heated on a fire of juniper twigs. As they drank their tea, the hedgehog and the bear conversed and counted the stars together. One day, the hedgehog decided to bring raspberry jam. As he went to the bear to count the stars, he passed through the woods and found a horse standing in a fog, where the hedgehog can't even see his own pink paw. He is curious as to whether the horse would drown if it went to sleep in the fog. The hedgehog decides to explore the fog.
 I think the meaning of this film is captured in the final thoughts of the hedghog. Most experience moving away from the familiar, and these experiences could also be those of an adult going off for travel or war, only to come home a bit dazed about what they have experienced. And the hedgehog thought, "Isn't it wonderful that we are together again" as he wonders about "the horse", the very thing that took him off his original path. In other words, "there's no place like home"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW0jvJC2rvM 

The Manchester First Cut Exhibition

I visited the Manchester First Cut Exhibition in the Manchester Art Gallery and it's absolute amazing.There are some very interesting works in different scales and in both 2D and 3D.I was very inspired by Peter Callesen's 3D paper cuts, the way he used nagative spaces and the tiny little sculptures he built up are all interesting.









Tuesday 23 October 2012

Inspiring Artists: Béatrice Coron


Béatrice Coron 

Meet acclaimed French artist Béatrice Coron, who will talk about the silhouette worlds she invents, cutting them into existence from single sheets of paper. Coron, a self-taught paper-cutter, first became familiar with cutting techniques in her native France, developing her interest and skill further while living in China. Her hand-cut compositions, often populated with hundreds of carefully crafted figures, appear to burst with activity and life. Now based in New York, Coron’s work has been well received and is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. She has received several public art commissions including New York’s and Chicago’s respective Transit Authorities.








http://www.fibermark.com/heroes/faces/beatricecoron/
http://raven2009.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/beatrice-coron/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAGFKYNrQgY

Elsa Mora


Elsa Mora

Elas Mora is one of my faverite paper cut artists who creates incredible exquisite designs.I am really impressived by the fairy tale style illustrations showed in her paper cut pieces.
While we're all used to seeing intricate papercut art, it's not often we come across pieces with interesting meanings behind them. Los Angeles-based multimedia artist Elsa Mora (aka Elsita) created this beautiful papercut piece called Fear that shows a person who has turned into a forest with two little people hanging on the leaves.
"In the forest that our mind is there is always the presence of fears," Elsita says on her website. "I tend to see fear as two little people having an argument within my mind. One of them is positive, the other one is negative but in the end I am both of them. I am aware of how much I can influence their argument, it all depends on my own personal choice of whom I am going to support and let win. This piece in the photos is a representation of this idea. I think that it is a good thing to own our fears and not the other way around, don't you think?  "Have a wonderful day my friend and don't be afraid of trying something new in your life once in a while."
                             
          

  
                   



Image Sources:

http://fjkl.tumblr.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilanddina/5576642037/
http://www.design-vagabond.com/2008_11_01_archive.html
http://crookedhouse.typepad.com/paper_and_felt/2011/04/elsa-moras-paper-cut-pop-up-book-in-progress.html