Ever the teacher, I thought I'd give you a glimpse into how I have been creating my papercuts. I find Inspiration everywhere, but for this next cut I looked through some of my old Dover books. I really love the little boy on a pony and instantly thought 'Pinocchio'! From there I thought it would be fun if he was holding something - spurring the pony on, and found the dragonfly! Next, I thought wheels on the horse would be fun, and drew a few different sizes until I felt happy with them, and added a pointed hat!.
When I feel like my design is pretty close to what I want, I gather my materials. Black smooth paper, small scissors, and a sharp exacto knife. I cut my image roughly out and tape it onto the black paper in a number of spots. For the cutting, I begin with the tiny inside cuts first, generally using the exacto knife and a cutting board. Then I work myself out, ending with the edges. I couldn't get the entire image to fit onto my 8 1/2" by 11" paper, so I did the dragonfly separately and glued it on at the end. When done I almost always turn my image around, so that its the opposite from what I started from. Why? I don't know, its just habit I guess. I really love how this one turned out, don't you???
Here is another one I did this morning. I was thinking about 'where do fairies come from?' and imagined them growing from plants... First I looked for bulbs, but could only find images of tops (flowers) or bottoms (rooty bulbs). So I enlarged a few different images until I was happy with a design, and added a leaf or two. I wanted a 'womb like baby' and googled 'Baby In womb' to come up with this print, which I think is a Da Vinci drawing. I re-sized it, and highlighted the babies features, and then began cutting. It's not totally successful, as Its a little difficult to read 'baby' but the idea is there. I'll try another one later... My advice to you if you feel tempted, is to just go for it, and see what happens! Good Luck!!!
