Tag: art nouveau style

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 50: Flower Hair Woman

papercut 654 flower hair woman - horizontal - LaserSister - KayVincent

Flower Hair Woman #654

This “Flower Hair Woman” design is from my ongoing papercutting challenge. (Basically I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

Today’s design is number 654 in the book (but I’m not cutting them in any particular order). But…

… it’s the 50th cut in my 100-day lockdown papercutting project. Half way!

Closer up:

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, faces are tricky to adapt for papercutting, because you need to find ways to link the eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth to the rest of the design so they don’t fall off and disappear. Also compared with yesterday, this one feels a bit more forced and a bit less natural in the way I’ve linked some of the elements. I’ve had to drag the wavy hair a long way across the face so that the lips can link onto something, and the line of the nose has extended into the eyebrow so it has turned into a giant big conk.

I do like the individual elements though – especially the eyes – and so I think that with just a bit of a tweak to the nose I would use this design again one day.

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 48: Roses and Ribbons

Roses and Ribbons #689

“Roses and Ribbons” design is part of my ongoing papercutting challenge. (I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

Today’s design is number 689 in the book. For once I haven’t had to scratch my head too much thinking of a title/description for the design. It’s just got roses and ribbons in it (and leaves, I suppose). I don’t think any of the other motifs have had just those elements, so hooray – I’ve got a unique title for the piece.

Closer up:

Oh dear. That weird thing has happened again, where my eyes have spotted faces in the design that aren’t supposed to be there, and now I can’t un-see them. Where the two bits of ribbon meet in the middle at the top, I can see two faces touching each other. They look like those Greek tragedy masks, with the exaggerated lips and eyebrows:

…and so what started out as a perfectly lovely design of ribbons and roses has now become two Greek tragedy masks just on the verge of having a passionate kiss. Eeew.

Anyway, until I started to see it that way I had particularly liked this design. And I certainly enjoyed cutting it. I think I can see myself using it in another project in future, but I will definitely have to do something about those two kissing masks, first!

Any comments? (e.g. is it really just me who sees those masks?!) You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 47: Spiky Flower

Spiky Flower #691

“Spiky Flower” is from an ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing. (Basically I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

Today’s design is number 691 in the book. As always I’ve had to come up with a name for it myself (because in the book the motifs just have numbers and not names), but as so many of the designs involve flowers, I couldn’t just call it “Flower” because that wouldn’t differentiate it from all of the other flowers. This particular flower has got jagged, spiky lines in it. Hence the name.

Closer up:

I especially enjoyed cutting the extremely thin middle section of the flower – that was a real challenge. Looking at it again now, I’m not even sure how I managed it!

Although I like the overall look of this motif, a couple of elements don’t really seem to match the rest of it. It’s those very thin lines that don’t fit (according to my eyes, anyway). On the other hand, if the lines were made thicker then they would mess up the look of the design and make it hard to tell what they were. As the moment it’s obvious that they are the edges of leaves, but if they were thicker then they might look like side shoots or something.

So I almost definitely won’t be using this design again ‘as is’.

Never mind though – it wasn’t a wasted exercise. I’ve gained more experience in cutting, and I’ve got another design to put in my papercutting sketchbook.

On a completely different note: Oh goody. Look what Rob’s brought home from the supermarket because they had a ‘reduced’ sticker on them:

Now I get to hoik their guts out and descale them. Yay. Oh well, at least the meal should hopefully be better than last week’s effort.

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 46: Tri-Leaf Trio

Tri-Leaf Trio #707

This “Tri-Leaf Trio” is from the ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been working on for ages. (I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

Today’s design is number 707 in the book. It’s a bit of a tonguetwister – a trio of three leaves:

Closer up:

I enjoyed cutting this one. Thin tendrils combined in filigree-type elements. It makes for a delicate-looking design that looks a bit more complicated than it actually is.

When I first cut it I really liked it. But then I encountered a problem. The problem is that with a lot of floral or leafy designs, quite often my eyes spot little faces in the pattern that aren’t supposed to be there. In this case, the ivy-leaf designs look like Venetian carnival masks. The kind that just cover your eyes and nose. To me they always look a bit creepy – but the ones in this design look especially mean, with their slitty eyes and cruel leafy beaks.

Is it just me, or does anyone else see creepy faces in wallpaper designs etc?!

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 45: Art Nouveau Corner Swag

Art Nouveau Corner Swag #720

“Art Nouveau Corner Swag” is from the ongoing papercutting challenge that I’ve been continuing during the 2020 Lockdown(s). Basically I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.

Today’s design is number 720 in the book. As always I had to come up with my own name/description for this design, but I didn’t know what the flowers were. (Are they forget-me-nots??) So “Art Nouveau Corner Swag” is what I ended up with:

Closer up:

It’s a fairly simple design, but that’s one of the reasons I like it. It also had some very satisfying curves to cut, as well. I can see this design on a birthday card, or as part of a backdrop for another more complex project. This one is obviously for the top right corner of a design, so the image can be flipped to create the corresponding top left corner of the design, and that will nicely frame a message or another motif.

As usual I’m particularly drawn to this one anyway because it’s got the Art Nouveau-type curves and swirls in it.

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 44: Moustache Heart Filigree

Moustache Heart Filigree #711

“Moustache Heart Filigree” is the latest design from the ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing. (Basically I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

This design is number 711 in the book. It’s ended up with one of the more unusual names for a design (and blog post title), because I couldn’t think how else to describe it. But as I write this post (as opposed to when I originally cut the piece) it is now November, which in recent years has become “Movember“. (Movember’s aim is to raise awareness about men’s health issues, including mental health issues.)

…and this design just happens to have what looks like a big Victorian-type waxed moustache in the middle of a heart. So why not just “say what I see”, and call the design “Moustache Heart Filigree”? Plus for all I know, those three words have never been put together in that order in the history of the English Language, so I feel like quite the pioneer 🙂

Closer up:

This was a challenging design to cut, and so I really enjoyed it.

I can’t immediately think of an occasion when I might use this particular design in a project. But never mind – it can still go into my sketchbook for me to look at later.

I’m still listening to the Servant of the Crown audiobook that I mentioned yesterday. I’m always on the hunt for great fantasy novels (or even good ones), but so far this one isn’t even a fantasy book. It’s mentioned a mage a couple of times, but that’s as close as it’s got to any magic. Remind me to put some magic in my fantasy book when I eventually get round to writing it…

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 43: Climbing Leaves

Climbing Leaves papercut #715

“Climbing Leaves” design is from the ongoing papercutting project I’ve been doing (where I’m trying to adapt all of the images in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book, and turn them into papercuts.)

Today’s design is number 715 in the book.

Closer up:

This was a really delicate design, but was surprisingly quick to cut. I would love to use it in a future project, like a very special birthday card or thank-you card or wedding invitation etc.

While cutting it I was listening to an audiobook from the library, Servant of the Crown by Paul J. Bennett. I’m at Chapter 14 so far, and am hoping for an ‘inciting incident’ to happen soon. It reminds me that I’ve got my own half-finished fantasy novel languishing somewhere. Mind you, I should really use my writing time to do my PhD, rather than writing my fantasy novel.

At least all of the above took my mind off bloody Covid19 bloody lockdown bloody measures for a while. I would never have imagined that I would live in a country where the Government banned going to work, going to school, smiling at people, singing, or people hugging their grandchildren or going to their family’s weddings or funerals. This is like some kind of sick nightmare.

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 42: Knotwork Railing

Knotwork Railing #706

This “Knotwork Railing” design is from the ongoing papercutting challenge that I’ve been doing. (Basically I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

Today’s design is number 706 in the book. What the heck would you call that style of design? In the end I decided that it reminded me of a cross between Celtic knotwork and lovely iron gates and railings. So that’s how I ended up with the title “Knotwork Railing”:

Closer up:

I’m really pleased with the way this one turned out. For a start I love the design anyway, but I also managed to cut it so that the lines were quite thin and even, and so that it was pretty symmetrical. And yet (to me, anyway) it still looks hand-cut and not like a machine has just cranked it out.

It’s another design that would probably look really good in a fancy wedding invitation or congratulations card. And the bonus is that it doesn’t take a very long time to cut. Yet another reason to love this design.

The reason I love this design is that it combines three of my favourite things. Celtic knotwork, and fancy ironwork. Years ago I got a book out of the library on how to draw Celtic knotwork, and I loved it so much that I then went and bought it.

And whenever I’m out anywhere my attention is always caught by swirly ironwork designs wherever I am. In the case below, I was in Copenhagen:

…and the third of my favourite things is papercutting. So that’s why I liked this particular design so much.

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 41: Curly Leaf

Curly Leaf #702

This “Curly Leaf” papercut is yet another design from the ongoing papercutting project that I’ve been doing. (Basically I’m trying to work my way through all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.)

This week’s design is number 702 in the book. I’m seriously running out of titles I can give these 922 designs! Yet another leaf design, and so how do I differentiate it from all of the other leaf designs? Welllll, it’s got a lot of curlicues in the vines, plus the leaf elements are rather curly. So “Curly Leaf” it is:

Closer up:

This is one of my favourites so far. A small, delicate design that presented a real challenge to cut accurately, and very satisfying to look at once it was finished.

I’m already trying to find ways to incorporate this one into a future design. Maybe a fancy wedding invitation card.

I’m still marvelling at how much better my cutting is, now that I’m a few hundred designs into this papercutting challenge. In fact, I’ve just realised that I’ve picked up so many little tips along the way that I’ve compiled a “Top 10 list of papercutting tips“.

In the meantime, while putting together this blog post I’ve been ignoring the ‘real world’ as usual, and have instead been listening to my favourite podcast, “No Such Thing As A Fish“.

Any comments? You can chip in via the comments page, or Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Lockdown Papercutting Project Day 40: Flower Posy

Flower Posy #701

This “Flower Posy” papercut is from an ongoing project where I’ve been trying to work adapt and cut all of the designs in the “922 Decorative Vector Ornaments” book by Dover Books.

Today’s design is number 701 in the book.

As usual I’ve got no idea what kind of flowers are depicted (although some of them remind me of a stylised version of freesias), so to come up with a title I’ve had to describe them in another way. In this case it’s a mini bunch of flowers, so I’m going “flower posy”.

Closer up:

I particularly enjoy the swirling long leaves in this design, but also the flowing simplicity of the whole thing. Very Art Nouveau. I will almost definitely use this scene again in a papercutting one day. It might make a very nice part of a birthday card design.

(Ha – since I noticed a string of consecutive consonants in a word the other day, I am seeing loads more words with four consonants. Like “biRTHDay”.)

While scheduling this post today I have been watching a programme about the Savoy hotel on catch-up TV.

In the meantime in ‘real life’ the world is going down the toilet, so I’ll continue to hide myself away and hope everyone gets sane again, soon.

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