Last Updated on May 9, 2023 by
Papercutting is a simple and enjoyable method to show your artistic side. Our experience with them over the years has led us to believe that they are a wonderful technique of creating an attractive card, especially if you are short on time.
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What’s Required is as follows:
As long as the blade of the knife has a sharp edge and is flexible enough to operate as a scalpel, an x-acto or comparable knife will work. With a Stanley knife/box cutter, you won’t be able to get all of the fine details (usually). I find that scapulae are more convenient to use than X-acto knives since their blades don’t fracture when I use them.
Spare blades are available from the retailer where you bought the scalpel. To guarantee that this blade is compatible with your machine, make a note of the serial number on the blade’s packaging (e.g., 10 A). In my experience, there is no discernible difference in performance between different blade forms.
If you’re searching for something a bit more delicate, rice paper, which is around the same thickness as 385 GSM, would be a good option (about 2 mm thick). Papers with a thinner texture are easier to cut, but they are less forgiving of mistakes and rips, making them unsuitable for printing applications. The process of cutting shapes out of thicker paper is more complex, but the forms can resist greater damage as a result. When making cards like this, newsagent card stock is a fantastic option. Using dark colours such as black, dark blues, or purples creates a dramatic contrast, which I like.
For the best results, print your image on a separate piece of paper and use it as a reference when sketching. Alternatively, you may choose a photo from the internet and cut it out, like I did with mine. Making use of line drawings from the early 1900s is a fantastic alternative since the thought has already been done for you (also, depending on your country, it should be out of copyright). Please visit LightboxGoodman to know more.
Prepare the Cards in a logical order.
The fold on cards in Western countries is positioned on the left-hand side of the card. You don’t want to make a blunder since it would be embarrassing for you. Instead, we’ll disassemble the card and glue the photo on the left-hand side of the card. The reason for this is because the cuts always look their finest on the side opposite to the one on which they were made, and we want everyone to be able to see them.
The first step is to get started chopping up the materials.
Pick and choose which areas of the card should be coloured in and which sections should be left uncolored. I like to keep my skin undamaged and my clothing and other accessories as little as possible. While paper is strong in tension when pulled from both ends, it is substantially weaker in shear when pushed from just one end. When it comes to cutting paper, this is the most crucial thing to remember (if you push on a point). Make careful to clip in all of your support lines before cutting away a section of the background! When I’m in a hurry, I have a tendency to lose track of my cards, which makes them a bit fragile in the process.
