Peter and the Wolf

Peter and the Wolf

Originally uploaded by anklecemetery

My papercut project of "Peter and the Wolf" (by Prokofiev, no less), is finally complete! You can see detailed photos of the entire accordion structure on the Ankle Cemetery Flickr account.

Colophon:
This accordion book was hand-cut from Strathmore 400-series drawing paper. It is backed with Japanese tissue and covered with Balinese paper.

Fonts: “Kremlin Duma” by Bolt Cutter Design & “American Typewriter” (condensed light) by Joel Kaden and Tony Stan.

“Peter and the Wolf” is a musical symphony composed in 1936 by Sergei Prokofiev for the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow.

In Progress

Currently working on a panoramic accordion book inspired by "Peter and the Wolf."

Book pages are folded and cut from Strathmore 400 paper; I'm using my trusty #11 blades (about 25 so far) to cut out the scene.

I'm sensing a theme here.

I'm almost certain this picture doesn't do this project justice, but behold: my favorite project from my bookbinding class with Andrew Huot (I'm getting academic credit for this class, it's crazy).

This is a "tunnel" or "peepshow" book, which is a scene created from layers of paper. Usually these layers are progressively smaller illustrated margins, but I like making things harder for myself. This scene has eight pages (counting the front and back sheets).

Cut from Canson Mi-Tientes papers with xacto blades, bound with accordi0n-folded Strathmore 400 weight paper and glue.

Collage

A collage done for the prompt, "Transformation." The butterflies are made out of maps, magazines, and postage stamps, and are attached with silk thread. And glue. The base is foamcore covered with silk and brown paper (sewn and painted).

This piece was sold at my show, and is now in a private collection.

I wish this beer existed.

"The veldt of Africa and the Protestant work ethic bring you AARDVARK ALE: Boer beers that never bore."

If you are truly curious, I will post the copy I wrote for each of the three varieties: Old Aardvark IPA, Laager Down Lager, and Flying Dutchman Doppelbock.

Designing this beer carrier and three labels for a hypothetical brewing company was my final project for Advanced Graphic Design. I finished the project almost three weeks ahead of schedule, just so I could put it in my show.

The labels are a combination of hand-illustration, edited and colored in Illustrator; the pattern and color palette are based off traditional South African and Dutch Afrikaans designs.

Ship on Wave

This is still one of my best papercuts, even though it's about two years old. I used printer paper and razor blades--it was originally mounted on a re-purposed grocery bag (with Elmer's glue, ick, I don't know what I was thinking), and I had to kind of shave it off the old paper so I could remount it on archival materials.

Framing this was a bear; I found the frame at a junk shop, but it was just joined wood--no way to lay in the glass, mat, and image. We had to use the joined wood as a base and construct a gutter in the back.

Despite various Complications and Drama, I actually own this one (it wasn't for sale at the show).

Storybook Art

This is an illustration for the Russian folktale, "Vasilissa the Beautiful;" here, she is escaping from Baba Yaga's house.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out; it was the most detailed illustration from my art show. It's now in a private collection, but I'm thinking about doing a set of similar folktale drawings--Sedna from Inuit folklore, for one.

Skeletor!

A papercut study of the tendons of a hand. This took approximately forever and 10 exacto blades to cut. It's mounted on pins in a shadowbox.

Or just awkward, period.

Promotional "poster" for Lambda Iota Tau (the national literature honorary on campus) and the end-of-the-year white elephant. The only rule was that the book had to be awful.

This was actually the wrapping paper for my book, which was horrifying (in the spirit of the occasion):

"Sixteen year old Gemma is kidnapped from Bangkok airport and taken to the Australian Outback. Ty, her captor, is young, fit, and completely gorgeous. This new life in the wilderness has been years in the planning. He loves only her, wants only her. Under the hot glare of the Australian sun, cut off from the world outside, can the force of his love make Gemma love him back?"

Say it with me now: Roofies don't equal romance.

Lovely creatures

Another gift! This narwhale is searching for adventures, it needs a horizon to chase. (Inspired by a similar drawing, though I am sorry to say I cannot remember where I saw it.)

Scenes from a work-in-progress

This is sort-of a self-portrait (likeness is dubious) that is one component of a larger graphics project I'm working on for my portfolio. I'm pretty happy with it, except for the feet. Those are hard to draw, dude.

I imagine this is how I will feel once I have met all of my deadlines for the year.

Squid

Sorry for the late upload! This is part of a larger project I'm working on. I freehanded the squid in ink, scanned it, and cleaned it up in Adobe Illustrator. Unfortunately, this is not the clean version. Argh.

Woodcut

This is a project I'm still working on; it's actually the first key blockprint, which is why the ink is inconsistent (also, it's printed on the most disposable paper of all time, which is to say, newsprint). "H is for Hedgehog," naturally.

Old Art

An older piece (now in a private collection, aka, it was for a friend). Silhouette on brown paper, colored pencil accents.

Patterns

Persian-inspired patterns; cut-up grocery bag turned into wrapping paper. (You guessed it--it's a gift.)

Gearing up for Easter

Another egg! The ink got a little smudged when I was varnishing it (varnishing being code for, "applying glue and clear nail polish to prevent cracking"), but it's a good look. Also for M.'s half-birthday.

Nerd

It's M.'s half-birthday today, and I am a huge nerd.

Text: "Six months until your real birthday (we're rooting for you)."

[Obvious Joke Here]

Ironically, this was a birthday gift for a vegan.