How to make a paper sculpture. Get inspired by ideas for interesting crafts by looking at paper sculptures by Benja Harney

In Japan, paper art such as origami, kirigami and similar sculptures have long been traditional. How amazing and delightful are the beautiful paper crafts arranged in three-dimensional compositions.
Sometimes it can be very difficult, or even impossible, for a non-professional to repeat them even using diagrams and master classes. But if you really want to do something like that, you start looking for compromises. While searching, I came across the author of the paper sculpture, Benja Harney. Benja himself successfully applies his favorite hobby in the commercial field, advertising, mass media, so this is not a hobby for him, but a job. Idea of this creativity I really liked it; making a figure this way, in my opinion, is much easier than folding it using the origami technique.

The method is really not that difficult to master. At the graphic design department, we made layouts in this way, while almost no attention was paid to the technology itself. You draw the model, then draw its layout with all sides, leaving bends for fastening and joining the sides. Remember that we all glued together the same cube or parallelepiped from paper in geometry lessons at school.

In the design, more is glued together in this way. complex figures, such as building models and other three-dimensional compositions. Of course, in such work, three-dimensional vision is very useful, but you can start with simple forms, gluing them together.

By applying layer after layer of colored paper, the composition becomes multi-level, volume is created, and the figures acquire three-dimensionality.

Benja was fascinated by this process during his studies, still in the same graphic design department, and now very beautiful paper models come out of his hands. They are so interesting and neatly executed that you can’t call them anything other than paper sculpture.

Benja Harney's work is somewhere on the border between design and art.

His works are original and attract attention. Large brands and famous people are showing interest in them.

For example, Benja made paper wings for the Sydney showcase of the luxury brand Hermes.

For Kylie Minogue's Australian tour, they came up with a pop-up book for her album.

"Paper sculpture

or paper plastic"



Possibilities of paper plastic

1.Design of any children's party, especially New Year's - Christmas decorations and interior design elements, children's costumes and various masks.


Possibilities of paper plastic

2.Run original Greeting Cards for any event and teach this to your students.


Possibilities of paper plastic

3. Supplement your costume with decorative elements using the paper plastic technique, which will allow you to look individually unique against the backdrop of general standardness and sameness.


A little bit of history

Chinese chronicles report that paper was invented in 105. n. e. Tsai Lunem;

Rice. 1. Map of China in the 2nd century. BC.

Tsai Lun's paper recipe was as follows:

  • crush mulberry fibers, wood ash, rags and hemp;
  • mix with water and place the resulting mass on a mold (wooden frame and bamboo sieve);
  • After drying in the sun, smooth this mass using stones.

The result was durable sheets of paper.

Rice. 3. The old way manual

paper production.


Types of paper plastic

1. Origami ( translated from Japanese as “folded paper”) - ancient art folding paper models, which originated in Japan. Much like crumpling paper, but in this case folds and bends are not random, but are subject to the will of the artist; he himself decides where and when to make them.


Types of paper plastic

2. Quilling paper rolling or paper filigree. This is the art of creating three-dimensional or planar compositions from strips of paper (Translated from English "bird feather" Originated in Europe at the end of the 15th and 16th centuries. IN medieval Europe monks created elegant medallions by twisting paper with gilded edges onto the tip of a bird's feather.


Types of paper plastic

3. Paper sculpture which is often called paper plastic (“plastic” from the Greek word "to sculpt" because in terms of the type of creativity it is more similar to sculpture than others and allows you to create semi-volume and volumetric compositions. In paper plastic, all products are hollow or empty inside; only their shells are created.


Materials and tools required for work:

  • 1.Whatman paper ½
  • 2. PVA glue.
  • 3. Scissors.
  • 4. Stationery knife.
  • 5. Cardboard.
  • 6.Compasses or any round objects.
  • 7. Paper clips.

Safety Techniques

  • Use the knife carefully, do not put your fingers under the blade,
  • Pass the knife or scissors only closed (scissors – rings first);
  • Be careful when working directly with paper, or rather with the edge of a sheet of whatman paper (you can cut yourself!!!).

1 Method. A crumpled piece of paper looks like mountains.







Model "grouse"

  • Cut along the contour
  • Making cuts
  • We complete the elements with a punch
  • Deflections in cuts
  • Assembly


Model “Alyonushka”

Shape Analysis:

  • a large cone of half a circle,
  • at the bottom of which there is a geometric pattern.

Model “Alyonushka”

  • The cylinder is the basis of the head.

Model “Alyonushka”

The face has the shape of a segment (half an oval).


Model “Alyonushka”

The small cones are the sleeves.


Model “Alyonushka”

  • The hair is cut into strips, curled with scissors and glued with inside heads.
  • The palms are cut out in the form of mittens, then the fingers can be cut through.

Model “Alyonushka”

A scarf is a curved triangle.


Model “Alyonushka”

  • Buckets are cylinders.
  • You can cut out the rocker arm, which will add completeness to your model.

Expert advice

  • Whatman is the ideal paper for creating paper sculptures.
  • Our industry produces whatman paper white according to GOST. It is dense and this allows you to perform operations such as bending, twisting, slits and cuts.

Expert advice

  • Colored paper The one we have is too thin.
  • Paper sculpture Can made from colored paper, but here you need to follow some recommendations:
  • 1. Colored paper should be dense .
  • 2. Should not be colored finished product in watercolor or gouache.
  • 3.You can paint the product with paint from spray cans.
  • 4. It is undesirable to resort to using large
  • quantities colors , in order to avoid fragmentation and diversity.

Expert advice

  • Don't limit your creativity . Having mastered the techniques of working with paper, you can create your own designs based on them, perhaps more interesting and original.
  • Try modeling yourself so that ready-made patterns do not deprive you creativity !!!

Conclusion

1. You were Interesting ?

2. You learned something new and interesting for myself?

3. You will use knowledge gained in your teaching practice?



"Paper sculpture

or paper plastic"

Another Western hobby is paper sculptures.


(photo from etsy.com/shop/PaperwolfsShop)

They are used as home decor. Mostly hung on walls:

Placed on shelves and on the floor:

But their point is probably not to somehow decorate your home. The point is to do such a thing with your own hands. This is a kind of handicraft kit, working with which a person calms down, is distracted by something good, and then admires the results of his work.

Paper sculptures, presented above, is made by computer animator Wolfram Kampfmeier from Germany. He sits at home (because in his main profession he works remotely), invents and does.

He sells on Etsy (through his store etsy.com/shop/PaperwolfsShop, where 6,150 sales were recorded) and, perhaps, not only there. Everyone liked his sculptures so much and sales increased so much that he could no longer cope with orders (despite the fairly high price of a paper kit to create one figurine - on average 55-65 dollars). Then he founded the company and now full-time employees are engaged in the production and dispatch of orders. And the business ideologist was left with a lot of free time and the opportunity to create and come up with new models.

What is good about selling such a product is that it consists of several sheets of paper and can be sent by letter (even abroad). I looked at the international tariffs of Russian mail for sending such letters - they are not that expensive. Delivery of a letter weighing from 101 to 250 g by air costs 180 rubles (3 dollars).

But it’s even better to send your creativity abroad not by paper letter, but by electronic file. Then there is no need to waste time on forwarding, and the file will reach the client in a matter of seconds after payment.

Another computer scientist familiar with 3D model creation programs, Frenchman Stéphane Chesneau, has achieved similar results in selling similar models of similar paper figures:


(this and subsequent photos are from the page etsy.com/shop/OXYGAMI)

And although he sells them cheaper than their paper counterparts (from 11 to 16 dollars per figurine), he sells more (and he doesn’t have to bother with production, packaging and delivery at all). In less than a year, he has already sold more than 3,000 electronic copies (through his Etsy store - etsy.com/shop/OXYGAMI).

And, of course, such a number of sales were ensured by the originality of his models and the quality of his images:

And this despite the fact that there are only 15 models in his store:

But he sold each one several dozen (or even hundreds) times.

It’s interesting how the young man came up with the idea of ​​creating 3D models of paper figures. In the 7th grade of school, during a geometry lesson, they learned how to lay out a three-dimensional three-dimensional figure on paper, in the form of a flat pattern (we did not study this). The boy was so excited about this idea that he began to create similar paper patterns for future three-dimensional figures. Not everything worked out perfectly for him - because he did the calculations manually (no one had computers then).

Then he abandoned this idea. But I remembered already in adulthood, when insomnia began to overcome him. He remembered his childhood hobby and began to create patterns of 3D figures using a computer. He did them without errors!

At night, he drew his patterns using a computer, and then assembled the figures himself.

And then I decided to sell my designs on Etsy. Judging by the first review from one of his customers, he started selling in November 2016, that is, he sold 3,014 units in about 8 months, which is approximately 376 units per month, or approximately $3,000 in income per month.

It is not surprising that the young man decided to make his childhood hobby his main job. After all, there is nothing better than doing your favorite thing at home, at the computer, and, without making any special movements, receiving $3,000 into your account every month.

I want to emphasize in this regard that if you sell digital information (electronic files) on Etsy, then it does not matter to buyers what country you live in. The main thing is that using your files you can easily create the figurine that is presented on your selling page.

And another useful idea is that your purpose touched your life back in childhood. Remember what fascinated you then. What were you passionate about? Maybe it's worth doing this again, for a more high level? Then you won’t need to look for a business, you’ve already found it.

Korean artist Ho-Yoon Shin creates original paper sculptures that change the appearance of different angles vision.

But I still haven’t found a description of the process of how this happens! Manually or some kind of automation. Who will help?

Photo 1.

Photo 3.

Photo 4.

Photo 5.

Photo 6.

Photo 7.

Photo 8.

Photo 9.

Photo 10.

Photo 11.

Photo 12.

Photo 13.

Photo 14.

Photo 15.

Photo 16.

Photo 17.

Photo 18.

But I also showed you flexible sculptures:

[Li Hongbo, sculptor]:

“It started with me learning about the flexible nature of paper through Chinese paper toys and paper lanterns. Then I used it to make a pistol. An ordinary pistol is a solid, killing weapon, but I turned it into a tool for play and decoration. Thus, it lost both the form and meaning of a pistol. He turned into a toy."

38-year-old Beijing sculptor Li Hongbo creates his sculptures from paper, or rather, thousands of layers of paper, tightly placed one on top of the other. It is based on the technique of making a Chinese lantern.

To begin with, take a sheet, coat it with glue like this, and then apply it to a similar one. Thus, blocks of 500 sheets are formed. They are also stacked on top of each other to form the desired height, usually 10 pieces each.

Then, to work with such a paper “cube,” the usual sculptor’s tools are used. Lee says he treats the material like soft stone.

What happens will shock many.

[Li Hongbo, sculptor]:

“Weird” and “disturbing” are just adjectives that some people use. In fact, man simply has too fixed an understanding of what a human being is.”

Paper was invented in ancient China. Born into an ordinary peasant family, Lee always loved this material. He makes only exact copies and only classic busts.

His living sculptures have already conquered several world capitals.