Papercutting is indeed an art worth investing. It’s an expression made in the hands of its creator that makes it special and worth giving to a loved one. Even though it is an old form of artwork from many centuries ago, people across the world are still making different paper cutting designs for decorative purposes.
Many papercutting lovers use this form of artwork for various reasons. And I have discovered that they are a good art to make personalized, beautiful card. I also make these each time a birthday or holiday comes around because if the design ends up a bit iffy, the lace-like delicacy of the paper stops anyone from caring.
The best part of papercutting why it’s so popular for most people is how therapeutic and calming it is to the nerves. Being aligned with your artwork and just let your creative spark is one of the great golden moments you can earn with papercutting.
So if you want to learn more about making papercutting as a new art passion, here are some guidelines on how you can start your journey towards awesome papercutting designs.
1. Get the Best Materials
When we were young, we were taught how to cut paper and create different forms of artwork using the usual materials: paper, tape. glue, and a good pair of scissors. In the art of papercutting, your materials need to upgrade to ensure that you have the best tools to make excellent papercutting artworks.
For references, here are the materials you need for your project. You can buy these materials at your nearest art store and they’re not really hard to find. If you want to go to the affordable ones, that’s ok. But investing in the pricey and more known-brands is not bad as well:
- Cutting Board- this will prevent your table/workspace from scratches.
- Scalpel- Any scalpel/cutting knife will do (x-acto etc) so long as it comes to a sharp point and is flexible.
- Card or paper- drawing paper, cardboard/construction paper (based on your preferences.)
- Sketching pencil/drawing pencil
- Gluestick
- Masking Tape
- Clear sticky tape
- Plain white paper
- Ruler
2. Have a Papercutting Files
Inspiration around us makes good artwork. But for beginners, having a Papercutting file is life-saving and less-hassle as well. It will help you with your cutting pattern and teach your hands to get used to many papercutting techniques. Papercutting files are a compilation of different templates that you can use as references for different artwork.
What I love to do is to search for very good templates from designbundles.net. They’ve been actively giving joy since July 2016 as a way to provide our customers with affordable digital products such as Graphics, Templates, Mock Ups, Patterns, Illustrations and Craft Files. And they never fail in giving the best paper cut templates that fit for different occasions, celebrations, and also artwork masterpiece.
For example, if you want to create paper cutting designs for weddings, designbundles.net will lead you to their massive files of templates that are fitting for your preference. You will be amazed by various designs that are made for different purposes like planners, scrapbooking, laser engraving, embroidery, and more. The best part, everyone from around the world can avail from their thousands of templates, you will never run out of designs you can use.
This will inspire you to start your papercutting journey without the hassle and extra work. Just focus on making your papercutting artwork and sparkle your masterpiece. And possibly, made an income with papercutting using the best paper cutting templates of designbundles.net.
3. Be Open to Learn New Things.
Papercutting may be overwhelming to do at first. You will start up hurting your fingers because of the papercutting strokes and your hands strained in the process after long hours. But many techniques are made available online for you to learn how to do papercutting effectively and efficiently.
Here are the basic tips you can learn as you start papercutting:
- Always Exercise “Mise en Place”- For chefs, Mise en place (MEEZ ahn plahs) is a French term for having all your ingredients measured, cut, peeled, sliced, grated, etc. before you start cooking. In papercutting, you have to make sure your materials are all in good condition, especially the cutting tools you will use.
In scalpel, make sure that you have spare blades with you. Each blade has different use as you excel in papercutting. Check for any dents, dirt, or rust and see if they’re all fit to use.
For paper, using a good quality paper is a must so you will not end up ruing your template.
- Be careful in handling your scalpel/knife– usually for beginners, the proper way in handling your scalpel is like holding a pencil. But when you’re papercutting, you will notice the different pressures in pulling your scalpel as you cut shapes. Just remember to be gentle in handling your scalpel and focus on the pattern you need to cut. For cleaner papercut (for smaller templates), you can practice using slow strokes to make sure you get the perfect cut.
- Positive and Negative Templates- In paper cutting templates , you have to be familiar with the differences between positive and negative templates. Positive templates are designs with a white background, while negative templates are gray or black background. Being familiar with these two will help you what part of your template you should cut. Regardless if you choose to draw or photoshop design your own templates, I still believe that getting ready-made templates is the best option to make the process faster.
- Be Patient- papercutting may be tedious and difficult to do especially if you’re new to the art, but trust me when I say this will teach you tons of patience, creativity, and mindfulness as you continue papercutting. Every first artwork doesn’t need to be perfect. But with perseverance and the right mindset, papercutting will be as easy as a breeze.
Papercutting is both therapeutic and fun. With the right tools, creativity, and right template, you will never go wrong with making a masterpiece for yourself and for any occasion. Just enjoy life and enjoy papercutting!
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