Monday 14 November 2016

Paper Panda's Guide to Papercutting. Review.



By Paper Panda & Friends

Search Press 2016

Paperback £12.99UK/$24.95 US

ISBN 978-1-78221-324-6



Star rating: ****


If you –or someone you know– are thinking about trying your hand at papercutting, this new title from Search Press is an ideal go-to sourcebook. Fronted by papercut artiste and star Facebook blogger Paper Panda (Louise Patricia Firchau), this is a handy user-friendly guide to the craft of papercutting – chock full of tips and tricks, plus it contains 20 papercutting templates of varying levels of complexity (so this title is not just for newbies). Papercutters of every level of experience can glean a new insight or inspiration from this delightful book.


The “& Friends” in the title are papercutters Sarah Trumbauer (from Pennsylvania, home of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art designs), Suzy Taylor, and Louise Dyer – they, along with Paper Panda, offer designs in their own recognizable styles, plus their own personal takes on the craft.


Paper Panda, although she has art school training, did not zoom in upon the craft of papercutting until 2000. She is self-taught – and she recounts her creative journey and generously shares her papercutting tips – best studio practice, sourcing inspiration, copyright info, presentation tips – all in her friendly, funny, approachable conversational style. The Techniques section is particularly useful – it includes Making a Layered Papercut (dimension it!), Making Infills (placing colour behind cut-out areas), and Framing and Finishing. 


A nice feature is the inclusion of Mini-Cuts – when you start a new hobby, a small success leads the way to more ambitious undertakings. 
Now I should tell you that all the designs are extremely appealing - but none are super-duper simple - so expect a learning curve. 


So, a papercutting addition to your crafty Christmas book list.
Note: I was supplied with a review copy of this book.

No comments:

Post a Comment