Sun And Moon

Sun And Moon
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75"

     I finally got round to doing a multi layered papercut with this one. So as well as having the white paper and black background I added silver and gold to the various details. For my next one I will try to add a lot more colours now I know I can make it work.

Stripes

Stripes
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75

     Another papercutting using large areas of black. I thought it would help create a strong silhouette, especially with the feathers. I'm hoping soon to do a painting with a belly dancer but for now paper seems to be a good medium for this theme.

In Answer

In Answer
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75"

     I used to draw these masked creatures a lot and even did some paintings. This is a papercutting I had an idea for, using the cut out black part as a cape. I have some more ideas of what to do with the mask theme but I won't reveal them just yet.

Bird Box

Bird Box
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75"

     Here's a nice peaceful picture I made. I thought the idea of making the leaves from a mass of cut out paper was an interesting idea.
     I have been neglecting my blogs a little bit. It's a new year so here is an update. More to follow very soon. I need to catch you up on what I have been working on.

Curve

Curve
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75"

     More belly dancer fun. I thought I should do a closer crop for this one so I could add more details to the costume. Of course more details mean more cutting and this makes the paper very weak. I have seen some crazy papercutting though with a lot more detail in them than mine, so it's just a case of being careful when working on it and careful storing it.
     I have been thinking about adding colour to my papercutting pictures but that will take a lot of planning. I am in love with processes though so it should be interesting to figure it all out. I may also make some belly dancer pictures in other mediums to if I can ever find the time.

Free Movement

Free Movement
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75"

     Another one of my lovelies. For anyone interested, this one is for sale along with my other artwork. I thought it was about time I tried to sell my work and see what happens. So go here: http://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/shaunmichaeljones to check out my other stuff.

Belly Dancer With Fans

Belly Dancer With Fans
Papercutting
16.5 x 11.75"

     Another belly dancer papercutting. I'm going to be doing a lot of these now I know they work well. Also in the future I plan to do some with layered colours. I have wanted to make some belly dancer pictures for  along time and now I have a good way of doing it so I will continue to pursue this beautiful subject.
    

Resting Belly Dancer

Resting Belly Dancer
Papercutting
10.9 x 9.9"

     I've been meaning to make some pictures featuring belly dancers for a while now. It's one of the few things I love that I don't actually do myself. Being male it's a world I feel I can only view from the outside but never be  apart of. If only things were different. So instead I will try to show the beauty of it the only way I know how, Through art.
     The drawing for this is from a life drawing class but I added the dancer gear. It was originally supposed to be a wood block print and although I have it ready I haven't got around to printing it yet. In the meantime I thought it would be ideal for making a papercutting, after all artists across the centuries have made the same image in different mediums. This may be something I do for my other works. So here it is and look out for the print in the near future.

Deer

Deer
Pappercutting
11.75 x 16.5"

     Yet more papercutting. I thought this lovely pair I snapped at Fountains Abbey would make the perfect subject as well. I didn't quite know if it would turn out right with there not being any strong light and shadow but as a line drawing it works. This is why line weight is so important in any artwork.There were a lot more deer in the field at the time and I may do a long painting with them on at a later date.
     On the subject of painting I have finished what will be my second entry into this years Doncaster open art exhibition and will be posting it soon so stay tuned.

Pigeon

Pigeon
Papercutting
11.75 x 16.5"

     Continuing my quest of finding new mediums to work with, here is my second papercutting. I tried to give this one more lines to help define its form better and I also wanted to play around with line weight too. Not everything I intend to create using papercutting will be an organic form and so line weight will become really important with things like buildings or vehicles.
     I'm going to be trying my hand at collage soon and already have all the material and an idea of what I'm going to do. It's time I don't seem to have at the moment and I'm running out of it. I just have to work hard and get through what I have planned and hope it leads somewhere. Sorry to be a bit of a downer there but I don't seem to have much control of my own destiny right now. Well you can never tell what's to come.

Grazing Sheep

Grazing Sheep
Papercutting
11.75 x 16.5"

     A new art form I have decided to try my hand at is papercutting. After watching a documentary about women artists on the BBC I saw the possibilities that were available with this medium. It's something I have never considered before but after trying it I was impressed by what could be achieved.
     So here is my first of hopefully many papercuttings. Since I'm working on artwork that include sheep right now this proved to be the perfect subject and one that allowed me to show what I could do. Though a simple image it's quite a powerful one using strong light and shadow to reveal form. It took quite a while to cut out the fur but the end result was worth the effort. I'm now working on my next one which is of a pigeon so stay tuned to see how that turns out.