My Whovian friend's birthday is today, and seeing as she's the emphatic soul responsible for my Doctor Who addiction it seemed only proper to give her something heartfelt and sonic for her special day.
Something sonic, and screwdriver-y.
Look at that great blue swirl on Ten's screwdriver. Oh yeah!
Initially I was going to make only Ten's, but once I was finished I was so pleased with the result that I decided to make more!
I was excited to use transparency material to make that weird tube thingie on the side of River's Sonic Screwdriver.
River's seemed like a good choice since she's connected to both Ten and Eleven, and her design was also a lot more intricate than Ten's. I was both excited and apprehensive to apply some splotch painting techniques to achieve the green that is spread around the gold plates.
But I was finished with it in one evening. I had a square frame to fill. Why not make Eleven's, too?
It was a real ordeal to decide if Eleven's Sonic Screwdriver should be opened, or closed. I'm happy with my decision.
To my great surprise, Eleven's was the most complicated to assemble! I went to the craft store and bought extra special shiny paper to replicate the metal shine of his sonic screwdriver. It was worth it!
The final product came together in an 8x8 shadow box frame, presented kind of like butterflies! Does that make sense? Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I was tempted to keep this for myself once all was said and done!
Eight inches by eight inches of papery, Doctor Who glory.
It's off to live in Colorado now. Perhaps if I ask my friend nicely she'll send me photos of its new living quarters!
To finish off the gift, I attempted to make her a card modeled after the invitations in The Impossible Astronaut. I even included her name in Gallifreyan!
Does this circular Gallifreyan word look like a sad frog to anyone else?
Gallifreyan paper cutting is a challenge. I... don't know if I'll be doing it again. Ever.
Does anyone else like these? I'm so proud of them!
-MJ
(Note: this was originally posted back in October of 2012 on abitofgeek.blogspot.com)
2 comments:
This is awesome. I really want one, but doubt you'd make another one (because I'd definitely buy one.) Could you possibly give some tips to somebody who wants to get into paper sculpting?
Hi Scott! Thanks for the comment (and compliment!) :) I've thought about making this again, but since this original was a gift for my friend sometimes I feel like I should leave it as that special item. Perhaps someday in the future I'll give it another go though.
I'm actually working on an article that contains tips and instructions (or at least what I do!) on paper cutting. But here are some quick ones: buy a lot of blades and change them frequently, keep your fingers clean when working, find other artists you admire and emulate their work - it makes great practice for figuring out techniques and style. I think the most important parts though are patience and making something that you're really excited about. It's tedious and time consuming work, but I have a lot of fun and the time totally flies!
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