The art of paper cutting was presented to the world by Japanese and Chinese masters. Since ancient times, they began to use various templates for these purposes. In the culture of our peoples, this art became known as vytynanka. The ancient Slavs used it to make napkins and patterns that they used to decorate their homes. Such products were given magical powers. It was believed that vytynanki protect the house from misfortunes and attract joy and good luck. If you want to touch the art of your ancestors, then for this you will need stencils and letters for cutting out of paper. Templates for such blanks can be easily made with your own hands.
To learn this art, you need to properly prepare and select everything necessary materials and tools for openwork paper cutting. Schemes for vytynanka can be easily found on the Internet and printed. An ordinary, but not very thin, sheet of A4 paper is suitable for them. Those people who have artistic talent can draw a template themselves and make a unique and beautiful piece of furniture.
Before starting work, you need to clearly understand what you will need to make one product. a large number of time and patience. If you are not sure that you will be able to complete the work, then it is better to choose something that will require less time and effort.
To successfully master the art of vytynanka, you need to prepare the following devices and materials:
- stationery knife;
- small scissors with sharp and thin tips;
- templates (beginners who want to master openwork paper cutting should take the templates as simple as possible. Experienced craftsmen can experiment and take on more complex things);
- sheets of thick paper or cardboard desired color and size;
- board for work.
A stationery knife is the main tool of any craftsman. It is used to cut out the smallest details of a design or pattern. If you are a beginner and use simple templates, then nail scissors will be enough for the job.
As you work, you should cut out large details of the image, gradually moving on to smaller and more complex ones. By combining various schemes, patterns, letters and numbers, experienced craftsmen achieve the optimal result, thus creating entire pictures.
Products cut out of paper are most often used to decorate offices, schools, kindergartens and apartments before the holidays. They help to fully convey its atmosphere and improve your mood. In silhouette cutting from templates, you can use various subjects and ideas. The most popular of them are:
- New Year's vytynanki (images of Santa Claus, openwork Christmas trees And Christmas decorations, snowflakes, New Year's landscapes). This kind of figurative work decorates the windows of residential premises, offices, as well as shop windows.
- Easter works (openwork Easter eggs, pictures of festive chickens and hares).
- Works dedicated to popular holidays (February 23, March 8, May 9, Valentine's Day, etc.).
- Products in the shape of birds and animals.
- Images of flowers and other plants. Often several flowers are made, which are combined with each other and decorated with holiday cards.
- Landscapes.
- Mythical creatures and fairy-tale people.
- Need to watch a few already finished works before mastering silhouette paper cutting yourself. It is better to choose ready-made schemes with a minimum quantity small parts.
- You need to choose pictures without unnecessary bends. They are the most difficult to cut and without proper experience in this matter, you can ruin the workpiece.
- The smallest details of the image are best cut out with a stationery knife or sharp blade. When performing this work, you need to be careful not to cut the table on which the craft is being made.
- Finished works are best framed. This way they look more impressive and will be noticeable to every guest.
- The finished craft can be glued onto thick paper or cardboard. This will give your work solidity and completeness.
Using the paper cutting technique, you can make countless crafts to decorate your apartment. The process of creating them is simple, but requires a certain amount of time, effort and patience. If you have all this, then you can safely get to work.
Napkin on the table
Before you start cutting out a napkin for the table, you should decide on its shape and size. Experienced craftsmen advise making crafts according to the shape of the table and taking into account the degree of filling with the pattern. To make a lace napkin you will need the following materials and tools:
- dense colored paper or cardboard;
- tracing paper and cardboard to create a template;
- glue;
- a simple pencil;
- spoon.
Having prepared everything you need, you can start making the napkin. To do this you need to perform a number of steps:
This napkin is often used as a stand for a vase with flowers or a pot with a decorative tree.
Mirror decoration
The most ordinary mirror can be easily decorated with a protrusion. Properly made decorative elements will help turn a boring piece of furniture into an exclusive and original item. To do this you will need the following materials:
- metallic paper with a golden rumpled effect;
- thick paper or cardboard;
- tracing paper;
- scissors;
- simple pencil.
All materials are inexpensive and easily accessible. They can be easily found in any store that specializes in selling handicrafts. To decorate a mirror you need to do the following:
- The selected pattern is transferred using tracing paper to cardboard.
- Take a second sheet of paper and fold it three times. After this, it bends diagonally.
- The finished template is attached to a folded sheet and outlined with a simple pencil.
- After this, the design is separated from the template and cut out with scissors.
- The resulting image unfolds and smoothes out.
- The finished product is used to decorate the mirror around the entire perimeter.
You can decorate old photo frames in the same way.
To create a festive atmosphere in an ordinary room, you need to decorate it with various elements of festive decor. For each celebration you can come up with your own original jewelry and diversify your interior.
New Year's snowflakes
The most popular and traditional New Year's decoration are snowflakes cut out of paper. They learn to do them starting from the very beginning. early age and improve their technique with experience. As a rule, such decorations are glued to walls, doors, and windows. Some people make garlands based on them and hang them from the ceiling or place them on the New Year tree.
Work order:
- A ready-made snowflake template can be found on the Internet and printed on a printer.
- Take a sheet of thick paper and fold it in half diagonally. The resulting triangle is also folded in half.
- Next, the workpiece is folded at an angle and the lower part is cut off to form a triangle.
- After this, the shape of a sector of the circle is cut out.
- The product unfolds and smoothes out.
Postcard for May 9
If you have veterans of the Great Patriotic War in your family Patriotic War, then a hand-made postcard would be a wonderful gift for them. You can involve your children in this work, thereby instilling in them an interest in history and respect for great heroes. To work, you need to buy or find the following materials and tools at home:
- a thick sheet of white paper;
- watercolor paints;
- a sheet of red paper;
- scissors;
- stationery knife;
- glue;
- brushes;
- markers.
The whole process of making crafts is simple, but requires a little accuracy and perseverance. It is important to depict all the symbols of Victory Day on the future postcard: the Eternal Flame, the carnation, the St. George’s ribbon.
Step by step description Making postcard cutouts:
Art paper cutting is a fascinating process. With a minimum amount of materials used, beautiful original products are obtained. By correctly following all the recommendations, you can easily make a decoration or card that will appeal not only to you, but also to your family and friends.
Attention, TODAY only!
Anyone who sees products made in the form of carved lace from ordinary paper for the first time is always surprised that such beauty is so easy to create with your own hands. Everyone can master openwork Schemes, which are taken as a basis, can be easily found in the specialized literature. Required Tools inexpensive and accessible.
Decor ideas
This interesting technique can be used to make postcards, panels, and interior decoration. The products are usually made from white or black paper, but other shades also look great. The interesting thing is that they do not only flat things. Volumetric openwork paper cutting looks very impressive. Schemes for such objects are also presented in the form of a contour drawing on a flat sheet, which is then folded along certain lines and glued into a three-dimensional part. So, in technology you can do the following:
- Postcards.
- Snowflakes.
- Window decorations.
- Napkins for the table.
- Volumetric decor based on a flat product or an assembled three-dimensional paper structure.
Having mastered simple options, you can make fabulously beautiful things.
Materials and tools
You will need the following to master openwork paper cutting:
- Diagrams and a printer to print them.
- Sheets of white (or other) color.
- The base on which you will cut (a special tablet, a regular board or a piece of thick cardboard).
- Small manicure scissors as an alternative to a knife or an addition to it.
The rest is optional and depends on how you will use the blanks:
- Glue onto a colored base - decorative cardboard and glue.
- Hang them on the Christmas tree or in the space of the room - pendants (threads).
- Decorate the window - regular or
In fact, nothing complicated, special or expensive is needed. Regular office stationery. The main thing is patience, perseverance and the desire to make a masterpiece with your own hands.
Openwork paper cutting: diagrams, master class
Traditionally, patterns are created by cutting out part of the design on a sheet of paper folded in a specific sequence. One of the most common and familiar products is snowflakes, but they are not the only ones you can make. A napkin or mirror frame made according to the following pattern will look very impressive.
Work like this:
Openwork paper cutting: New Year's patterns
To decorate the interior with elements of this technique, you can use various decorations according to ready-made templates. Print them to the required scale (usually the blanks are designed for a standard A4 landscape sheet), cut out the pattern. There are a lot of preparations on the Internet, both directly festive and just winter themed.
- Entire landscapes and lacy plot scenes.
Start with simple diagrams.
Having mastered the principle and trained your hand, move on to more complex multi-object compositions.
How to make beautiful snowflakes
One of the most traditional and favorite ways to decorate a room for the New Year is to decorate paper snowflakes. They are usually glued to windows, cabinet doors, and walls. Some people make garlands of them, hang them on threads or place them on the Christmas tree.
To make beautiful openwork snowflakes It is better to take ready-made diagrams from paper for cutting.
The main thing is to correctly fold the sheet of paper to apply the template. Any snowflake consists of a pattern repeating around its circumference. There are blanks for 1/6 and 1/12 parts. The second option with a narrower sector is obtained by additionally folding the workpiece for 1/6 of the part. You can fold the part on the basis of an already cut circle or any sheet that is first cut to a square and then folded or, conversely, the folds are made first, and then the shape of a sector of the circle is cut out.
So, you have learned in more detail what openwork paper cutting is. You can take ready-made diagrams for any product or use your imagination and develop your own exclusive item. Get creative. Create beautiful decor with your own hands.
Looking for a new hobby? How about some paper cutting? Surely someone was smiling ironically now. Absolutely in vain: artistic carving is incredibly beautiful. We were convinced of this by opening the book “The Magic of Paper”. See for yourself.
“You can cut out paper even without drawing ability,” says Louise Firschau.
There are a million ready-made templates: just print them out. Or come up with your own design on your computer: install the free design software Inkscape, which you can use to create basic templates.
How to start cutting
Intricate plots and ornate contours - each picture seems to have been created by a skilled artist. But believe me, you can easily do it yourself. All you need is desire and a few tools.
Choose a round one: it’s more convenient to work with a holder that looks like a pencil than with a flat one. You will understand this when you start making rounded cuts and feel the knife turning slightly in your hand.
Surgical blades
The choice of blades on the market is huge: it's up to you. At first it may seem too flexible and unpredictable. But once you get used to it, you will understand that they are very convenient for making round cuts, and the tip is great for cutting out small details.
Self-healing cutting mat
You don't need expensive branded cutting mats. Take a regular rubber one - after a few weeks of intensive use they all look the same.
It is better to have two mats: one for cutting, the other for gluing. If you do everything on one, it will get dirty with glue and may ruin the next cut.
Paper
- Don't use office paper: the lines will be uneven and the results will be unimpressive.
- Use special paper for cutting or experiment with thick paper. For example, you can take textured watercolor or mulberry.
- Do not use paper thicker than 170 g/m²: it is very difficult to cut and your hand gets tired quickly.
Cutting template
Where to start? We offer you this cute picture from the book “The Magic of Paper”: it will decorate any home.
- Before you take on your first template, practice simply cutting paper. Understand how hard to press on the blade so that it doesn’t break, your hand doesn’t start to hurt, and the cut turns out “clean.” Apply gentle pressure to the blade and carefully cut through the paper. Slowly make several lines, maintaining the same pressure along the entire length.
- Start cutting from the most difficult area or from the place that causes you the most doubts. That way, if you make a mistake, you won't have to redo too much.
- Take your time. Change the blade every 10 to 15 minutes and pause regularly to relax your head and neck. It is much more convenient to work on an inclined surface - for example, on a drawing board.
- Pencil marks on the reverse side do not need to be erased. No one will see them anyway, and using an eraser can damage the paper. Always cut from the inside out.
- Do not remove scraps of paper while working, even if you really want to.. Leave everything in place - this will stabilize the tenderloin. The sleeve/bracelet/cat's tail will have nothing to catch on.
- When you finish cutting, do not push the paper scraps out with your finger, but remove them with a knife. This way the paper will not tear, and you will see in which places you need to go through the blade again.
Imagine how surprised your friends will be and how delighted your acquaintances will be when they see the pictures you create. And, besides fame, you will find real pleasure in the creative process, when an ordinary template turns into a charming and charming masterpiece.
Illustrations and materials from the book “The Magic of Paper”. The book will be out very soon. You can subscribe to notifications about the release - and get a nice discount only for your own people.
Vytynanka (from - “vytinati” - “vitinati” - “vytsіnats” - “cut”) is an ancient Slavic type of decorative and applied art, openwork cutting from paper, birch bark, foil, fabric and leather.
It differs from applique in that the entire work is a single piece of paper, while applique is usually glued together from several separate parts. The most famous vytynankas are snowflakes.
And yet, not all work done using technology artistic carving, are called protrusions.
The distinctive features of the protrusions are that the images in them:
- symmetrical, because when making them, a sheet of paper is folded a certain number of times, after which various patterns are cut out on it,
- relatively few colors, because, in addition to the background, usually no more than 1-2, less often 3 colors of paper are used,
- contain national folk symbols.
In this form, this cutting technique existed in Eastern Europe (Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia).
It was common in Western Europe silhouette cutting. It is characterized by a black image on a white background, the absence of slotted parts. Subjects: portraits (most often profiles), landscapes, everyday scenes.
Modern works made using the technique of artistic paper cutting, which do not contain traditional folk symbols and symmetry, are called cut-out images, paper graphics, openwork (filigree) cutting.
You can make many beautiful things using this technique: paintings (panels), postcards, paper napkins, window decorations, shelves, frames, mirrors and much more.
To cut out patterns, use scissors or knives (stationery, breadboard).
Read about the features of cutting out such works with scissors and how to transfer the diagram onto paper:.
This time we will talk about cutting with a stationery or breadboard knife.
- It is safer for children to cut with scissors, because... a knife is still a knife. When cutting, they need to take care of their hands, do not keep their fingers on the line being cut, and do not go beyond the cutting mat. The rug is needed so as not to spoil the table. Special cutting mats are sold. If there is no such rug, it can be made from a piece of linoleum or thick cardboard.
- The diagram is drawn and cut out from the seamy (back) side of the future cutting.
- Just as when cutting with scissors, work begins with the smallest details, then the details are cut out in the center, then along the edges, and only then - the outline, if there is one.
- If necessary, smoothly rotate the paper so that it is more convenient to cut.
- You can use a ruler when cutting straight lines.
- Using stationery knife often break off the dull end of the blade.
- Do not leave parts of the cut areas uncut and then tear them off by hand. The work will look sloppy and can thus be accidentally torn.
- Depending on the purpose of the cutting and the chosen subject, select a suitable background and glue the work onto it.
Video tutorial on cutting with a knife (not in Russian, but since this is a video, it’s clear how to cut)
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Paper cutting is a traditional Chinese art, the first mention of which dates back to the 6th century AD. But even now this type of art is popular all over the world. We have collected works the best masters paper carvings. These people are real magicians who can turn an ordinary piece of paper into a work of art. They can spend hours cutting out ornate lines, watching how incredible beauty emerges from an ordinary sheet of paper.
Kiri Ken
Japanese artist Kiri Ken, whose pseudonym translates to “Cutting Sword,” creates incredibly elegant works of art out of paper.
Some of his works are carved so finely and painstakingly that they appear to be floating living creatures. The talented Japanese prefers to cut out sea creatures or expressive portraits from paper. Undoubtedly, his work is inspired by ink miniatures, and in fine lines I can guess the graphic technique. To create his exquisite works, the Japanese uses a special X-ACTO knife and special Ehime Paper.
Rogan Brown
Known for his filigree paper micro-organisms, Irish artist Rogan Brown uses the “lens of imagination” to create striking works of art. Rogan Brown's creations are distinguished by the fact that they are not just fancy patterns, but a unique interpretation of the surrounding world. The author creates his complex “laces”, for the most part, by hand, cutting out turn after turn. And only occasionally uses laser cutting of paper. The artist draws inspiration from everything: from the outlines of cells under a microscope to large-scale geological structures.
Suzy Taylor
Talented English artist Susie Taylor from Hertfordshire creates stunning, detailed works of paper art, drawing inspiration from her love of folk art and floral motifs. Moreover, the girl cuts it entirely by hand. Susie is so fascinated by her work that she can spend hours focused on cutting out ornate lines, watching as incredible beauty emerges from an ordinary sheet of paper.
Patrick Cabral
Filipino artist Patrick Cabral creates minimalist 3D portraits of rare animals. At the same time, paper sculptures are just his hobby; Patrick works as a programmer and web animator. And in her free time, she creates three-dimensional paper portraits of animals, decorated with exquisite lace abstract patterns. According to Patrick himself, in this way he wants to draw people’s attention to how fragile this world is.
Pippa Dyrlaga
Yorkshire artist Pippa Dearlaga transforms a piece of paper into a work of art with exquisite precision. Her creations are inspired by nature, animals, architecture, pop culture and the area where the artist lives. According to Dirlagi, she works in a traditional technique, using a scalpel and pencil. One sheet of paper is usually used for one stencil.
Hina Aoyama
Japanese artist Hina Aoyama was born in Yokohama but now lives in France. She became interested in “ultra-thin lace paper cutouts” back in 2000. Hina uses only scissors for her work, cutting out elegant lace flowers, texts and butterflies with jeweler's precision and impeccable accuracy. Due to their fragility, carvings are applied to fabric or placed between glass to preserve the patterns. To create her wonderful creations, Hina Aoyama takes from a couple of days to long weeks of painstaking work, depending on the complexity of the conceived sketch.
Ahmedabad-based Indian artist Parth Kotekar creates paper miracles. The idea to start cutting paper came to him while experimenting with graffiti stencils, and what started as a hobby turned into a profession. The artist's works reflect aspects of everyday life. The most exciting thing about this work, Parth says, is that he doesn’t know until the last moment what his next masterpiece will look like. And this curiosity is one of the main reasons why he continues to create.
Yoo Hyun
Korean artist Yo Hoon cuts portraits from sheets of paper famous personalities: Pablo Picasso, Audrey Hepburn, Michael Jackson and others. All of Yo Hong's work is cut out by hand, using only a special paper cutter. The peculiarity of his work is that he cuts out portraits in a “herringbone” pattern, which even dazzles the eyes. None of these portraits would be visible on white, so each is presented against a dark background.
Riu
An artist from Japan, operating under the pseudonym Riu, has mastered the art of paper cutting to perfection. The Japanese creates his works using a stationery knife. At the same time, he works using the Zentangle technique, that is, he does not have any preliminary sketch of the work, but “draws with a knife” on paper simply as his flight of fancy tells him. The master calls the secret of his success a special sense of rhythm, which helps create new masterpieces.
Bovey Lee
Artist Bovee Lee was born in Hong Kong and now lives and works in Pittsburgh, USA. She creates amazingly detailed illustrations from Chinese rice paper and silk, almost weightless works full of fantastical scenes. When creating her works, the artist first converts hand-made images into electronic form, then prints them out and only then begins long and painstaking work using a knife and sharp blades.
