Skip to main content

Being creative .........

Tray with relief work
This week I've been working on a different, very simple technique that I haven't used for many years.  It's adding texture to an article by using cutout cardboard shapes.  

Now these are really impossible to cutout by hand so you'd need to buy the ones that have been laser cut already from a Hanji shop.  I picked up a few on my recent visits and I just felt that I wanted to experiment a little.

Closeup of tray
I made a tray to best display the cutout in a smaller article then covered it in mottled paper to give the effect of wood.  I placed one of the lighter sections of the paper in the middle then, when the paper was quite wet and mold-able with the glue I began pushing it into the shape. This took quite a long time and then I wasn't happy with the overall effect.

Because of the markings of the paper the shapes beneath the relief didn't stand out so I carefully bleached the paper on top.  This then achieved the desired effect I was looking for and above is the final result.

Note:
Varnishes
When an article is finished there are two things you can do to seal the paper and make it stronger.

1) Make up a mixture of 50% white craft glue and 50% water and give it 2 or 3 coats to get the desired finish.

2) Or, you can buy a commercial water based varnish in either a matte or a gloss finish and coat as directed on the label.

I use a varnish from Korea which I label in English in case I grab one quickly and get them mixed up.
Two trays, before and after.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lotus symbol in Korean culture .....

In traditional Korean Hanji art you can see many different designs of plants, animals, letters and insects. I'm sure you've wondered what they all symbolise as they are repeated so often and in many different ways.  In this post I just want to take a brief look at the lotus plant and what it symbolises for the Korean people. I've used this design on a few articles but I never really knew the full meaning of what it represented until I started doing some research for my book.  Even though many of us aren't Korean we can still use these designs and in so doing, translate a deeper meaning to our articles. Here are a just a few of my favourites from the easiest to the more difficult to cut out.                         The lotus flower symbolises creation, birth, liveability and reproduction and therefore it's one of the most  important symbols in both Korean culture a...
3 comments
Read more

The Buddhist symbol, Hanji & Korean culture ....

When selecting designs for my Hanji pieces I tend to make stylistic choices as to what will look best on each piece but the Korean designs all have very deep symbolic meanings.  None more than the Buddhist swastika (manja) design. ‘Manja’ (만, Man is “卍” and 만자, Manja literally means “letter Man”) is also called Srivatsalksana in Sanskrit.  It is one of the thirty-two (32) marks of excellence of the Buddha and is said to exist on his hands, feet, hair and waist.                         For those of us in the West this is often confused with the German Nazi swastika symbol but in fact it's been  around for about three thousand years.  The swastika is an equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles and all in the same direction, usually to the right, or clockwise. It's a symbol of prosperity and good fortune and it originally represented the revolving sun, fire, or life. The word swastik...
Post a Comment
Read more

HANJI TRIVIA - Punjabi 'Hanji' .......

When researching about Hanji I've come across many sites that relate to the word 'hanji' being used in Punjabi, one of the Indian languages.  There's a band called 'Cornershop' that  made a CD in 1997 called, "When I was Born for the Seventh Time' and at the beginning of the song, which I believe was originally sung in Punjabi, they use the word Hanji.   In Punjabi both 'han' and 'ji' mean yes. When talking informally to a person they use 'han' but if speaking to an elder or a person with a superior status then they put the two words together and say 'hanji'.  You just never know when this word might be used ......
Post a Comment
Read more