Pop UP Art

Pop UP & Paper Engineering is a new skill I have challenged to learn this year. Paper is not just for notes and drawings, it can MOVE to animate art.

Pop UP art uses skills in geometry & origami while using cutting tools on various papers to design & animate paper.

The first techniques for moving paper were for contemplation during the 1300's and was a tool to reveal the various truths in knowledge. A book created in 1543, 'De Humani Corporis Fabrica Librorum Epitome' by Andreas Vesalius,  is used to help medical students to understand the body in medical textbooks using various paper mechanics to reveal what lays under the skin. During the 1800's paper mechanics hit the mainstream as an amusing animated way to tell a story. Paper engineering continues today developing paper folding & cutting techniques that delight and encourage interaction with the reader. To read more about the history of pop up mechanics...

• x-acto blades various sizes
• glossy & matt finished photo paper
• art coloured heavyweight 65lb. paper by Strathmore
• Scotch quick drying Tacky Glue
• E6000 Flexible & paintable transparent glue
• Copic Ink Pens
• Plastic cover sheets for books (Staples)
• zigzag scissors
• hole punch

Creating the pop-up butterflies took me a week of working out my patterns & drawings with continual snipping and sticking till I figured out how to make the butterflies work proper. I coloured with Copic Inks the plastic book covers bought at Staples to get a stain glass appearance in the butterflies wings. When the card is open and the light strikes the card the wings colours will reflect on the glossy white photo paper underneath the butterfly.

 I watched this youtube video of three ways to make a pop-up butterfly and took on the idea of what she created and drew out my own pattern and made it work in the size I wanted. I do not use a machine to cut my paper art as I like to do it instead by hand. My cutting skills are getting better but do not look like a machine cut and that is FINE by me.

COVER art for card Butterfly Modern

 When cutting into paper, one ends up with lots of positive and negative shapes to use as abstract designs. I enjoy putting the cut scraps into a design for the covers of the cards. No waste and lots of shapes to use!

The plastic book covers I bought from Staples is cut up and coloured with Copic ink pens makes for a stain-glass effect that reflects onto the glossy white photo paper and I am happy with that result.

I like how the butterfly pops up off the paper. The butterfly pattern has 3 layers and is very sturdy. The card can be laid flat or on its edges for display.

'Butterfly Monarch' was created using coloured art paper resembling the Monarch butterfly. It does not reflect but the colours are bold and striking against the dark green butterfly outline.

Good old hole punches and Zigzag scissors give my paper edges a decorative quality. Now I am on the search for more cutting tools!

Enough of the butterfly motif and time to create a design requested for a man. Wanted something abstract, funky and for a man who loves jazz. JAZZ HANDS expresses perfectly a moving gesture with its twirl of orange paper. Trained in both Jazz & Contemporary dance, the JAZZ HANDS has a history within the music, dance & theatre world. To read more about Jazz Hands history...

Creating the moving spiral, I cut in a circular motion into the art paper that will have each end stuck on opposite sides of the card so it will pop out across the hand. I added more of my favourite spiral shapes for details and one blue butterfly that is attached to the large spiral so it moves like music with its nuances.

My very first pop up was the flower design which came from watching this video instruction below. There are several versions of it on Youtube:

To make my flower pop up card one of a kind, I make my own snazzy paper using Copic inks on glossy photo paper before cutting & shaping into flowers. Lots of folding techniques with this flower pattern to which I had several failures before figuring out the method of glueing the tips of each flower so that it opens properly. 

I recommend doing your first patterns with cheaper paper till you figure it out! Nothing seems to work out the first time around and at the end of a session, I will have samples to remind myself when I move into new design skills.

I cut out some corner design for the card edges showing off the front cover. 

I like the playful modern design I created with Copic inks on photo paper for a POP of colour!

May you POP UP your art!