Quilled Picture Landscape- Red Hooded Cranes By The River

Here is a quilled landscape picture of sand, water, stones, greenery and birds. Nature is my favorite topic for quilling and, combining diverse techniques to make something different from others, is something I have always striven towards.

I have used graphic quilling for the water and sand. The stones are made with 3d quilled shapes. The grass is hand husked and stands above the birds' feet and sand. The cranes' feathers are made to look realistic with shaped 3d quills.

The design is typically Chinese/Japanese. and the idea came to me from stencils.

Its been a long while... but I hope you find the time to visit my blog and tell me what you think.

Quilled Dimensional Nature Picture Frame - Chickadees on a Pine Branch

Well, I posted a tutorial on making pine branches in my last post and you may have been wondering how I came about making pine branches when I had not used it in any of my posts. Ta Daaa!!.... here it is!! I was so excited at the way they turned out I could not resist posting the tutorial ahead of the quilled frame.

 I saw some pictures of Chickadees and thought I must quill them. Since Christmas is almost upon us I decided to use pine leaves. Further I wanted to  give it dimension and this gave me the opportunity to go on a journey of creative discovery.

Here is a different perspective to show the dimensions in this frame.

I have used fiberglass cloth for the background and was forced to use the glue gun, much to my dismay as I could not get the PVC glue to adhere to the background.


In order to shape the pine branch and have it come out of the picture, I used very thin gauge wire for the skeleton of the branch.

As for the Chickadees, I have used black, white, grey and orange 3mm strips.The method is the same one I have been using  for quilling my birds for some time now and involves folding the strip to get the thread like effect. The finished product looks like embroidery with paper strips in place of thread. This method allows me to grade the colors when required.As you can see in the lower bird,  I have got a light orange shade at the breast between the white and the orange.

I have made the feet using quilled stems as in my tutorial here . Take a closer look.

All in all, I am thrilled at the results. I would be honored if you take time to comment  on my posts.

Quilled Picture of Nature Landscape Scene - Bird Among the Bamboo

Its been a while since my last post !! I have been exploring Chinese and Japanese paintings and I came up with the idea of quilling some bamboo as it looks so elegant.  Then I thought I'd add a bird to break the monotony and ended up with this quilled nature scene.

The bamboo shoots are made by folding strips of many shades of green. I am quite delighted at the results as it looks quite similar to the actual shading of the bamboo.

The leaves too are made with folded strips which I have glued three dimensionally with some curving out of the background.This effect is more noticeable on the leaves on the right of the image as the idea struck me when I was doing that part of the quilled picture. Now that I am more experienced in quilling landscapes  I usually try and pay more attention to perspective to get a more natural look.

If you  take a look at my other quilled birds like my Swan Lake, Parrot , Bird in a Bower, Humming Bird and Robin, I have always used the background elements to create the 3d effect rather than curving the body of the bird.( maybe that's what I will try out next!!)

I previously quilled bamboo too for my piece called Sunset & Silhouette  but used basic tear shapes and was not too thrilled at the results, so here I folded the strips as I mentioned before and got much better results.

If you wish to create your own designs, my advise to you is, take a concept you like and come up with ideas of how best you can quill it!! Try to do something different from what everyone is doing. Then go ahead and do it. If it turns out bad, just tip it into the bin!! After all nothing creative is a waste of time, we all learn far more thru our mistakes.

Here is a closeup showing more details

Would love to have your comments as always

Graphic Quilled Nature Landscape Picture - Swan Lake

Today's post is a graphic quilled, painting like, nature landscape picture of a lake with swans floating among the reeds.

I quilled this soon after I quilled my first graphic quilled nature scene , Tree & Water, but never got down to blogging it till now!!

I call it graphic quilling because I have used folded paper strips glued directly to the backing. When I create scenes with basic shapes I call it quilled landscapes.

The basic concept for my graphic art nature scenes are to use the 3mm strip to imitate the elements of nature. In gluing the elements I try to follow the contours of the object, just like pencil shading, so that the light and shadow created by the arrangement of the strips gives depth to the image.

I have seen many landscape quilled pictures where the basic shapes are glued to fill the shape like paintings without shading  or like the way cartoons are colored. Even though these look good,  I feel that a more realistic appearance can be achieved with the same effort, if the shapes are glued to follow the contours of the solid object being depicted. Those of you wishing to perfect the art should try out both methods to see for yourself.

If you notice, I have changed the direction of the feathers in various parts of the bird to try and get a feeling of depth. Even when using strips changing the direction or shaping the strip to portray the shape will make your project look better.

I have also tried using perspective ( shape change depending on eye level and distant objects appearing smaller) and  color (darker to represent depth) in this project.

I would love to know what you think.

Quilled Picture Landscape - Easter Chick Among the Roses

A quilled picture landscape of a newly hatched chick to depict Easter is my next offering. Easter is a time for renewal, forgiveness and new beginnings. Its spring too, the season of renewal. Nature's time for procreation.

As you can see, I'm more into quilled scenes than flowers. It somehow gives me more satisfaction and is more thrilling as it is more difficult to make. I  need challenges, so I try to do what seems difficult. I wanted the downy effect for this one so I did it differently.

I saw a vector image from which I got the idea.As you can see I have used a combination of techniques here. I have used a 3d curved cone for the beak. I was awful at 3d quilling but managed to figure out how to do it now. So I made a curved cone so that the chick looks3d.

For the roses too I did a little variation to make it look  a bit like those vintage roses. I don't like it when it looks like a symmetrical coil. So guess what I did??  I crushed the strip before quilling so that the wrinkle gives it a more natural look. Be careful though, as crushing means it won't unwind easily so you got to be able to shape it a bit and maybe you have to glue a bit hear and there. Here is a closer look.

The rose leaves are folded leaves with serrated edges. I fold the leaf in the center first. Then with the forceps I fold it like a fan . I use forceps so that I can fold it thin. After opening the leaves I curl them in the direction I want, curling them only at the center vein. I usually glue the leaves around the stem.

The blue flower is made using 3 punched flowers shaped to cup. If you keep the punched flower on a semi hard surface and apply pressure to the middle with a curved, blunt surface like the end of your quilling tool, it with curve up. Apply pressure in circular motion so it cups. You can control the depth of the cup by the amount of pressure you apply.

I have also scored a line in the center of each petal for an embossed line. Have a closer look.

The leaves are made using asymmetrical loops. If you can't figure it out, leave a request for a tutorial.

I have used 2 highlights to bring out the sparkle in the eye, and have used fringed strips for the chick.I have not made them into flowers but have just folded and glued them and then fluffed it out. I was too impatient to cut it narrower, though I think it will look better that way. Cutting the fringe manually  tried my patients to the very limit but I managed it since I cut little by little while creating the chick and that helped motivate me.

I look forward to your comments.

Quilled Picture Graphic Quilling- Blue Bird in A Bower

I quilled this scene or picture of a Bluebird sitting among plum blossoms as long  back as in Oct 2012, but did not get down to blogging it till today.This was my first attempt at quilling a bird using folded basic shapes that resembled feathers, unlike the parrot and humming bird which I quilled using loose coils.

 I have used a photograph of the sky as a background. The Bluebird is quilled with folded 3mm strips to match the feathers. I quilled  Little Robin Red Breast after practicing on this one which came out quite well for a first attempt. I have inserted a white strip to get the shine on the beak. My objective was to get it to look as lifelike as possible.

I have done the leaves slightly differently as I have crushed the strip to get a wrinkled effect. Here's a closer look at the elements.

Would love to know what you think.

Quilled Picture - Little Robin Red Breast

Quilled Bird Quilled robin Quilled Picture Quilled Art

A quilled picture (bird) of little Robin Redbreast is my first post for the year. I  have quilled birds before starting with a humming bird  with flowers very early into my journey into quilling. I soon followed this up with a  quilled parrot and a feathery discussion which became quite popular with many viewers. Then I quilled Fuchsia Honey Shower which had another humming bird. However All those were quilled with coiled shapes.

For Robin Redbreast, I wanted a lifelike appearance so I adopted a basic shape that looks more like feathers and glued it onto the backing, graphic quilling style. I have also used the proper colors of the actual bird by referring to a photo of the bird.

I quilled the legs using my stem technique for which I have posted a tutorial earlier on. The tree trunk is graphic quilled and the method is given in the tutorial link above.

For the background I have used the less emphasized beehive quilling that I adopted in my Nativity scene. The edging is  done with crimped red strips.

I am very happy with the results as it turned out better than I expected. I hope you like it too. I would love to have your feedback.

Beehive quilling Tips & Tricks are here.

Graphic Quilling - Colorful Paradise Bird

More graphic quilling or multi strip quilling my style!! This graphic quilled bird is created with multi-strip quilling techniques, I basically pasted strips together and then adjusted the lengths and created the various shapes that went into the design. I like the way it turned out. I hope you do too.

Graphic quilling Tips are here.

Quilled Monarch Butterfly Closeup

This monarch butterfly was quilled using a print out as a guide. I placed a polythene on the printout and quilled the wings first. I used coils and shaped them according to the picture. Then I encircled each one in black and pasted it, one to the other. Where colors are at the edges of the coils,  like the tip of the wings, I just made the black coil then a few white ones, shaped them and pasted them into the outer edge of the coil. I use the same technique to put highlights into the eyes I quill.

For the body, I have just pasted white strips cut to shape, after quilling the 3d body. I did a small trick for the eye as I was lazy!! I cut a strip like a long triangle and made a peg starting with the broader end.

Quilled Humming Bird Closeup

I have uploaded a closeup of the humming bird quilled picture in my Fuchsia Shower to show how the blended quills enable you to get different shades. The darker shade of green is achieved by mixing light/dark green and making the coil. The grayish look is by mixing black and white. The tail feathers have been made using husking technique. I have quilled the eyes then pasted strips to get the shape of the eyes.

Fuschia Honey Shower Quilled Flower & Bird

I love fuchsia so I have tried to create them to look like the real thing in this quilled 3d flower/picture. I have used printer paper and used quilled petals for the flower. the stamens are created from strips as well.

I drew the bird myself and I have tried out a blending technique in order to get the different shades of green and the spotty effect on the chest. For the tail, I have done a grass fold ( check tutorials) and used two shades of green combines.

If you want a tutorial on how to make the bell shape and the flower skirt, leave a comment and I will do one.

Quilled Picture Landscape Art- A Feathery Discussion

This quilled picture of birds came out really well.
I have used Husking for the head and tail. For the male's tail feathers I fringed a 3mm . blue strip slightly and pasted to the husked tail feather.

I created the branched and the bird's feet by rolling the paper on a toothpick like a cylinder.

The leaves are my own creation. I just cut it in shape and folded it at the center and then folded it like a fan . I love the look.

The big mistake I made was not thinking of the background before quilling the birds. Then I had to quill round the birds to create the backdrop which took me a lot of time. Beginners please don't make the same mistake.

Parrot - Quilled Picture Landscape

I quilled this parrot like a quilled landscape or quilled picture from an image of it. I used loose scrolls made from A4 length 3mm strips.I find it is important to get the eyes right to get a realistic look. I am quite impressed with the fact that it has a bit of depth.

I tried to arrange the quill to follow the natural curves of the bird to get the depth. I clipped the edge of the quilled marque to get the feathery effect .
For the eyes, I made a coil and allowed it to relax a wee bit before gumming it. Then I made an itsy white tight scroll and fattened it into a 1/4 moon and inserted it off center to get the highlight effect.

I made the palm by looking at one in my garden ( I live in the tropics)by pasting between 10 to 12, 1/4 A4 strips to form a 3/4 circle.  I scored lines on each leaf strand by placing it on a semi hard surface and then drawing lines with a blunt instrument. If the surface is hard the lines won't get embossed and if the surface is too soft the paper will tear.

I had made the parrot and branch on a cut-out so I was able paste the parrot on top of the palms .

On hind sight , I feel I should have stuck a few tight scrolls and mounted the parrot on top the give a nice 3D effect  to the scene.

Quilled Flower and Humming Bird

I loved the piece quilled 3d flowers and humming bird Inna had created so I thought the best way to learn is to try and see how close I could get. And this is the results. Well I'm proud of this coz I had been quilling for just over a week when I did this piece. Please check out Inna's work here.

I am all thumbs and keep getting bathed in glue!! Begginers please be careful with the glue and apply very little and use a toothpick!! Your fingers get stuck to the paper quicker than the card your sticking it on!!

Another problem I had was  the length of the strip!! My flowers were all rather too big. I also had problems with the fringed flowers. Found it difficult to get the petals spread evenly and the coil kept comming loose as I had not coiled it tight!!. But I am satisfied with the end result.

I learned the hard way by getting into the deep end!! Anyway, fringed flowers come out better if you keep the coil tight and glue it now and then when rolling!! ( at least for me it does). And open the flower up in an orderly fashion without being impatient like me!! Arrange the petals evenly when opening and make sure you stick the different sized fringes so there is an even bottom.

I you paste the fringe facing down and thurn it up after quilling you will get the curled-in   look which look really cool for flower centres.