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.

Graphic Quilled Picture Frame - Sunflower and Swallowtail Butterfly

I have been meaning to blog this graphic quilled picture of a butterfly among sunflowers for a long while but never got down to it till today.

As you can see I have graphic quilled the flowers while the butterfly is made with basic shapes. The leaves are made with fan folded strips. The flower centers are fringed flowers.
 I have used similar techniques for
Bird in a Bower
Tinkerbell
Bambi
Thumper, to name just a few of my graphic quilling projects.

The design was inspired by a free pic available on the net, which I decided to quill. I think  this type of quilling is good for cards too, and would be different from the quilled card that everyone makes.

I would love to have your thoughts on this project.

Quilled Nature Landscape Painting - Flower Fields

This time its a quilled painting of a nature landscape of a winding path through a field of flowers. You can see the distant trees and hills in the horizon.

Wowww, its 10 days since my last post!! I have had a long break from blogging by my standards!! Been really busy quilling though I have not blogged. This one too was done a long while back.

A picture that I had taken on one of my many tours caught my eye and I thought I would try quilling it. Well I was quite happy with how it turned out.

As you can see it is not layered. though I have used various techniques to depict the various elements.I have also used some metalic paper strips for the path and the far horizon. I have used crimped strips to give texture to the gray hills in the horizon.

It is not easy to explain what I have done, but the basis of this type of quilling is a combination of what I did in Cherry Blossoms and Quilled Tree.  The whole frame is glued directly to the backing like in graphic quilling.

The depth is achieved through the use of color tones and  each element or shape is used like a brush stroke to form the whole just as in a painting. The overall picture is seen when viewed from a few feet away just as in a painting. That is why I call it a quilled painting.

Looking forward to reading your comments.

Quilled Painting Picture Art - Cherry Blossoms

A quilled painting is what I call this quilled picture inspired by  the famous Chinese cherry blossom paintings. I  created the design while quilling. The depth is created by layering and color, which  I tried out for the first time in Tree & Water.

As you can see the flowers are just tiny circles which are sparsely coiled. Hence, though all the rolling took some time I really enjoyed quilling this frame and liked the dainty appearance of the cherry blossoms.

In this project I paid  attention to the directionality of light when using color so it would look more like a painting especially for the trunk. Tutorial here.


Come , tell me what you think.



PS: Those of you who are inspired by my work and are using my techniques or copying my work , please  give a link to my blog instead of making vague, generalized references to me.

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 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.

Valentines Day Quilling - Valentine Moon Gazers

Valentines Day is upon us and I thought I'd chip in with this quilled landscape of kids gazing at the moon.
I have combined beehive quilling and silhouette paper cut for this quilled picture.

Somehow I find it more satisfying to relate kids to love as it brings out the innocence of true love in this materialistic world. I am sort of a spiritual dreamer and love everything that is pure and innocent. I had previously done a couple of Valentines day quilling with Kiddy Valentine and Butterfly Heart.

I have done this piece in 3 dimension as it has got depth through layering.

As you can see the background is quilled using beehive technique with color blending. And the grass is done using graphic quilling,  my style, as in the cases of Thumper and Bamby.  

Hope you like this one. I'd love to hear from you all.

Graphic Quilled Cartoon Picture - Walt DIsney's Thumper from Bambi

quilled picture quilled landscape bambi thumper walt disney quilled art graphic quilling

I have quilled cartoons before using both landscape quilling (A Lion Share of Love) and graphic outline quilling ( Tinkerbell, Twittypating and Muddled Mutt). This quilled picture of Thumper  follows from Bambi  for which I adopted my own style of graphic quilling in which I have used the strips like you would use a pencil.

The direction of the small strips create the illusion of the contours along with dark and light colors which give the depth.

I am thrilled with the fact that Thumper's bold innocence has come out well through the twinkle in his eyes.

There is not much I can give by way of instructions as it only involves pasting the strips. You can refer to my tips here in which I have tried to say it all. Since that tutorial, I have stopped pasting on the print out directly since the pencil marks can show through. I transfer the image by keeping the backing under the print out and tracing with a thin embossing stylus. I use the embossed side to see the image clearly. If the lines are seen I cover it up by gluing strips. Nature is never perfect. In fact the diversity is achieved through slight imperfections , hence,  I don't try to get my images or flowers perfectly symmetrical as I love to imitate nature. Believe you me, I am no great artist!! I discovered that I had even a semblance of artistry only after I started quilling less than a year back. So, those of you who think it is tough, just jump in and try it. You will be surprised at what you discover!!

Come tell me what you think. I would love to have your feedback.

Quilled Typography quilled words - New Year Wishes

My final offering for the year is this quilled new year greetings to all my followers and friends. I have posted a couple  of quilled typography or quilled words before . My first attempt at quilling  letters was called "Divine" which came out rather nicely and then I followed it up with 'Chris" for which I used my own method.

For this one I have used simple graphic quilling in which I have become quite proficient. Hence I used the rather  intricate looking Baroque Script which font I downloaded free off the net. I am quite fond of curly script and have used strips folded in half  to create the outline font.

I have bordered it with squares with galaxy centers. You can find the instructions on how to make them , here. I think they look far better than the usual squares with coil centers. I put in the rose as the last bit of space was inadequate for a square so I needed to do something to fill the space. I'm quite proud of the way it turned out. It looks rather like a yummy cake!! Well someone who makes cakes can try out this design too!!

In the new year may you

Always remember to forget
The troubles that passed away
But never forget to remember
The blessings that come each day

May joy and peace surround you
Contentment latch your door
And happiness be with you now
And bless you evermore

 Thank you all for warming my heart with all your kind and wonderful comments. I hope you will continue to travel with me through the coming years and to all those who drop by, please join me and journey with me and together we will all discover all that is thrilling about quilling.

Graphic- Quilling Quilled-Landscape Quilled-Seaside Quilled-Scenery - Palm Beach

I thought I'd post this quilled seaside landscape picture, for which I used graphic quilling technique and which I did a long while back, today.

The last week has been so dismal, with storms, hurricanes and floods and so many people have lost so much. During such times, one tends to forget the wonders and beauty of nature which acts like balm to the troubled soul.

This piece is dedicated to all those who lost so much, and I hope the tranquil scene will help you remember that  your troubles will pass away and all will be  serene , calm and well once again just like the sea  which can be so destructive one moment, and so tranquil the next. Just keep positive and believe that all will be well.

I have used strips torn to different lengths, and the method used is similar to the tree trunk tutorial. As I keep repeating , use dark and light shades to create depth.

For the cresting waves, I have used beehive technique which is a great favorite of mine. Even though I love this technique, I only use it where I think it is relevant and represents the element I am trying to depict. I generally use it where fluffy or rounded elements look good.

For the palm  leaves, I have used all shades of green and have folded the strip in V shapes and glued it trying to imitate the natural flow of the leaves. Remember gravity will pull the leaves down.

It looks like this when laid flat on the table. I love the way it looks when laid flat as the spaces are not so visible.

Tips for graphic quilling is available here.

Quilled Picture Portrait of Girl - Graphic Quilling

I quilled a portrait which I called pouting penny and followed it up with quilled Christ portrait for which I used the method I use for landscapes and another Christ portrait for which I used multi strips with which I filled the whole piece.

For this quilled portrait, I tried something slightly different for the hair, as the shape I used for Pouting Penny's hair had spaces in the middle.So I  made Zig-zag circles like in the water for the quilled waterfall landscape.  ( The tutorial for the basic shape are here). I have combined dark shades to get shadows in the hair to create depth. Make sure you use dark colors to create a shadow for the hair that envelopes the face to give the impression that the hair is sitting on top of the face.

What I concentrated on here were the eyes, which I wanted to look lively and I think it turned out very well as it really looks alive.

 I folded the strips zig-zag and then looped it 3/4 of the way instead of making a circle and encircled it twice to make it like a  tear. Then I quilled a small black peg. I allowed the black coil to unwind just a tad so it is easier to shape. I needed it to look like a half circle, so I flattened the top and pasted it into the top of the green tear.

 The pic gives a clear idea of how the eyes are quilled. For the highlight I cut a small white circle (preferably  shiny white paper) and pasted it. Remember the highlight comes from a light source, so it should be placed on the same side in both eyes.  Highlights are most important  in making the eyes light up and give life to the portrait. Dead pan eyes make your piece look like an alien !! Always try quilling the eyes, instead of pasting plastic eyes, as it makes the image more lifelike.

I finished off by graphic quilling the face.

The next post will be my landscape styled portrait.

Lanscape Quilling Graphic Quilled - Tree & Water

Quilling Landscapes and graphic quilling nature scenes have become a great favorite with me, since it gives me leeway to try out new techniques in order to create a painting like scene. I cannot paint and have never tried painting so this gives me a chance to practice my artistic skills.I usually quill flowers to break the monotony as I tend to get bored rather quickly!!

I have used beehive or what I call honeycomb quilling for the tree top whilst the branches and trunk are graphic quilled. I created two layers in parts of the canopy to get a 3d effect and the top layer is the lightest shade of green. There are three shades of green used in this whole piece.

This is a horizontal view of it

 I have used the grass I used in my previous quilled landscape, quilled tree , around the tree (dark green) and for the horizon trees, I used the foliage used in my waterfall landscape  and Lion share of love quilled cartoon.

The embankment grass is just like what I did in Bambi which is just folded paper pasted to depict grass.

Short blue and white strips  curled like waves went to create the water. You will be able to see it clearly if you click on the image as I have put a rather large image.

Tutorial for Graphic quilling is available here.

I enjoyed quilling this one and am happy with the way it turned out. Hope you like it too.

Graphic Quilled Cartoon - Bambi Quilled Picture

I am extremely proud of this graphic quilled cartoon. I usually quill landscape style, that is using basic shapes to create the quilled picture, but I picked up enough courage to try doing it filled Yulia style with strips, but have tried to create my own style and I think it worked!!

I have previously tried graphic quilling Bambi like in this piece but did not have enough confidence to fill it. So this time I just jumped into the deep end and I'm thrilled at the results.
I just tore the strip into short pieces to represent hair and did a bit of bending and crushing to get the hair effect. I wanted it to look a bit curly since Bambi is a calf. Then I followed the normal rules of pencil art and where shadow was required I put in some black.

Graphic quilling tips on how this piece was done is here.

If you like this piece like I do please leave your comments.

Here's a larger image for those who want to see the details of how the strips have been pasted. I have outline bambi first, then pasted short strips to highlight the contours and  have added a few black strips where shadow was needed. the grass is just folded straight and pasted. I used a color image to get the sense of the picture.

Quilling Tutorial New Technique - Graphic quilling monograms, quilling letters, quilling words

 

This quilling tutorial is on the new technique I adopted in quilling the monograms , letters or alphabets in my graphic quilled piece CHRIS. This is a new technique, as  all the tutorials on quilling monograms that I have seen, give the method I adopted in my previous Quilled Letters Typography piece.

This method would be more relevant for chunky fonts but ensures that  your backing card is free of trace marks or print and also enables you get the the letters at any distance you want and hence gives you a lot of flexibility. What's more you don't even need to get outline fonts!!

Method

Outlining

1. Choose a font that is chunky and choose the bold font, increase the space between the letters and flip it horizontally to get a mirror image and print it out. 
2. Print it on the backing paper you want to use for the font. 
3. Cut out the individual letters with a craft knife. Use the letters for quilling and the paper as a stencil to help you shape the strip for gluing.
4. Now turn the letters over. Take a strip, the color of your choice, and start pasting the strip , first along the inner edge and then along the outer edge of the cut-out letters.
5. You can use the stencil of the letters you cut to help you shape and fold the strip. 
6. Once done, you will have outlined text that can be pasted onto your backing sheet in any manner you want.
7. No hazzle of measuring on rulers and folding!!  Just use the stencil or the cut out for measurement. Where there are sharp bends, fold the strip ahead but remember if you are measuring around the cut out, fold a mm short or you will not be able to paste it on the edge of the cut-out.
8. When gluing, use a toothpick  and pick up the glue by rolling the toothpick in it and then roll the toothpick along the edge of the strip and ensure that excess glue does not cling to the side of the strip. Allow the strip to dry slightly before laying it on the cut-out.
9. If you have pasted the strip slightly inside the edge of the cut-out ease it to the edge by using the other side of the toothpick and rolling it while pushing the strip outwards. Do this before you allow the glue to dry.
10. All you need to do is to ensure that the strip is pasted to the edge of the cut-out. If not,  don't panic!! You can always cut  the excess off or print out the letter and do it again!!
11. This method gives you a lot of flexibility and you need not throw out the baby just becoz the bathwater is slightly murky. If one letter gets messed up simply cut out and do a new one.
12. The flexibility of this method is unlimited as you can arrange the letter at any position or spacing

Filling The Monograms

1. The next step is to glue the letters onto the backing by applying the glue to the back of each letter and pasting it the way you want it.
2. Now, to create the design inside the letters, if you want curves, then curl the strip first by pulling the strip between your thumb and forefinger while scraping the nail of your thumb along the side of the strip. This will curl the paper depending on the force applied. The harder , the more the curl. The blunter your nail the better control you will have.
3. Measure the curve inside the monogram and cut it ( or use the stencil), then paste it and build up your design.
4. If you want the curve to start inside the letter and continue outside, create the whole curl or swirl that you want , then position the curve over the letters where you want it, cut it where it intersects the letter outline and paste the portion which comes inside the lettering first, then paste the portion outside taking care the curve looks continuous. Do not squash the curl/swirl while working as you will loose continuity. 
5. If you want to adjust the curve after pasting use a toothpick to nudge the strip into shape before it dries completely.
6. Work with forceps and keep your finger clean.
7. Complete the ones extending out of the lettering first before you fill up the letters that way you can correct mistakes and cover them up with filler strips.
8. If you want sharp edges at the bends, try scoring the line and folding along the line. 
9. If you want  a dimensional design, then quill the background design first and paste the letters on top. 
10. You can also use pegs to elevate some of the letters, your choices are endless. 
11. Lastly a humble request to those who use my technique, please give a link to my blog so that others may learn too.

Graphic Quilling -Quilled Monogram

I posted quilled monograms or quilled letters in an earlier post where I only outlined the letters or monograms. This time,  not only did I want to quill inside the fonts, but I also wanted to make the the letter outline to cut through  so that a curve which began inside the font, continued outside to depict overlap.

In my previous vector art post, I tried this and was not as successful as I would have liked, but this time I think I figured out how to do it right and hence the transition outside looks much smoother.
However, since I can only get printer paper,  the curves don't hold their shape as it would, if I could get my hand on thicker colored paper.

Didn't want to clutter the outside with too  many swirls as it would detract from the quilled letters.

 I discovered a way that, for me, is easier than sticking the strips on the outline of the lettering, which in my case always ends up making the word look crooked!!  Click here for link to the tutorial.

Graphic Quilling - Psychedelic Lady

I tried this multi strip, graphic quilled portrait from an image I found on the net. All the elements are made using multiple strips which I pasted together and then, manipulated the shapes by pulling each strip to different lengths. Wherever possible, I made the shape and pasted it to the backing.

The best way to get the circles are to create an arc by pulling the strips like the pink one at the forehead and then sticking one end on the backing and holding the other with forceps and turning the paper till the proper circle is formed. Then while you still hold the end with the forceps slightly raise it and roll a toothpick with glue along the edge, allow to dry slightly and then stick it and hold it till dry. It is not necessary to paste it completely.

The eyes too are quilled and they turned out great. I'm really proud of the eyes!!

Quilling Quick Tip - Tranfering print on backing

I discovered a simple way to transfer designs without leaving pencil marks. This is specially useful for graphic quilling. Its pretty obvious but never struck me till now. Get the design print out.
Keep the backing sheet your going to use under the print and simply use a stylus or empty ballpoint pen and  trace the design deep enough to get the impression on the backing paper but not too hard as to score the sheet and viola!! you have you design that will not show up on the final output. Make sure you keep it on a cutting mat or card board when you are tracing.

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.

Graphic Quilling - Tips

For those who wanted to know how I did Tinkerbell's hair and dress, here are a set of tips.  Yulia Brodskaya is probably the one who developed this method. Her work is out of this world. I am only guessing at how it is done.

1. Strips are used to create the various shapes in graphic quilling   and the strips are pasted directly on the backing. ( Probably, thicker paper 100 to 120 gsm is used but I have used regular printer paper for all my graphic work).
2. I usually have the image outlined in pencil, and paste the outline strip on the pencil outline first.
3. In order to fill the space I tear up the strips to the relevant size.
4. Just as in the case of a pencil drawing the strips are pasted. A strip for a pencil line, in order to get the contour of the image.
5. Dark and light shades are used to get the depth for the image just as in the case of pencil drawings.
6. I generally keep the strip in the area I'm going to fill and get a sense of the length required and tear it accordingly.
7. The twists and turns of the strip is used once again to bring out the contours of the object. For example if you want to show a curved surface you will curve the strips to the right and to show it is going in, you will curve it in the opposite direction and combine a few darker shade strips.
8. I acquired a bit of knowledge by reading up on pencil drawing.
9. When applying gum you have to use very little. Best is to use a toothpick and roll it along the edge, allow it to dry a bit and paste.
10. I would not gum the whole strip if it is long, rather, I do it bit by bit.
11. If you are using individual shapes like circles etc.  it is better to make the shape and then paste it.

I feel that being  able to draw well is a definite advantage for graphic quilling  . I hope this post is helpful.

How to make "MULTI STRIPS SCROLL - Quilling Tutorial

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