Part Two - Under the Sea Paper Sculpture Series

Bright, Vibrant Colored Coral

In my previous post I mentioned I wanted to start to start paper sculpting a new series with an under-the-sea theme. Over the next several weeks, I will take you through the process I went through to come up with these new sculptures. I’ll show you some of the behind the scenes photos and some of the details of my work.

Colorful Coral

Hand Cut Paper and Paint

Last week, I mentioned I started making the colorful, textured coral out of painted paper. I started making the coral. I wanted it to look textured and colorful. Using finely hand cut pieces of paper, glue and paint, I made many pieces of coral in all different colors. I had to hang the coral up so it could dry. If I would have laid it down flat, it would not have kept the three-dimensional shape that I wanted each coral stalk to have.

I was very pleased with my color choices and the different shapes of the coral. Next, will be step three — onto the next piece — sea grass, sea plants and seaweed.

Starting a New Series

Planning Stage For a New Paper Sculpture Series!

I decided I wanted to work in a new series – with an under the sea theme. I also decided I wanted the completed sculptures to have a different look than my other pieces. Instead of using a shadowbox frame, I wanted to create something new, something other than a framed paper sculpture. I wasn’t quite sure what exactly I was looking for, but felt when I came across it, I would know it and my ideas would begin to come together and make a little more sense. Sometimes this is just part of the process that you have to go through when you are trying to design an entirely new type of sculpture.

I began searching for various shapes of glass containers. As I came across various containers, I also started to sketch out some ideas.

I began to research coral reefs, a variety of fish, sea grasses, seashells, and of course cute baby sea turtles. More sketching took place as I started to formulate my ideas around some new glass containers I came across that I thought I would eventually house the sea creatures and plants.

After carefully planning out the different elements I would want to use in the sea “aquariums” I also started to create the color palette that I wanted to use for my paper sculptures. Beautiful magentas, purples, blues, coral, and greens seemed like a wonderful color combination that I could use to create colorful underwater scenes.

Now it was time to start paper sculpting! This is my favorite part. Stay tuned for part two - sculpting coral.