Tippoo's Tiger

So I'm back from Montana now and actually had a bit of a break from all the work piling up around me. I actually took time to construct one of my paper model kits by Keith Newstead. Tippoo's Tiger is my new favorite model because of its lovely antique look and unique movement. This one also incorporates the sound of the lion roaring using a piece of cardstock that hits a jagged wheel. The model is based on an old wooden automaton, so it was designed to look like the antique. Unfortunately it isn't a free download, but the kit can be ordered now at 50% off from the Victoria and Albert museum website.

Now that my new little paper toy is on its shelf, it is back to work for me. I'm getting ready for a show at Lunar Boy Gallery on February 11th and working on a few new commercial illustration jobs as well. Off to paint...

Flying Santa

The Paperpino website has a flying santa paper automata model to download and print ! This free model may be something fun to construct over the holiday weekend. The site also has another Santa model that is much simpler under the "paper model" category. This one doesn't move, but can be completed much faster if your time is limited.

Holiday Paper Forest

Here is an assortment of paper trees for the holidays. Here you will find Origami, Kirigami and paper sculptures, starting with this beautifully simple Robert Sabuda Christmas Tree card.

Very simple origami tree by Dorothy Engleman

Blintz Frog Christmas Tree

Simple Dollar Bill Tree

More Complex Dollar Tree

Dollar Bill Tree with multiple bills

Charles Esseltine Tree

Christmas Cactus (the unconventional choice)

Four-part Christmas Tree

Kirigami Tree

Canon Paper Tree

World's Largest Origami Christmas tree (scroll down to see!)

Have fun with these. I will be posting here and there through the holidays, but am currently in Montana and may post a bit less while I'm here. I'll do my best. Happy Holidays to all!

Mr. Ware's Paper Models

If you've never heard of Chris Ware, you are in for a treat. Known for his wonderful comics, Ware's use of color, design and wonderful attention to detail redefine contemporary comic books. His sarcasm is much appreciated, and his unlikely heroes are not of the typical "super" variety. He is relevant to this blog as well because he likes to include the occasional paper toy in his pages. I've come across the website of Niem Tran, who has constructed and photographed Ware's contributions to the world of paper modeling. Both the models and comic works are worth a look.

Moving Castle Located!

I have had many people ask me about this Howl's Moving Castle model. I posted it several months ago, but the link no longer works and it seemed to have disappeared off the web entirely. I know I've made a few attempts to find it again, without luck. I even downloaded the file from the original Epson site, but the file would only open for as long as the link was up, and the file stopped working one day. I never had a chance to print it out. But there is good news because one of the readers of paperforest was able to pull together her resources, including the folks over at Smartgroups in the paper models group. They were finally able to help her (and all of us) out with this link. Just be sure to print it soon- you never know when Howl's Castle will be on the move again! (Thanks Leigh-Anne!)

Pink Elephant Show

The last show update for at least another month, I thought I'd just mention the Pink Elephant Show at Lunar Boy gallery that took place on Saturday evening in Astoria, Oregon.
My piece is hanging between two of my good friends' work, Wilson Swain (left) and Andrea Offermann.

The Bazaar Bizaare yesterday went very well. It was great meeting people and being around so many talented artists with works to sell. Hello to all of those I met yesterday at my booth!

Holiday Show and the Bazaar Bizarre

Gallery Nucleus is having a Holiday show tonight with some wonderful artists that I'm happy to be showing with. They are also selling holiday cards of my painting (above) as well as several other paintings in the exhibition. Information can be found on their website.

I'm also selling holiday cards and prints and other goodies tomorrow (Sunday) from a table at L.A.'s Bazaar Bizarre, a great opportunity to shop for unique holiday gifts from 160 artists. It takes place at the Shrine Auditorium from 1 pm-9 pm and costs $1 for admission. Hope to see some of you there!

Thinkspace Gallery Show Tonight!

Here is my new piece for tonight's show at Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles. The opening is from 7pm to Midnight. My piece will be in the back room which was curated by the featured artist, Lesley Reppeteaux. Her work is fun, whimsical, and wonderful to see in person. It was nice of her to include me in the show. The gallery's website lists all the other artists who have shown so far and the address for locals who want to stop by.

Free Mechanical Holiday Models!

Keisuke Saka is one of my favorite paper toy creators. His work is simple and beautiful, and his models are well designed, so they are easy to construct even with Japanese instructions. Download these for the holidays, and create one for your secret santa or as an interactive holiday decoration. The carollers take turns singing and the reindeer stretches his muscles. Have fun!

I'm off to do some quick Christmas shopping and get things ready for the weekend. I have a busy weekend, with three show openings and a booth at L.A.'s Bazaar Bizarre. I'll fill you locals in on the wheres and whens with another post later today.

Paper Lampshade

Make this paper lampshade and other projects with instructions found at the Yasutomo website. There are some holiday projects here as well as some nice small artist books and covers to make. I found the link for the lampshade on the Makezine blog, a good place to check out if you are into gadgets, technology, and do-it-yourself projects.

Paper Airplane Animations

Here's a site with some simple paper model airplanes, but the presentation is quite wonderful. The folding instructions are animated and fun to watch. (Thanks Aaron!)

Beautiful Paper Art

Sorry if you saw the caption I had up earlier with no link. For some reason, Blogger has been acting up in the past couple days for me. So- I'm back from Maryland. It was a nice week away, and now I'm back to reality with tons of painting to do! I've got a few shows and sales coming up, and need to get a lot done before leaving again for the holidays in a few weeks.

Here is a site I found with some beautiful paper art. The plain white paper and thoughtful use of negative space really makes these sculptures sophisticated and unique. This is surely worth a look. Be sure to scroll down to see all of the sculptures!