Scene PA (1) WIP

This is the first of 3 paper art projects; in this project I have made a scene by layering 4 pieces of colored paper.

I did not really know what I wanted to do for my scene. The original idea (center picture) was to make a large scene with tons of dinosaurs on the land, sky, and sea. The original idea was a bit to complex, with too many small details, so I decided to focus on the Elasmosaurus instead. I would have the Elasmosaurus in the sea, with some seaweed, clouds, and maybe some fish.

First, I took the picture of the Elasmosaurus, turned up the contrast and exposure, put it into photoshop and used puppet warp to stretch it out.

Next, I used the curvature tool to trace my drawing of the Elasmosaurus in Adobe Illustrator.

I also used the curvature tool to make a fish, the plan was to have the Elasmosaurus hunting, but I never used the fish.

I also used the various pen tools to add clouds, seaweed, and the water. Once I had all my pieces, I put them together to make the scene (above). I had to use the add anchor point tool to connect the pieces to each other and the circle so that I would have separate layers.

The first layer goes on top, it makes up the border and clouds. This layer will be cut out of white paper.

The second layer will have the seaweed that covers the bottom part of the scene. This layer will be cut out of a green or blue-green paper.

The third layer had the Elasmosaurus and the sea. This layer will be cut out of a dark(-ish) blue paper.

The paper scene will be backed by a light(-ish) blue paper which will make up the sky and the Elasmosaurus. All of the layers will have a 1 inch border.

This is the digital file with color, it gives me a good idea of the final project.

I then cut the files out of colored paper on the laser cutter. I used glue to put them together, but the glue made the paper wrinkle, so it did not dry flat, and I accidentally started adding glue to the wrong side of one of the layers. If I were to do this again, then I would use tape, not glue.