Auction ARTwork: Bucky Barnes vs The Winter Soldier
At the end of June there was a fandom auction to help out a fellow fangirl. For me it's easier to donate than to art, so I usually give money or take the opportunity to bid on an author or artist. But as this was only a tiny corner of fandom, I felt brave enough to experiment with offering my arting-services, figuring if no one would bid, the crowd was small enough not to feel bad.
I was pleasantly surprised people were interested in my offer of paperart:)
[What I offered]What I offered: a paperportrait or a paperpuppetworksheet of the character or celebrity of your choice. (If you're willing to share your address I can send you the original design; if not, I'll make a high res digital image or worksheet)
Samples of my work: my papercuttingart projects
Fandoms: My personal fandoms vary from Supernatural RPF to CSI to Harry Potter to bandom, etc., but your wish is my challenge. However I do reserve the right to refuse suggested characters/people if they make me uncomfortable (see squicks or ask;).
Squicks/Dislikes: Character bashing, smoking, drugs, alcohol, misogyny
The highest bid was made by talitha78 and this is what she asked for: "Art based on either Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) or the actor who plays him, Sebastian Stan." - thus giving me a wonderful challenge to take a step outside my own fandoms! I have not even seen any Captain America films - only the Avengers. I did do research of course and -no- the title is not a mistake. :-p
Now that the original artwork arrived in the US, I'm revealing the process behind the scenes and of course pictures of the result. Hope you enjoy it! Comments are always welcome:)
From start to finish
In a regular challenge I would present the artwork first and then explain how I made it. For this special project I'm showing the process in chronological order and I didn't insert short cuts to the end. There are three steps and an interlude, about 40 photos in total. If you're really curious and can't wait to see the result, or don't care about the process, simply scroll down to the bottom :-p
Step 1: Portrait Sebastian Stan
I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking. Don't hesitate to ask questions if you want clarification.
Reference picture + first sketch (hahaha, look at those model eyes;)
Definite cut outs set up in pencil: base portrait on white, shadows in purple
The final cut out of the shadow shape may not look like much.... but....
... as a silhouette it's not half bad;)
Time to start cutting the main portrait...
The highlights in the hair require precision (and a really sharp knife;)
Oooh, the left overs work as a negative shape as well; I so love making puzzles.
Carefully taking out the cut shapes.
Saved the eyes for last. (Don't mind my messy workspace;)
Effect on my light table.
Some idea of the final look I'm trying to create
End of stage 1. Dunndunndunn
It may look like I have a thought out plan; I don't, really. I have a vague idea of where I want to go, but make necessary adjustments while I'm working. The purple shadow turned out not to suit my purpose when I put all the layers together. So after some consideration I ditched it. Well, not quite, but it didn't end up in the final portrait... (I'll show you in the interlude later;)
Step 2: Mask Winter Soldier
After struggling with precision cutting on top of cardboard, I checked the trash at work and discovered an old, but still usable piece of cutting plastic. Besides being not as soft as the cardboard, it's also transparent, so I can use it in combination with my light table. Yay! The random blue and gray print is bleeding from years of use, hence why it was in the trash. ;)
Tracing Bucky's face on darker paper
Using that pencil line for proportions of The Winter Soldier's hair
Filling in the mask and the dark glasses. Using different colours to see the different lines.
Using a "vouwbeen" (bonefolder) on the front to score areas I want to fold later.
More careful cutting; have to pay attention to the lines that should be scored, NOT cut;)
Can you see where I'm going with this?
Yep: it's going to be a functional mask. Checking the size and covered area
Getting there: I added folds to give the mask depth...
... and so you can move the glasses and mouthmask separately:)
Added air holes.
Playing with light...
... and shadows *g*
Interlude: What happened to the purple shape
When the mask was finished it turned out to work best in combination with just the white layer. But I didn't want to waste the purple shadow shape especially since it looked so cool with backlight. So I decided to turn it into a windowhanger.
I laminated it....
... and then cut it in the shape of Sebastian Stan's head:)
Step 3: Touch ups and tadaah
Now that I had decided how to put Bucky and his Winter Soldier alter ego together, it was time for touch ups and cleaning... Since I was going to sent the final piece away, I had to finish it off a lot neater than I usually do *g* No clever photo-angles to cover up mistakes!
Gently cutting away tiny tears and such. See the glitter in the paper? It's really fancy:)
Erasing all the sketch lines, brushing and gently blowing the eraser crumbs away
There was a lot of experimenting with the turtle neck placement to best connect the two layers; this is the one I ended up with.
The white paper shape with a slit below the neck; on the right the mask is folded over the background with the turtle neck. (folded line at the bottom, I added dented stripes to the top)
This is what it looks like folded open; with the white paper on top, the turtle neck is shoved through the slit in that upper layer...
...and so the layers are connected; no glue needed:)
This is what the back looks like. I'm putting a third paper layer inside the frame; turning the background light gray (a colour right in between the white and the dark gray)
Tadaah!
It's of course also possible to use the frame like this or....
...to leave the transparent cover off so the mask can be moved however one desires:)
Aaaaaaaaaaand that's it! I put the cover back in and wrapped the frame in loads of bubblewrap, foam (on the corners) and cardboard (for extra sturdiness) before sending it off. Tracking the package from the Netherlands to the USA was actually the scariest part of this whole project, pfff.
I'm happy to report the artwork made it safely across the ocean, yay!
Materials and sources
Besides the photo of Sebastian Stan that I found on SugarPop.com, I used stills from the film to figure out what the mask of the Winter Soldier looked like. Copyright belongs to Marvel, no harm intended and all that. It's a tribute:)
I used sparkling 300 g/m² paper from the Curious Metallics collection (by Arjo Wiggins) in three different colours:
- Ice Cold (white) for the portrait;
- Ionised (dark gray) for The Winter Soldier;
- Lustre (light gray) for the background.
The purple paper is 160 g/m² Fastprint Color (Butterfly Lila)
I didn't use any glue; the turtle neck is keeping everything together. \o/
Thanks again, talitha78 for bidding on my offer of art and taking a chance by putting your favorite in my hands to play with.
J.
Curious about my other artwork? Check out My masterlist of artsy fiddling;)
I was pleasantly surprised people were interested in my offer of paperart:)
[What I offered]What I offered: a paperportrait or a paperpuppetworksheet of the character or celebrity of your choice. (If you're willing to share your address I can send you the original design; if not, I'll make a high res digital image or worksheet)
Samples of my work: my papercuttingart projects
Fandoms: My personal fandoms vary from Supernatural RPF to CSI to Harry Potter to bandom, etc., but your wish is my challenge. However I do reserve the right to refuse suggested characters/people if they make me uncomfortable (see squicks or ask;).
Squicks/Dislikes: Character bashing, smoking, drugs, alcohol, misogyny
The highest bid was made by talitha78 and this is what she asked for: "Art based on either Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) or the actor who plays him, Sebastian Stan." - thus giving me a wonderful challenge to take a step outside my own fandoms! I have not even seen any Captain America films - only the Avengers. I did do research of course and -no- the title is not a mistake. :-p
Now that the original artwork arrived in the US, I'm revealing the process behind the scenes and of course pictures of the result. Hope you enjoy it! Comments are always welcome:)
From start to finish
In a regular challenge I would present the artwork first and then explain how I made it. For this special project I'm showing the process in chronological order and I didn't insert short cuts to the end. There are three steps and an interlude, about 40 photos in total. If you're really curious and can't wait to see the result, or don't care about the process, simply scroll down to the bottom :-p
Step 1: Portrait Sebastian Stan
I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking. Don't hesitate to ask questions if you want clarification.
Reference picture + first sketch (hahaha, look at those model eyes;)
Definite cut outs set up in pencil: base portrait on white, shadows in purple
The final cut out of the shadow shape may not look like much.... but....
... as a silhouette it's not half bad;)
Time to start cutting the main portrait...
The highlights in the hair require precision (and a really sharp knife;)
Oooh, the left overs work as a negative shape as well; I so love making puzzles.
Carefully taking out the cut shapes.
Saved the eyes for last. (Don't mind my messy workspace;)
Effect on my light table.
Some idea of the final look I'm trying to create
End of stage 1. Dunndunndunn
It may look like I have a thought out plan; I don't, really. I have a vague idea of where I want to go, but make necessary adjustments while I'm working. The purple shadow turned out not to suit my purpose when I put all the layers together. So after some consideration I ditched it. Well, not quite, but it didn't end up in the final portrait... (I'll show you in the interlude later;)
Step 2: Mask Winter Soldier
After struggling with precision cutting on top of cardboard, I checked the trash at work and discovered an old, but still usable piece of cutting plastic. Besides being not as soft as the cardboard, it's also transparent, so I can use it in combination with my light table. Yay! The random blue and gray print is bleeding from years of use, hence why it was in the trash. ;)
Tracing Bucky's face on darker paper
Using that pencil line for proportions of The Winter Soldier's hair
Filling in the mask and the dark glasses. Using different colours to see the different lines.
Using a "vouwbeen" (bonefolder) on the front to score areas I want to fold later.
More careful cutting; have to pay attention to the lines that should be scored, NOT cut;)
Can you see where I'm going with this?
Yep: it's going to be a functional mask. Checking the size and covered area
Getting there: I added folds to give the mask depth...
... and so you can move the glasses and mouthmask separately:)
Added air holes.
Playing with light...
... and shadows *g*
Interlude: What happened to the purple shape
When the mask was finished it turned out to work best in combination with just the white layer. But I didn't want to waste the purple shadow shape especially since it looked so cool with backlight. So I decided to turn it into a windowhanger.
I laminated it....
... and then cut it in the shape of Sebastian Stan's head:)
Step 3: Touch ups and tadaah
Now that I had decided how to put Bucky and his Winter Soldier alter ego together, it was time for touch ups and cleaning... Since I was going to sent the final piece away, I had to finish it off a lot neater than I usually do *g* No clever photo-angles to cover up mistakes!
Gently cutting away tiny tears and such. See the glitter in the paper? It's really fancy:)
Erasing all the sketch lines, brushing and gently blowing the eraser crumbs away
There was a lot of experimenting with the turtle neck placement to best connect the two layers; this is the one I ended up with.
The white paper shape with a slit below the neck; on the right the mask is folded over the background with the turtle neck. (folded line at the bottom, I added dented stripes to the top)
This is what it looks like folded open; with the white paper on top, the turtle neck is shoved through the slit in that upper layer...
...and so the layers are connected; no glue needed:)
This is what the back looks like. I'm putting a third paper layer inside the frame; turning the background light gray (a colour right in between the white and the dark gray)
Tadaah!
It's of course also possible to use the frame like this or....
...to leave the transparent cover off so the mask can be moved however one desires:)
Aaaaaaaaaaand that's it! I put the cover back in and wrapped the frame in loads of bubblewrap, foam (on the corners) and cardboard (for extra sturdiness) before sending it off. Tracking the package from the Netherlands to the USA was actually the scariest part of this whole project, pfff.
I'm happy to report the artwork made it safely across the ocean, yay!
Materials and sources
Besides the photo of Sebastian Stan that I found on SugarPop.com, I used stills from the film to figure out what the mask of the Winter Soldier looked like. Copyright belongs to Marvel, no harm intended and all that. It's a tribute:)
I used sparkling 300 g/m² paper from the Curious Metallics collection (by Arjo Wiggins) in three different colours:
- Ice Cold (white) for the portrait;
- Ionised (dark gray) for The Winter Soldier;
- Lustre (light gray) for the background.
The purple paper is 160 g/m² Fastprint Color (Butterfly Lila)
I didn't use any glue; the turtle neck is keeping everything together. \o/
Thanks again, talitha78 for bidding on my offer of art and taking a chance by putting your favorite in my hands to play with.
J.
Curious about my other artwork? Check out My masterlist of artsy fiddling;)