Lesson 4: Holes
Having holes in your paper can be an interesting device
when creating a piece for stitching.
Planned
The placement of holes in your work can be carefully
planned and executed. When I was working on my stitched accordion book, I
was careful to place my circles in exactly the same place on each panel of the
accordion so that they would line up when the book was opened like a codex. I
wanted the stitches in each circle to overlay one another and build up the
effect. That took planning on my part. I measured and drew my circles from the
back of the accordion and cut them out with an exacto knife. I could have
used a die cut machine or scissors – use whatever you feel comfortable
with.
Random
You can choose to place holes where you want on the paper
and while they may be perfect circles or any other geometric shape, they don’t
have to be. They can also be placed haphazardly on the paper.
Torn
Holes don’t have to have clean, smooth edges. They may be
torn into the paper.
The sample I did using acrylic paint simply had holes
torn randomly into the accordion panels.
Tip: Start the hole
in the paper with something sharp and then begin to tear. If you
tear down (pull down on the paper you want to remove) you will get a smooth
edge around the hole, if you tear up, you will get a layered white edge if your
paper is painted, coloured, or patterned. The top layer of the paper
is removed when tearing up and the core is exposed, and the bottom layer is
removed when tearing down.
the paper was torn down in the holes shown below.
Just as the holes can be precise or random, so can the
stitching. How you stitch across or around the holes is up to
you. My sample above shows random stitching. I crossed my hole
and connected my stitches where and as I wished with no real plan other than to
concentrate stitches in certain areas. If you wish to create a more
even pattern, I’ve included links to some filler stitches.
Interesting filler stitches.
Net Stitch | Easy Hand Embroidery Stitch - YouTube
Detached Buttonhole variations - Stitch Floral
Tutorial: Double Brussels Needle Lace Stitch
When you are working with layers of thin or delicate
paper, particularly when you are using machine stitching as a way of holding
the paper together, it is easy to remove areas to create holes. For
example, when you are using machine stitch to make a grid on newspaper, it is
very easy to remove sections of the grid by using water and a paintbrush.
Use a waterbrush or dip a narrow paint brush into water and draw a line of
water next to the machine stitching. Allow the water to soak into the
newsprint. When the paper is wet, it is easy to tear the paper away,
leaving the stitching intact. This will leave holes in the grid. You can
then apply colour to any of the remaining areas.
Not only can holes be cut, torn or punched, holes can be
burned.
Burning Holes in Paper
Burning holes in your paper can add an additional design
element to your work as well as visual interest. One way to
accomplish this is through the use of a soldering iron or a woodburning
tool. This will allow for a controlled burn. Safety
precautions are needed because the tools get to significant
temperatures. It is best to work on a heat-resistant surface, have
water and a damp cloth available as well as a stand or suitable place to rest
the tool while hot.
I usually work over an aluminum cookie tray with a Teflon
sheet on the bottom. This will catch any ash or embers from the
paper. My heat tool comes with its own stand, but I have that on a granite tile
as well. I have a spray bottle of water close at hand. I find that this tool is
useful for making small holes or tracing a larger shape that I want to take out
of the paper.
Here is a link to a tutorial from Papertraders
– she uses cut up maps in her work.
PaperTraders Art: Burned and Layered Holes Tutorial
(papertraders-art.blogspot.com)
My favourite way of burning holes in paper is to use an
incense stick. The smoldering end of the incense is not an open flame ( I did
experiment with burning the edges of paper with a candle) but provides enough
heat to burn a hole through paper easily. It is also easy to control
the size of the hole. You can let the edges of the hole continue to burn away
until it is a size you’d like and then blow out the embers. Don’t
wait too long, though. It is better to move the incense stick
around, inside the hole to make the hole larger.
If you have the option of trying both methods, see which
one you prefer. They each have their strengths. In
addition to burning holes, both methods are useful for burning the edges of
paper. Torn edges can be enhanced by burning, particularly when you
are layering differing weights of paper in monochrome layers.
Tutorial: 2 ways to burn paper edges: very different end
results - YouTube
Artist links
JihyunPark article Pointillism
video
Ula Einstein instagram
Heather at Papertrades Art link
to tutorial on blog
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