Art Type Spotlight - Papercut Silhouettes, Stained Glass, and Lightboxes
All three of these categories boil down to the use of light, shadow, and color to create a cool display.
- Papercut silhouettes are exactly what they sound like, though you don’t need to use paper to make them - any thin material will suffice. These can be used to create displays in lightboxes, fold-out cards and pop-up books, 2D art, animation, and more.
- Stained glass can be done with glass, of course, but also with thin colored paper, paint, resin, plastic, or sugar/isomalt for edible stained glass, and is often displayed with or near a light source to show off the color and cast designs into a space.
- Lightboxes are boxes constructed with layers of a design and often lit to emphasize depth and shadow. These often contain elaborate scenes, but can be a more focused display of a symbol, person, object, or lettering. They can be made with papercut silhouettes, metal, plastic, or a variety of other materials. You can make them as large as you like, or as tiny as you can manage.
Potential ways to connect to a fic:
You can recreate your favorite scenes or notable settings. Get a little abstract and do an overall representation of a fic. Include quotes you liked, symbols, writers’ unique interpretations of the characters, etc. Found a fic with a cool final battle? Recreate that fight in a lightbox with red lighting for dramatic effect. Reading a detailed historical AU? Showcase the costumes described in your favorite setting with an accordion or tunnel card! Love the scene where your ship finally gets together? Make a stained glass version to share the moment with the illiterate masses like the churches of old!
This isn’t an exhaustive list - there are so many different options for these varied art forms. The only limit is your creativity. Go nuts!
Details, tutorials, and resources below the cut!
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Examples:
These can seem like very complex and intimidating art forms, but there are a lot of ways to go about it that’ll get you a great result without too much effort. Check out this tutorial for Mario and Legend of Zelda tissue paper stained glass and these cute paper sun catchers - they can be made in any shape, and you can use mosaic techniques or even combine it with your own drawings/paintings/etc. or lettering to easily connect it to a fic. You can also make more realistic-looking faux stained glass with this technique that uses basic Elmer’s glue and paint, or if you’re feeling ambitious, try out this more complicated version that uses acetate sheets and resin.
Silhouette art can be just as simple. You can use this technique to easily make silhouettes out of existing photographs or your own drawings/paintings. (Make a copy of the image and work off that, of course, don’t use originals!) Add a few interior cuts to suggest shape and dimension, and add detail.
You can make designs that fold out to create a scene, like this forest-themed card, or these accordion and tunnel cards. You can also show off scenes and characters with layered papercut art, like this one and this one. This type of layered paper art can also be turned into lightboxes to emphasize the depth and shadows. While these examples are all portraits, this style of layering can be used for anything, including full scenes or lettering, or you can keep a narrow focus with just one character or a symbol from the fic.
Though I wouldn’t necessarily recommend making anything lengthy for this event due to the time it would take, you can also use papercut silhouettes for stopmotion animations like legendary animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger’s work (check out her 1922 adaptation of Cinderella here and a short doc showing her techniques here. Note: contains some offensive depictions as Reiniger was a white person born in the 1890s.) Lightbox Life on youtube has a great tutorial for this here.
If you’re more into traditional or digital art, or all the paper cutting seems intimidating, here is a tutorial for using paintings, drawings, or other flat images as a base for an adorable glowy lightbox, with just a few strategic cuts for a light source.
Traditional lightboxes are very versatile and can show off a scene, like this Avatar lightbox, showcase a character and vibe, like this Mandalorian lightbox, or use symbols, shapes, and a variety of different scenes/elements from a story like this Stranger Things lightbox.
If you’re particularly daring, you can make an edible version with a cookie shadowbox, or if you have access to a 3D printer, you can make customized plastic lightboxes like this Fallout lightbox by Factory of Fun.
Resources, additional tutorials, and where to look for inspiration:
While expensive tools like Cricut machines and more specialized cutting tools like x-acto knives can be very helpful, unless your details are very fine, most papercut art can be done entirely by hand with just a pair of scissors and a bit of precision, as seen with Lotte Reiniger’s work.
This short video series by Strathmore covers everything you need to know to start out with papercut art, and here is another good introduction for using the tracing method
For lightboxes, Lightbox Life’s beginner’s guide is a great place to start, and their youtube channel is full of fantastic tutorials and guides for making lightboxes.
Lightboxes often use pre-made shadowbox frames or other boxes as a base. These can be purchased at craft stores or online - but you can also construct your own container using paper or foamboard (many of the tutorials linked here show how to do this), cardboard, wood, or anything you like. Make interesting shapes, or stick with a reliable rectangular shape. Here’s a quick tutorial for making a box in any size from cardstock, and if you’re into woodworking, here’s a guide for making your own shadowbox frame out of wood, but you can also use any existing box you may have lying around, including matchboxes if you’d like to make a pocket-sized lightbox.
For added lighting, most tutorials will recommend LED light strips, but you can achieve similar results with cheap strings of fairy lights, which can often be found online, at craft stores, or big box stores for just a few dollars. While you’ll have less control over the angle and brightness, you can also place your box in a window to use natural lighting, or use lighting solutions you already have around your home, like flashlights - though due to the potential fire risk, I would only recommend using flashlights or lamps for the time it takes to photograph your art.
Lightboxes are a deeply underrated and overlooked artform desperately in need of a revival. There is currently only one subreddit specifically for lightboxes, lanterns, and other related papercraft - r/papercutlightbox - run by a single prolific and talented crafter. If you get into these, please do share your work there, I’m sure they’d be thrilled to see more examples posted! You can also check out their tutorials (largely for kits, but the techniques and materials shown can easily be applied to your own works) on youtube here.
Lightboxes share a lot of their DNA with dioramas - check out our diorama spotlight for other tutorials and resources that may be helpful for lightbox projects.
Other great options for paper-related art are papercraft, which uses cut paper, glue, and folding to create paper sculptures, and origami, which does the same usually without any cutting or adhesive.
Papercraft can be used to create elaborate structures like this model of Pokemon’s Canalave City by pokecreation, or simple creations like this Minecraft lantern by lyon, or even interactive models like this spinning, blinking Tardis by lmperkins. You can find a good beginner’s guide to papercraft here.
Origami can be a great way to make something impressive if you don’t want to do any paper cutting. You can make things like this adorable Pikachu by lucerosmiles, or something incredibly complex like this model by jkonkkola_art. Here’s a great series of tutorials that’ll help you get started. Check out r/origami for help, inspiration, and resources!
There are many different kinds of paper-based art that would be great for this event - these are just a few! You can find quick answers, ideas, inspiration, help, and support for all kinds of paper-based art on r/papercraft, or on r/crafts.
As with any craft project, instructables is a great place to look for inspiration and detailed project tutorials - search for the specific thing you want to make or browse by category to get some ideas.
For more detailed instruction, never underestimate your local library. There are many excellent books written about paper art in its various forms and lightbox/shadowbox-making that can be acquired quickly and for free in physical or ebook form. Librarians are your friends and will not bite you - ask them for help in finding books and resources! Many libraries in larger cities offer additional resources such as 3D printing, laser cutting, and other specialized equipment like the St. Paul Public Library, or a ‘library of things’ where you can rent tools and crafting equipment, like the Boston Public Library.
If you find any tutorials or guides helpful when making art for the event, please show the creator some love and leave a comment!
What to avoid:
Be very careful on pinterest, tiktok, and youtube shorts - avoid ‘5 minute crafts’ style “whoa, it really works!” videos and other clickbait-y content designed to trick you. Many of these videos are deliberately short, sped-up, feature deceptive cuts, and recommend techniques that are both ineffective and potentially dangerous. These are often made by content farms, not individuals, and their goal is clicks and views, not to help people make anything real. When looking for instructional content, look for guides and videos made by dedicated individuals. A good tutorial will usually be longer, include lists of materials and resources, and show the full process with tips and tricks to ensure your success.
Additional notes:
Be sure to follow any safety guidelines listed on materials such as glue, paints, resin, and any kind of lighting. Use recommended protective equipment such as masks, gloves, and safety glasses. Work in a well-ventilated area and don’t use hazardous materials in ways not recommended on the packaging. Be very careful with any kind of blade, and don’t use knives not designed for your intended purpose. If you’re on the younger side, get an adult to help with anything hazardous!
Stuck or confused? Drop a reply here, or check out our discord server and subreddit for help from other participants!
Good luck with your paper and lightbox creations! Be sure to share what you make with the fic author using our commenting guide and posting guide, and tag it with #fanartfrenzy or #fanart frenzy!
