Paper Quilled Phoenix | Version 2

This is my Paper Quilled Phoenix | Version 2. I say this because it’s a replica of “Rising Phoenix” – a piece I created in December of 2014. I’m really glad I had the opportunity to recreate one of my favorite pieces, partly because it’s flattering when people want to buy my artwork, but maybe moreso because it challenged me to figure out a way to reproduce something that is really and truly difficult to reproduce – at least to any degree of accuracy.

I took a few shots of the process I used to make Phoenix 2.0 and they appear below.

Construction

DISCLAIMER: The images and discussion below depict and describe the process I used to copy my OWN artwork. By posting these here, I am not giving anyone permission to copy my artwork. It is for informational purposes only. Copy your own work this way, not mine. Thank you.

Step 1: I determined the colors I needed for the wings and made a ton of the “mittens” I needed to create the flames. I actually have a video on how to make these and will try to link it in here later on. After I felt I had enough mittens, I formed them into flames. Side note: It wasn’t nearly enough and I also didn’t have enough of the sizes I needed so I ended up making a LOT more. This took hooooouuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrsssssssss.

Step 2: I dug out my original phoenix – so glad I kept it – and put it on top of a lightpad. I put the background of the new phoenix on top of the old phoenix and was able to see the outline of the old phoenix enough to work directly on top of it. I dry fitted the wing flames and when I was satisfied with their placement, I glued them down. (Yes, with my background still stacked on the old phoenix and on the light pad).

Step 3: The hardest part was recreating the neck. Boy was this rough! Not only are the parts I used to make the original fiddly, but I had to get the right lengths and right curve and all of this while holding it in place with one hand and gluing with the other.

Step 4: Once the neck was glued down, I had to make the same pieces for the tail, but instead of compressing them into thin lines, I had to get them to join up to the neck AND open up on the back side correctly to form the tail. This was also obnoxiously difficult, LOL.

Step 4: With the three hardest parts done, the rest was a matter of making larger flames for base and then adding little sparks here and there.

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