Cover artwork for Helen Hiebert’s new book The Art of Papercraft. Published by Storey Publishing the book brings together a range of ‘unique one-sheet projects using origami, weaving, quilling, pop-up and other inventive techniques.’ I really wanted to give the cover a sense of warmth and approachability, which I felt nicely represented the tactile nature of paper crafted artworks, whilst still maintaining a sense of sophistication, style and energy. This fits well with the graphic layout of the cover and the current excitement around the craft, which is becoming ever more popular. And rightly so!

Once the sketches were approved the final design was drawn up in Adobe Illustrator and then each layer of the design cutout of sheets of coloured paper, using a variety of stocks to add a nice range of textures. The final artwork was assemble using pieces of foamboard to add depth and the finished artwork was shot in my studio using natural light, to give nice soft shadows, and the final artwork retouched in Adobe Photoshop.

The artwork went down a storm with the publishers and author, who now want to do an article about the artwork creation process, and the book has already received wide acclaim.