Process

I’ve been working on geometric line art for a little while now. In the past I would work on one piece for a few hours a day over the course of about a month. Lately I’ve scaled down the size and really tried to ramp up the speed of production. As a result I have managed to significantly increase the number of works I can produce and have not had to sacrifice the details. Today I thought I would share a bit of what goes into each piece.

I start by using drafting tools and graphite to lay out a design. In this step there are a lot of overlapping shapes still visible as well as guidelines for thicker sections. I use this step to give myself a general concept of the overall image. This step usually takes the most time as I try to be conscious of the spaces that I’m filling as well as the open space I want to create.

Next I use a V5 rolling ball pen to ink the shapes. I use this step to finalize the positive and negative space in the image and to do away with the guidelines. Without this, when I’m cutting the image I may accidentally cut a guideline when I shouldn’t. It may seem redundant by the end of the process but without it I would never be able to complete the next step.

The next step is pretty straight forward, I remove all of the non-inked sections of the paper with a xacto knife. The Image is actually the back of a completed cut. This part of the process takes the second longest to complete, with exceptions for pieces that have a lot of very small sections to cut. I work from one corner of the paper to the opposite and try to direct all of the cuts from the edge towards the uncut sections whenever possible. This allows me some room to adjust the design if I drag a cut too far. As well, it helps the structure of the paper as it’s easy to crumple the sections you’ve already cut.

Once all of the cuts have been made I use a fresh blade to widdle away at any excess paper and try to round out any of the circular shapes. Once I am satisfied with the edges I ink the entire piece once again. Front, back, and this time all of the new edges created when cutting.

Finally, the finished design is sandwiched between two pieces plexiglas. I drill holes in the corners and fasten them together with screws and bolts. I feel that this gives it a more industrial look. If anyone has any questions or suggestions about the process I’d love to hear them.