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Click on the picture above
to discover the technique of a chinese artist  

A popular technique
fed by generations of craftsmen

Paper-cutting technique may seem childish. However, it needs great dexterity and real graphic gifts.
In its simplest form, the traditional paper-cut uses only the contrast between 2 colors : the one of chosen paper - it is often red but all colors are possible - and the white of the background, or seldom the opposite - white paper put over a colored background. This implies that the motif is completely interpretated in a single color, what is not so easy.

Another difficulty : paper-cut is an object. That means the drawing must be unbroken, each part the illustration communicating with another. That is all the art, and the beauty, of paper-cutting.

Certain paper-cuts are made on the opposite principe : they are negative of the motif .

Some others use colored papers to enhance negative motif in black or gold: instead of the unbroken lacy paper, one finds layers of colored paper pasted one over another.

 
Use of colours