September 22, 2010

Praying mantis in three-dimensional quilling

Quilled praying mantis, front view

The praying mantis is an amazing insect who has been always fascinating me. Some time ago I was visiting Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in Haifa when I saw a beautiful box decorated with an image of two praying mantises. The full title reads "Stationery box (Suzuri Bako), 18th c. Flowers and two praying-mantises. Lacquered wood. Design in gold hiramaki-e and mother-of-pearl inlay. Tikotin collection". This experience has become the catalyst for my decision to make a quilled praying mantis.

First, I spent some time studying the structure of praying mantis and sketching, then made two simple mantises, one of them can be seen in the Flower basket, the other one hasn't been used yet. Finally, I tried to create a three-dimensional design. Here's the result.

Praying mantis, 3D quilling

For this project I used both pre-cut and hand-cut paper strips. The body was made using the three-dimensional quilling techniques, 3/16-inch-wide strips (about 5mm). It consists of an abdomen (two parts) and a thorax (one part). The head is made up of two parts — a tight coil of 1/8-inch-wide strip (3mm), and a ring rolled using a 1/16-inch-wide strip (1.5mm) at the back. 1/16-inch strips were used also for he eyes and other small parts of the head. The legs were created with the traditional coiling technique from 1/8- and 1/16-inch-wide strips (3mm and 1.5mm accordingly). For the wings I employed the husking technique, with narrow 1/16-inch-wide (1.5mm) paper strips.

Quilled praying mantis, back

I made this 3D quilled mantis as a gift, so now I have only the photographs left. Its size is about 3 inches (7.6cm) in length and 2 and a half inches (6.4cm) in height.

33 comments:

Asma’ AB said...

awesome! :D

Nati said...

Inna, Wow!!!It was beautiful, perfect, looks so real!
Nati
http://natiquill.blogspot.com

Квасова Ольга (Ольга К) said...

Инна, я в полном восторге! Потрясающе!

Karuna said...

i can say only one thing - gorgeous!!!! Thsi is so pretty Inna. you are extremely talented and so inspiring!

Hugs
Karuna

Unknown said...

The best quilling insects are from you! So many parts that fit perfect! It's just great!

Ольгусёнок said...

Необыкновенно! Безумно интересно и красиво!

Molly Smith said...

Oh my gosh, this is awesome! Love the picture of the back showing the wings! So creative, thanks for sharing!

Baukje said...

BEAUTIFUL!!!
Groetjes Baukje

Ann Martin said...

Just perfect, Inna! The colors are so pretty too.

Liza Arie said...

Инночка, какая работа! У тебя просто неповторимый талант! Каждый раз не перестаю удивлятся! Спасибо тебе за это!!!

kalanirmitee said...

It's Beautiful, Inna! No words left to express. Great work as always..

alice J said...

Amazing work.

Dev said...

Oh wow ... this is so so awesome ... you inspire to quill

SUGANTHI said...

This is brilliant work. Inna , So much details on the praying Mantis.

Philippa said...

Superb! It looks so real.

WhiteRacoon said...

До жути правдоподобный %) Со всеми усиками, зубчиками и даже выступы на попе. Не устаю поражаться твоей внимательности к деталям. Еще хочу отметить форму тела - очень точная и плавная, не просто грустный концентричный хвост, а с изгибом! Молодец! Отличный экземпляр!

eva said...

Бог мой,как интересно и необычно!

Inna D. said...

Thanks everybody so, so much! I'm so moved by your kind comments!

La Fée Clochette said...

WOW, I mean WOW!
That's truely amazing! :)

Artist Mommy said...

Incredible! I can't believe that you made this out of paper quilling! Very inspiring!

a paper {life} said...

I think everyone has said this already but you have done an amazing job.

I love it...
Cheryl

Inna D. said...

La Fee Clochette, Quill Seeker, Cheryl, thank you very much!

Veronica Lee said...

Beautiful!! Such amazing talent!

Hi Inna!! I'm following your awesome blog.
Have a nice day!!

Tori said...

Красота!!! Так изящно и воздушно и так натурально!

Motoko Maggie Nakatani said...

Hello Inna!
I was very surprised to your awesome quilling works.
I happened to find your web site and Ann and Molly are my Quilling friends.
I live in Japan but for NAQG anuual convention,I go to America and I enjoed quilling with a lot of Quillers there!
Here is my gallery and my blog.
http://e-bison.ocnk.net/product-list/21

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/quillingmotoko

This page is full of pictures of Quilling made by my students and customers.
http://e-bison.ocnk.net/product-list/20

Hope you enjoy!

Nagela said...

Inna,
Only you do for a job with such fidelity to the original. It's amazing!
I was very honored that you are following my blog. Thank you!

Regina Folla said...

Wonderful!

Allycat said...

Amazing, I'm speechless Inna! Its a work of art xx

Lucimara Major said...

Maravilhos, amei...ficou perfeito. parabens

WhiteRacoon said...

Мне тут впервые досталась "награда блога", ее нужно передавать; не знаю, балуешься ли ты такими вещами, но считаю твой блог самым что ни на есть креативным и вдохновительным, потому приглашаю забрать награду (http://blog.whiteracoon.ru/2010/09/my-first-blog-awards.html) =)

Anjuta said...

Класс!!! Такое ощущение что смотришь в микроскоп!!! Браво!!!

Inna D. said...

Thank you everyone very much for your kind comments!

Monica said...

So very real looking... love the colours. You are an amazing quiller.

xxx Monica