We recently received Owen Gildersleeve's book Paper Cut in the library here at school, but I hadn't checked out his portfolio until I saw some of his latest work in a post on the Brown Paper Bag blog.His clean, modernist style is super popular right now, and I am really impressed with his hand skills. For me, computer driven cutting machines allow me to do cut paper work the same way that the computer let me throw away my perpetually clogged rapidograph pens. I actually have pretty good handskills at this point in my career, but I don't sit still well enough to develop them to the level that Gildersleeve has.
Something that is often overlooked with cut paper illustration is the importance of lighting. Like so many things with graphic design and illustration, if it is done right, you see the piece, not the technique, but where many cut paper illustrators play up the lighting and use shadow as another player on the stage, Gildersleeve uses super even, directional lighting. I want to see his lighting set up to see how he is getting such even light across his work. I'm guessing he is using a softbox, but I would love to see some behind the scenes shots.
