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Work-in-progress on my animated short “The Music of the Spheres.”

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In Toronto, average rent for a one bedroom apartment is $2,452. Your take home pay after taxes on $65K is just over $4,000 per month, so you’d be spending more than half your pay just to have a roof over your head. After utilities, food, clothing, etc, there’s not much left over. Retirement plan consists of dying in a hole somewhere at age 65.

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

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Title sequence for “The Music of the Spheres”, work-in-progress.

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Some work-in-progress using these new texture brushes from True Grit Texture Supply that no one is paying me to endorse, but I’m really appreciating the analog look it’s giving my digital art. I especially like the KolorMarc brushes that deliver a Coptic marker look. Drawing created in Illustrator using Bezier Buddy, exported to Photoshop for paint, then assembled in After Effects for eventual animation. Also, bonus marks to anyone who can recognize the reference used for the composition.

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Created this “moon morph” over the past few weeks for a new animation project. Trying out this workflow from paper (I still prefer drawing on paper with a pencil), clean up in Photoshop then importing the layered .psd file into Illustrator for further tweaking. The animation was ultimately rendered in After Effects but maybe I’ll figure out Toon Boom Harmony for this project. Also looking at drawing tablets to quicken my workflow.

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I’ve recently begun work on a new animation project entitled The Music of the Spheres. If this title sounds familiar, it’s because it’s a very old concept dating back to ancient Greece and the mathematician Pythagoras. Known also as musica universalis, it’s “a philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies – the Sun, Moon, and planets – as a form of music. The theory, originating in ancient Greece, […] was later developed by 16th-century astronomer Johannes Kepler.” (from Wikipedia). Kepler discovered that the planets were exhibiting all of the ratios found in music, including octaves. They were, by their movements, mathematically expressing both major and minor musical scales.

The soundtrack is a gorgeous piece of music created by contemporary British experimental composer Suzie Shrubb entitled a tintinnabulation of cosmic scintillation. This piece is, quite literally, the music of the spheres. Here’s an excerpt from Shrubb’s statement: “The pitches in this piece correspond to those produced by pulsars from the 47 tucanae globular cluster situated in the region of the tucana constellation, approximately 16,000 light years from earth.” Needless to say, I was thrilled when Shrubb was excited about my film proposal and agreed to license her music as it’s simply perfect.

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20% off sale continues at Papercut Puppets. Sale ends February 14th. Find us on Etsy.

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The past couple of weeks I’ve been creating complex paper cutouts with my Silhouette Cameo paper cutting machine. You can create custom art in a drawing software like Adobe Illustrator and then export to the Silhouette software. I’ve used the machine to cut out pieces of black card stock and coloured acetate for that stained glass look. The image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a vectorized image taken from the Internet, digitally painted and printed on vellum. This is stuff for a new animation project.

Could I just make these images digitally rather than adding the time-consuming process of cutting and gluing a physical object? Yeah, I could, but I’ve tested this out in After Effects and I just don’t like the purely digital artwork. Looks flat and uninteresting. Besides, paper animation and painstakingly laborious workflows are kinda my brand now. Also, a character will be interacting with this image at a later point in the film, so it makes sense that it’s a physical prop.

The second image is a frame from Dragonframe. It’s darker because I stopped down the exposure so the light box doesn’t wash out the colours.

And, no, I’m not even remotely religious. I do, however, love the aesthetics of religious and esoteric art. That’s the sort of imagery I’m looking at for this project.

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New paper puppet on my Etsy shop:

This is Krampus, the goat-like demon of Germanic tradition who arrives with Saint Nicholas during the Christmas season. While St. Nick rewards the well-behaved children with gifts, its the role of Krampus to punish misbehaving children. My version of Krampus -- while no less grotesque and fearsome than that of the traditional folkloric demon -- comes elegantly dressed in a black damask-patterned vest, charcoal grey britches, red waistcoat and matching cravat because even a punishing monster wishes to look his best on Christmas.

Final size of puppet once assembled: 10" H x 5.5" W.

Available as a download or a DIY printed puppet kit with paper fasteners included that ships right to your door. Visit my Etsy shop: https://papercutpuppets.etsy.com

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Spooky season has arrived at Papercut Puppets. Handmade Halloween-themed decorations to download or have shipped as printed kits you assemble at home.

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OUROBOROS (2023, dir. by Jennifer Linton)

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OUROBOROS

Ouroboros spins a loose narrative of joy, grief, death and rebirth, all told through looping images printed on physical animation devices known as phonotropes. Much like the ouroboros, a symbolic snake that devours its own tail, everything in life is a loop.

AWARDS: Best North American Animation, Female Eye Film Festival 2023.)

Directed & animated by Jennifer Linton Music by Zev Farber. ©2023 Papercut Pictures. All rights reserved.

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After careful consideration, I’ve decided to retool and restock my Etsy shop with different products. While I’ve greatly enjoyed creating my unusual and off-beat paper creations, it’s time for me to change things up. (Stay tuned for future ventures).

Therefore, I will be selling off remaining stock of the paper puppet kits and the paper dolls (both the regular and the magnetic dolls) until the stock is gone. VERY limited numbers on certain items, so once they’re gone, they are gone. 30% discount on listed items.

Visit Papercut Puppets on Etsy.

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This is Valentina the Heartbroken Valentine. She belongs to a longstanding tradition of tear-filled “sad valentine” images that serve to remind us that, sometimes, love hurts.

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New paper puppet available in my shop:

This is Wilfred the Wizard, a magical marmalade cat. While other wizards may apply their art of alchemy towards transmuting base metals into gold, Wilfred prefers to focus his arcane knowledge towards conjuring catnip and other treats.

Final size of puppet once assembled: 9" H x 6" W

Available as a digital download, a DIY puppet kit, and as a pre-assembled puppet. Visit Papercut Puppets on Etsy.

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Papercut Puppets will be a vendor at Bazaar of the Bizarre on December 17th in Toronto. ————————— @thebazaarofthebizarre WE ARE BACK!!! We are pleased to announce that after a long pause TBOTB is coming back in full force! Plastik Wrap presents: The Bazaar of the Bizarre - Frost Bite 2022 What: A handmade marketplace/art show for all things different, independent and Canadian made. Not your typical christmas show - The Bazaar of the Bizarre brings you arts, fashion and crafts that are : different, interesting, weird, strange, one of a kind, macabre, whimsical or just things to flip your brain out! Full on with entertaining DJ's, magicians, dancers, and other oddities! When: SATURDAY December 17th 2022 Open to the public from 11am - 7pm Where: The Parkdale Hall, 1605 Queen St. W. ------------------------------------------------------------------- The bazaar remains a true Bazaar of the Bizarre, open to the public with free admission, showcasing a wide variety of independent artists, designers, and crafters. With our usual entertainment of dancers, DJ's and magicians. 😉 FREE for public to attend #torontomarket #torontoart #shoplocal #goth #ravewear #plastikwrap #plastikwrapstyle #gothfashion #altfashion #alternativefashion #cyberpunk #cybergoth #sustainablefashion #torontofashion #torontogoth #shopsmall https://www.instagram.com/p/Cln9jCLgyva/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=