Yulia Brodskaya

Yulia Brodskaya is a highly regarded paper artist known for innovative approach to ancient technique called paper Quilling. She uses two simple materials - paper and glue, and a simple technique that involves the placement of carefully cut and bent strips of heavy paper - to make lush, vibrant, three-dimensional paper artworks. About the book: In my new book Painting with Paper: Paper on the Edge I share everything I've learned (and, of course, continue learning) about Quilling and paper art. This is not a project-based book, but instead an insight into my creative process with practical tips on how to work with my methods in various ways of your own. The book covers my 10-year journey starting from the time I came up with a new way of working with strips of paper and card, it explains the evolution of the techniques and inspirations that I use for my work, and culminates with the innovative method of Painting with Paper strips (which is an imitation of brushstrokes with 3D packs of tightly bent strips of paper). Since there are no step-by-step projects in this book, it may seem that it won’t be helpful for paper craft novices; however, it is not exactly the case. There are thousands of tutorials already created by other authors, papercraft bloggers and YouTube lesson creators available for anyone who needs some step-by-step help to get started. What I’m trying to encourage through sharing my experience and practical advice, is finding a creative freedom: we create in order to feel joy from making something beautiful with our own hands; this feeling of joy is many times stronger when you create art inspired by something that moves you deeply as a person. That’s why it is important not to get stuck and develop a habit of needing somebody else to outline and plan every creative decision for you. The real unique creativity comes from inside when you find the courage and learn to make your own decisions (and, sometimes, mistakes), but ultimately create the art that is a unique expression of yourself rather than a replica of somebody else’s vision. This book will provide you with tools needed to advance your creative thinking and explain how to work with colors, the importance of testing compositions, which part of the image to start with, and when to consider it complete. I hope my experience will help you on the journey of finding your own creative voice, so that we all could discover and enjoy truly unique one-of-a-kind creations made with this wonderfully versatile material – paper.