I finally finished my latest papercutting today! This one has been several weeks in the making, as I've only been able to work on it in the evenings here and there. Believe it or not, this is actually part of my Water Spirits series. I wanted to have something Arabian-inspired, since I think that Middle Eastern and Islamic art is incredibly beautiful, especially in all the intricate details. I had to hunt a while for good water mythology, but finally decided to base this on the story of Jullanar of the Sea from the Arabian Nights. You can read the full story here.

I had a lot of fun with all the details in this one! The mosaics and gold detailing were some of my favorite parts to paint.

It was also experimenting with layering semi-transparent vellum into the illustration. Vellum is tricky to work with since it tears quite easily, but gives a really neat effect.

Most of all though, I enjoyed researching all the inspiration for this piece, and believe you me, there was a lot of it. I fudged a little on some of the plants, since desert gardens are not known for being overly lush, but most of them are based on native species, like the Adenium arabicum in front.

And to think, it all started with this incredibly messy sketch:

The finished papercut measures 16 x 20 " and the framed original is for sale. If you're interested, just email me at kakingillustration@gmail.com for more info!