Paper Stacking

Final Solutions:

Observational:

Inventive:

The inventive form was inspired by a 2-dimensional print of the tree rings in a trunk cross-section.  I'm very interested in organic sources, and for this project I chose to work with organic line.  Unlike in my observational form, I opted not to keep each layer precisely aligned for two reasons: naturally this would not happen; and since I was only creating a few rings, variations between layers in any one ring would create the illusion of several rings close together.  I chose to emphasise this variation through my application of colour, inking just the cracks between layers.  I chose black over any other colour because I wanted the highest contrast possible between the inked areas and those that were just paper.

In Process: 

For the pear, I originally started from the widest point, which was the middle, and built upwards and downwards simultaneously, attempting to cut the same ring just a fraction of an inch smaller each time. I was finding it incredibly difficult to get the curve right, and I had built up too many layers with too much glue to be able to cut through them with an xacto blade to correct the curve.  Instead, I started over, this time from the very top of the pear, the smallest point.  As I built up the layers, I kept their edges smooth by shaving the edges off with the xacto after adding every two or three layers.  This was much easier to do when the glue was still wet, and this process worked much better.  I continued this way until the pear was complete, and as a finishing touch, I sanded it down in some places.