Thursday, September 10, 2020

Paper Child Challenge!

Calling all teen artists! Nikki here taking over today’s blog post (I totally let her, I swear! ~ Elia) and I have a challenge for you! Especially if you are bored at home! I challenge you to create a Chibi Paperchild and share your creations with us!

What is it a Chibi Paperchild you ask? A Paperchild is when paper-cut out characters from popular fandoms, especially anime, are drawn and cut out from strong paper. They are then staged in such a way to create the illusion they are interacting with real-life objects. This popular trend started in different online art communities around the year 2006 and is still popular today. In fact, Arby's restaurant even used this concept with a recent ad campaign.

So, how do you make your very own Paperchild and what is the challenge? Well, read on to find out! 

Step 1: Gather materials:



* Paper. This can be any paper, but we recommend drawing paper, or card stock since it is thicker and can help make your Paperchild stand up securely

*  Drawing materials such as a pencil to sketch out your Paperchild and an eraser for any mistakes

* Coloring  tools such as markers, crayons, or color pencils. Tip: Make sure to outline your character with a thick black outline since this will make cutting out the Paperchild much easier.

* You also need scissors, tape and a DIY paper stand (made out cardstock or cardboard preferably) to make your Paperchild stand up.

* If you prefer digital art, you can draw your Chibi Paperchild in whatever drawing program you use and then print it and cut it out. 

Step 2: Draw Your Chibi Paperchild:

You can draw any character you like, whether it is from a favorite fandom, anime, video game, graphic novel or create your own original character. 

Something to think about when drawing your character: make sure to think about what kind of scenario you want the character to be doing, along with its facial expression (very important) and how you want it to be interacting with its environment!

For example, say you want to draw Alice from Alice in Wonderland interacting with a teacup you own. Thinking about how you want Alice to interact with the teacup is important- is she trying to climb into the tea cup or maybe she is falling into it? Is she just sitting on the handle chillin'? Or maybe she just shrank tiny and is trying to climb out of the teacup. 

Facial expressions also help set the scenario too. If Alice is falling into the cup then she may have a worried or scared facial expression. If she just shrank, and is standing in the teacup then she may have a shocked expression. Drawing and thinking about how the character is interacting with the object is the most challenging aspect of this art form! But don’t worry it just takes lots of practice, so keep drawing until you are satisfied.

Don’t know how to draw? No problem! Check out the library’s physical AND digital books on drawing! You can place any of the following drawing books on hold through the library’s catalog or give us a call to have a staff member place them on hold for you. Don't forget to have your  library card handy when you call! (Please note: digital library cards do not work to place holds on physical library materials for check out).


We also have digital drawing books available on Hoopla! If you don't already know, Hoopla is a free library resources that has many eBooks, comics, audio books, TV shows, and movies all free with any physical or digital library card! If you do not have library card you can sign up for digital library card here. Here is a list of some cool chibi drawing e-books that you can check out on any tablet, phone or computer:



Step 3: Cut out your chibi paperchild and make paper stand:

Using scissors carefully cut out your chibi by following the black outline you made. Make sure to cut out any unnecessary blank paper, for this will make the character look more realistic for the illusion. Then cut a strip of card stock paper or cardboard about an inch wide to create a paper stand. 

You may need to trim the paper depending on where you are placing the stand. For my All Might I placed the stand on his right foot since I wanted the illusion of him standing on that foot. Think about where you are placing the paper stand. Make sure the stand is placed where it will not be visible when taking your photos. This may take some trial and error, which is okay. Just keep playing around until you like where it is.




Step 4: Set up the scene and take the photo:

Place your paperchild where you it want to interact with your prop. Before taking the picture, make sure the lighting is good. If you take the picture and the lighting is dark, try to open up your blinds or place a light by you. Also, adjust the settings on you camera or phone and play with different angles and lighting. Make sure also to take the photo straight on if possible. If you take it at an angle or from too high above or below, the paper stand will show and that is not what you want.




Step 5: Share your paperchild photo!

Once you are finished taking photos it is time to choose your favorite! You can share them with your friends, family and we really hope you share them with us on social media (that's the challenge part!) Send us your creations through our teen library email teen@yumalibrary.org and we will post them on this blog and on our social media pages! Or tag us on Instagram @yumalibrary so we can check out your creations! We want to see them and would love to hear from you.

Enjoy the challenge and have fun creating your paperchildren! Drop us an email anytime if you have any questions or need help getting library materials for school! Also, don’t forget to check out our YouTube page for many more activities you can do from home (like and subscribe here: YCLD YouTube) Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for updates and keep checking out this blog for our book and graphic novel recommendations!

1 comment:

  1. Awesome! This is such a cute idea! Thanks Nikki! It shows you are passionate about your programs!

    ReplyDelete