Paper Crafting with Yoshi and Shy Guys!

Hey reader,

I have been nearing the end of wall work, right around the time I started playing two brand new video games - Mario Maker and Yoshi's Crafted World. Getting two fantastic new games right at the end of a long project that I have grown really tired of might not have been the greatest idea, since my progress is slowing so I can hunt down red coins and make new levels in Mario Maker.

Yoshi's Crafted World is definitely an amazing game. The Yoshi games have become much less about traditional platforming, like Mario, and more about exploration and finding things. It has a totally different focus that lends itself well to experimental aesthetics, like Kirby's Epic yarn or Yoshi's Wooly World before it. I find myself looking at the background and the art decoration more than paying attention to my character. It is a good thing Yoshi doesn't have lives.

This is a long winded way of saying, this week my project is Yoshi and crafting! Quite the journey.

I was gifted a really awesome paper craft project the other day. It was such a cute gesture and I wanted to try my own paper craft Nintendo characters. It isn't overly complicated, it just involves cutting out each color individually and layering them on top of each other. That being said, it comes out looking really cute when it is all done!

The Paper Mario sprites work best for me, mostly because they have a thick outline and more simple shapes that some of the other art styles. Not to mention, the art doesn't have a lot of shading. I think the Pokemon art would also work really well with this. I might need to try that too.

I started by cutting out a sprite image of Yoshi on black construction paper. Then I started from the bottom and cut out each color on its own. The shoes were particularly hard because they have some black line work on them. This sort of feels like drawing or tracing backwards.

I found the in progress pictures to be really fascinating with this. I also found that if my edges weren't totally smooth it actually accentuated the effect I was going for. If feels like it fits right in one of the actual Yoshi games with its crafty style.

The line work is pretty tight in the original image near the face, I matched it pretty well. One thing I would change here: I tried to cut the eyes out of the white rather than just putting black on top. That is what I wound up doing for the next Yoshi so the eye's look better.

Check out this purple Yoshi's creepy look without whites in his eyes. Nightmare fuel for sure! Not the finished product though, he is super cute as per usual.

I did a few Yoshi's and two Shy Guys. I even did it with the Mario logo and the N64 logo just for good measure. The N64 logo was the hardest since I had to me more precise.

I chose to use push pins because I didn't want to poke holes my new creations. Then once I saw it with the pins it had even more of a crafted and homemade feel that I am really into for this. I left the middle empty so that I can put up fliers and other information on this bulletin board. It was really time to change out the are that was up there.

This is one of the least complex projects, but they came out way better than I thought they would. I am so happy with them! Plus, I am constantly reminded of my video games waiting for me back home - instead of the painting that is slowly taking over my life.

Existential dread aside, you should keep making cool stuff!
Until next time,
JoshPrime