After long years of dedicated work, Calvin Nicholls has fully mastered the art of paper sculpting. Focusing primarily on the natural world, he creates delicate paper sculptures of animals that mimic their different features (including fur and feathers). And though his creations are made from white paper and never colored, their resemblance to the original mammal or bird is uncanny.
“I still recall working on my first bird sculpture and marveled at how my interest in drawing, model making, sculpting, and photography blended so beautifully with my life long interest in wildlife and the natural world,” writes Nicholls on his website. “Every piece is a discovery of sorts too. I’m always learning with each new sculpture.”
“Detailed fur is slow and feathers can be equally challenging so predicting accurately how long a piece will take is very difficult,” adds Nicholls. “The largest sculptures I’ve done require several hundreds of hours while the more modest pieces keep me busy for two or more weeks. Familiarity with the subject is a big factor as well. My love of birds often propels me through pieces much faster than when sculpting subjects with an emphasis on musculature and structure.”
Prepare to be wowed.
