Eid Celebration in Papercut Layer Illustration

The moon has been sighted, streets are decorated with beautiful lights. Wearing new outfits, everyone is excited to meet and greet their dear ones. New recipes being tried in the kitchen, new plants on the rooftop adds sparkle. That's the scenario we experience every year.

As things became a bit different with the pandemic, I attempted to picture some 'stay home' Eid traits in paper illustration during the last lockdown.

I pictured having a tour of the traditional Arabian-style neighborhood and getting a glimpse of their colorful celebration. You can give a tour of any neighborhood and celebration around the world as you wish through paper layers, no matter if it’s lockdown or not (as you won't get infected by the visit 👀)!

You can jump into the paper celebration using just a few basic tools, as the complexity of this project depends on the size and detail you wish to have.

1. Papers (from lots of different colors and textures. I mainly used cardstock and some recycled papers on this one)
2. Precision knife and small sharp scissors (round-edged scissor works great in some cases)
3. Wood Glue (I used synthetic resin adhesive so that the tiniest pieces stay in place, forever!!)
4. Double-sided foam tape (choose the thickness based on your desired layers. I used 2mm tape, sometimes 4mm by joining them)

Start with listing your imagination. Search online for what elements there should be in your dream neighborhood celebration, and anything related to the concept.

Then take a blank piece of paper and start sketching. Keep your sketch at the scale of the paper illustration you want to create. My buildings are 12 cm long and 5 cm wide; some floors came out to be 3 cm long, some were 2! You can sketch different elements by taking inspiration from images, or real objects. Here I started with sketching two buildings, praying figures, lanterns, the moon, and of course the 'Eid' lettering.

When the sketch is ready, mark the colors and specify which layer should be of which color. I take the papers up close and see which color combinations go well together, keep experimenting until the best contrast is matched!

Start tracing the elements from sketch to cardstock one by one using carbon paper. Give a very light pressure so the carbon isn’t too dark on your cutout. 

Build one building at a time! Or should I say, one floor at a time? Don’t overwhelm yourself with storing too many cutouts at once, just to eventually lose them! Also cutting cardstock requires a lot of pressure on your fingers so, give ‘em some rest and start gluing the tiny pieces together.

A little trick to perfect the shades: if your paper shows a white layer from the inside, as I often encounter, take markers of similar colors and carefully cover the edges.

Add glue to the tiny pieces using a toothpick or a narrow stick. Press lightly with your fingers. Immediately scrape off the glue if it is leaked from the sides so that no traces of glue is there in the finished piece.

Here I’ve put a back support on each building with a long piece of cardstock matching with the background so that no other color pops up from any gaps.

For the base and framing, I cut 5 layers of 8x8 inches of paper, drew a wavy circle on the center, and cut them free-hand. I layered the base papers with foam tape and other tiny elements with the paper strips gluing on each side.

Time for the final touch-up!

Hanging embellishments are the must have decor for Eid in this neighborhood, to light up the darkness while creating the festive mood. I layered the light and garland with 2mm paper strip, matching with the base. Also drew some details with the glitter pen, as people in the neighborhood never forget to decorate the balcony.

Added some ventilators and tiny extended compartments for the birdies; 1 cm plants for the top floor neighbors.

The mosque far away is calling for prayer. The neighborhood humbles themselves in prayers, wishing for the forgiveness, acceptance and mercy of their Lord.

The golden glittery moon sneaked out of the dark clouds might be giving that announcement of success.

That's all for today's tour to the Arabian neighborhood celebrating Eid at home.

Celebrate any place and festive through the layers of paper and always share with your loved ones!