Throwback: Paper Lime Project (Original Artwork)
This is another university project that I had a lot of fun with. We each pulled a fruit or vegetable at random from a stack. I, obviously, received lime as my edible. The project was to then construct the fruit from paper. The point of the project was to introduce us to the idea of packaging design (i.e. working within three dimensions to design product boxing/packaging).
I have done a fair amount of papercraft in my life, so I was really excited to work on this project. While I wanted to retain the fruit’s organic shape, I didn’t want to fight or hide the nature of the medium (paper). So, I went to a familiar shape I have used for previous projects and developed an augmented icosahedron (d20) pattern.
Developing the pattern took a few tries and I actually ended up making 2 limes with slightly different dimensions. The lime slices were somewhat tricky as well, but I found a few work arounds to simplify the process as much as possible. The end slices retained the d20 pattern, but then I developed simple equilateral side panels to create one flat side.
The stems and leaves were fairly straight forward. I simply used rolled up paper for the stem, then attached a leaf shaped piece of paper manipulated into an accordion fold. From there, I simple cut a hole in the top of the limes, added tacky glue, and inserted the stem. Tacky Glue dries fairly quickly, so I didn’t have to hold the stems long before the glue set.
Once everything was glued together, trimmed up, and dry, it was just a matter of painting the limes using basic acrylics. I used heavy bristol paper to prevent warping during the painting process. Even so, I made sure not to add any water when painting as there is only so much even heavy bristol can withstand.
For the rinds, I painted everything green. I then use a sponge to apply a textured layer of varying shades and hues of green on top of that. For the interior seen on the slices, I had to actually bust out some tiny little brushes and use a photo reference to copy the interior shapes, color, and texture.
So there you have it! A fun little dive into my papercrafting past. I really enjoyed making these and may revisit the idea and build other fruits and vegetables later. For now, though, I’d like to stick with my little finger puppets.
Until next time!
I love feedback, so if you have any questions, ideas, or requests, make sure to leave a comment below. And, if you need more fun stuff to shove into your eyeballs, hop over and check out my YouTube channel, Chimp Skipper, or my online portfolio.
WOW! impressive work!
At first I had thought that the sliced lime was real, fantastic painting.
I had no idea that this was taught in university. I guess that packaging is important, and I do enjoy a product with good packaging.
Thanks for sharing the process and project. Impressively done.
Thank you so much! This was definitely a fun project to work on, so I’m glad others enjoy seeing the process as well. I really appreciate the kind words, thank you again!