Sorin Bechira

Sorin Bechira is a romanian graphic/multimedia designer with more than 8 years of experience. He graduated the Fine Arts Faculty from Timisoara and he is currently working as art director at X3 Studios and as a creative director for slashTHREE.

You can see below some of his works.
To read more about the artist and his work, visit his website

Working with Fimo

In a previous post, I talked about one of my school projects where I used Fimo.
I really enjoyed working with the material and it was very rewarding. It was my first experience using Fimo and sculpting a 3D model. When I started the project, I only new a few tips and tricks that our teacher showed us, so I relied on myself to find more information and tutorials.

There aren't a lot of tutorials out there on how to work with Fimo, and to be honest, you can't really teach that. Everyone works different, uses different tools, mixes colours different, uses a structure or not, but I thought I would share some of the tips and techniques I use, in hope someone would find them helpful.


Working With Fimo
Armature
You can start your Fimo sculpture with an armature.
The armature is the skeleton of your sculpture. It gives support to your sculpture to keep it from breaking and also reduces the amount of fimo you need to use. Armatures can be made from a variety of materials such as wire, crumpled up aluminum foil, wood sticks, to name a few. Small models can be supported by skewers or toothpicks.

Colour
When using colour, try to work in layers from the lightest colours to the darkest ones, so your colours remain clean.
Mix colours together to create new colours. Brown, red, white and yellow can be combined in different amounts to make a variety of skin tones.
Partially mixed colours can create interesting patterns and effects such as wood grain or zebra pattern.
(*If you’re working with a lot of colours on one project, keep a board with samples and notes to help you remember how you made them.)

Tools
Utilize tools to help you to shape your sculpture or add texture. Almost any tools can be used to draw on, shape and cut.
The Bone Knife is perfect for blending two pieces together, as well as for spreading the fimo to define the shape.
The Embossing Tool can be used for making holes or creating different shapes.
An Xacto knife or a fork can be used to scratch a grassy or furry texture.
A tooth brush pressed into the surface gives a fuzzy look.
To get a textured effect, you can also press the fimo onto a fabric or on different materials.

Other Materials
By introducing other materials when working with fimo you can make your sculpture even more unique. You can use anything from wires, jewelry, beads, fabric, leather... anything you can think of!

Quilling

I always try to find new materials to work with, and paper is definitely on my top list.
I came across “Quilling” a while ago, and I wanted to incorporate it somehow in one of my school projects, but didn’t find the right one for it. And I’m glad I waited, because now I have a great opportunity to use it for, and I can illustrate a whole book using this technique. I will try to blog about the project for the next few weeks, about ideas, process work and final product.
Below you can find more information on quilling and a few pictures with some beautiful designs.

“Quilling or paper filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape. The paper is glued at the tip and the coil shaped, these shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns similar to ironwork.” read more

Portrait Photography

This is one of my favourite portraits that I’ve taken.
If it’s successful or not, that’s another story, but the reason I like it is because it’s not a “set-up”. The person didn’t even know I was taking this picture. It’s a real person, laughing... and what's more beautiful than true emotions?!

Spill Paintings

I love painting, and the video below really caught my attention.
I think spill paintings are absolutely beautiful and eye-catchy. The technique involves dripping large amounts of paint onto a structure, and watching the natural flow of the paint create the rest. The patterns that are created through the multiple layers of paint are colourful and fun.