Leaf-carving: complicated, high-skill kitsch

Leaf-carving is one of those art-forms that looks like something cool the wacky kids at Adafruit Industries decided to try on their laser-cutter, but is actually painstakingly hand-crafted with clever little knives. Unfortunately, most of the subject matter seems to be somewhere on the kitsch scale between sheet-cake inkjet printing and airbrush van-art.

Leaf Carving Art (via Neatorama)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Dave Faris

They say that the leaf carving is done by hand, with no printing or painting involved. Are you sure? Seems like a trivial thing to do with some sort of screen and mild acid or something.
Anonymous

he needs to do some Kara Walker stuff.
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&client=opera&hs=1Gj&rls=en&q=kara%20walker&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
- lewis stoole
  
  exactly.
tylerkaraszewski

Yeah, it’d obviously be a lot better if the subject matter was infeasible pseudo-victorian steam-powered machines, or video game characters.
- JamesMason
  
  Seconding tyler – I find it hard to see a meaningful distinction between this subject matter and naked chicks with monkeys, or anything that is “steampunk”…
Anonymous

And what, *exactly* ,is wrong with airbrushed van-art?
Cowicide

Unfortunately, most of the subject matter seems to be somewhere on the kitsch scale between sheet-cake inkjet printing and airbrush van-art.

There’s some gems in the bunch like here.

Maybe they all need more skulls and stuff? ;D
TheSpaghettiman

I once saw a series of leaf carvings of various communist leaders.
kib

The “making procedures” PDF linked on their page outlines the steps but doesn’t exactly go into great detail. I don’t think I’m giving away any artisan secrets when I reveal that Step 4 is “Carve the leaf”.
quitterjunior

The gauntlet has been thrown…this leaf shall be shooped (with clever little knives).
ZippySpincycle

Wow–the headline nails it. Exceptional effort in the service of the exceptionally banal.
Shelby Davis

Say what? You guys, this is beautiful! I really don’t even see how this qualifies as kitsch. Seriously.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  That’s what I thought. Until I followed the link and looked at some of the others.
  - Shelby Davis
    
    Oh. Ew. That rather, um, tarnishes it. But still, I’d love to have some Maxfield Parrish or Beatrix Potter pics or such in this medium.
porp

If you don’t like the Velveteen Rabbit, maybe think of it as an exercise of irony in spending far too much physical dexterity, natural talent, and time in making these – in potentia ephemeral – physical things of no cultural significance.
blurgh

Sadly, I am no longer able to tell the difference between kitsch and the fine art that boingboing regularly pimps.
- Anonymous
  
  It’s art if anyone can do it :)
- duggo42
  
  Indeed.
- Anonymous
  
  Apparently it all comes down to subject matter, ironically:
  http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/23/wood-burned-comic-ch.html
  
  Paging Banksy…
Andy Rofl

It’s interesting that they can so easily mass-produce the same image.
Egypt Urnash

I just saw a friend’s design for a sheet-cake picture of Peach domming Mario. Is that kitschy or edgey? Does the fact that it’s for a bachelorette party make it more one or the other?

’cause the leaf you chose to highlight is pretty awesome in a Hillary Knight/Arthur Rackham kind of way.
Atrum

Holy. Freaking. Crap. Who even thinks to do something like that?
- TimDrew
  
  Ultra-fine (carved and /or gilded) leaf calligraphy is a long tradition in Islamic art (from Turkey, I think); there’s some amazing stuff out there (the choice of a leaf as the medium resonates with meaning as well- relating to the universal fractal structures living beings carry within them as a microcosm).
  
  In contrast to the subject matter here (mad carving skills aside, of course).
ekkia

Even worse than the Eiffel Tower made with toothpicks.
redesigned

Oh no! They carved a picture of Obama from the AP:
http://www.longal-craft.com/uploads/2/4/4/3/2443875/3191621_orig.jpg

Here we go again…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_%22Hope%22_poster

:-)
- Pantograph
  
  You know, for a second I thought that it was a portrait of Pee Wee Herman. Then I realized why they put the Obama picture next to it.
  - redesigned
    
    Never thought of it that way before, but Obama is pretty much Pee Wee Herman with pigment! :-) Hi boys and girls, the word of the day is “Health Care Reform”! j/k sorta ;-)
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      Rather unflattering comparison for Pee Wee.
Lobster

There are a great many people who are creative but unskilled. There are a great many people who are skilled but uncreative. There are precious few who are both creative and skilled, and they’re the people we tend to hear about.
- Cowicide
  
  There are a great many people who are creative but unskilled. There are a great many people who are skilled but uncreative. There are precious few who are both creative and skilled, and they’re the people we tend to hear about.
  
  And sometimes we hear about these leaf carvers.
isaacb2

I’ve been cutting up comic books for my papercutting art and showing all over SoCal, and I can’t get picked up here… but someone starts cutting bunnies into leaves and that shows up here? Sigh. All I want is to be loved.
- Anonymous
  
  Do something with zombies. The kids seem to really dig zombies these days. Pander!
Anonymous

Kitsch? I beg to differ. The Velveteen Rabbit is a deeply beloved classic.
Chrs

Man, they do have some not-so-excellent stuff. Recommendation: Needs More Frazetta.