A Pop Up Book? A Pop Up Book!

I have no idea how or why, but sometime in the middle of painting Panda Man parts for another one of those automatons, the urge to to make a popup book about a man-bear going on strange adventures took hold.

It sounds overly dramatic, but trust me when I say that ‘obsession’ would be to put it mildly. I’ve scoured every nook and cranny of the internet for tips and have amassed a pretty nice collection of references to work from, including real live books full of weirdo techniques.

I posted the first one here, it was a really simple fold cut-out, just to try and see if learning pop-up techniques would even keep me interested. Obviously it worked, because no sooner was I done with it that I was ready to just quit everything so I could learn ALL OF THE TECHNIQUES NOW.

My next try was something slightly more challenging: a pull-tab. Once I figured out the mechanics (with the help of this wonderful book), it was a matter of finding the right illustration for it.

What I’ve learned from this one: mind where your tab is. Nobody slides into a pool sideways, not even pandamen. Forethought is not my forte.

I really wanted to try a wheel next, and I had the perfect idea for it: Panda MN from womb to tomb. Alas, there was only room for four vignettes, so the tomb part was dropped. That’s okay though, I still managed to squeeze in the spermatozoa stage. Yes, it made me feel like the cleverest person in all the land. No regrets!

Another lesson learned here, too: mind which direction your progression goes. People will want to turn the wheel clockwise, not the other way around. Again with this forethought malarkey.

From Sperm to Man-bear: the Story of Panda Man

A video posted by Aude Lising (@audelising) on

With the holidays coming up, I’m really looking forward to be able to work on this project more.
PandaScott_20

RIGHT?! Amazing!