This 'Game of Thrones' fan made awesome miniature shields using just paper and glue
Obsession knows no bounds for "Game of Thrones" fans, but one person went above and beyond when it came to recreating the iconic house sigils featured in the series.
Inspired by the descriptions of house symbols in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire," Redditor WholeDwarf set to work making 39 miniature shields.
She used a technique called "quilling" — a 3D paper artform that requires nothing but paper and glue to create filigree patterns.
Scroll down to learn more about quilling and this incredibly detailed art.
WholeDwarf wanted to make the House Stark sigil first — a grey direwolf's head.
The project quickly spiraled into an entire set of sigils. Here's the Targaryen three-headed dragon.
Each house sigil is glued to a paper shield measuring 3.25" wide by 3.75" tall.
WholeDwarf has been quilling for four years now. "I have always loved papercrafts ... and kind of stumbled upon a piece of quilled artwork while looking for new crafts online," she told Tech Insider.
"The basic process of quilling is to pick a thin strip of colored paper and begin rolling it into a spiral," WholeDwarf explained. "Once the roll is large enough, you simply glue the underside to keep it from unraveling." She uses a tiny glue dabber for precision.
She found the designs online, and then printed them out to scale for a template. WholeDwarf includes every detail possible, as you can see on this Lannister lion:
The entire project took a long time. "I made the first 19 about a year and a half ago, then made the next 20 in spurts and stops over the last year," WholeDwarf wrote in her Imgur post.
Some only took an hour in total to make, like the House Arryn bird sigil.
But others were labor intensive, like House Frey. "I spent 5 hours making and placing all those tiny pieces for the sea and the bricks," WholeDwarf wrote. "It was the most boring sigil to make, but the overall effect was worth it."
"My favorite houses sigil are probably the most difficult ones," WholeDwarf said. "Manwoody's hollow eyes and the way the paper loops give dimension to the cranium make me proud."
The flaming heart and stag (Stannis Baratheon's sigil) is particularly gorgeous.
House Tully's leaping fish looks really neat, too. The paper has a great "scale" effect.
And the flayed man of House Bolton is creepily accurate. Red paper makes for convincing exposed muscle.
The three hounds for House Clegane are simple but stunning.
Fans of the show may not recognize the House Florent name, but they can appreciate the fox and rose sigil.
WholeDwarf is especially proud of the House of Black and White sigil. "Using negative space and trying to keep the symmetry right in the Faceless man was a challenge I feel good about completing," she said.
For some, like House Jordayne, she even quilled the background.
House Mormont's bear was placed on a patterned paper, instead. Check out the leg detail.
The merman of House Manderly is also filled with great details, like a bushy beard and patterned tail.
Ser Davos Seaworth ("The Onion Knight") would be proud to wear this version of the onion ship sigil.
House Tarly, where Sam Tarly hails from, has an archer on their shield.
This sigil for Varys isn't from the books. "I found the design online and added the gold and purple for royalty and the black widow for deadly and sneaky," she explained.
Here are all 39 sigils, completed and framed side-by-side.
Though she's given thought to additional "Game of Thrones" sigils, the project is done for the time being.
"I've been working on these for over a year and I want to devote some time to other projects I have been brewing," WholeDwarf said. "I want to do other pop culture quills like Mario, Harry Potter, Zelda, Futurama, and so much more."
WholeDwarf frequently posts her work to Imgur and Reddit. Check out the full album of "Game of Thrones" art on Imgur.
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