M4 A9.Altered Book

On holiday in Skye a few years ago I took lots of photos of the Fairy Glen thinking I might one day use the photos to make a book for my first grandchild that my daughter was expecting.  Seven years later I've done it!

When I started the book I found a lovely piece of green lutradur in my stash and put it somewhere safe.  It's still there, so safe I can't find it. Instead I used some fabric I had painted and covered it with painted lace and shapes cut from sheers and net with a soldering iron which were then sewn randomly in place.  But this was the last thing I did so first things first.

Finding an old book I could bear to destroy was the first hurdle and I finally found an old novel with a very bad story.  First I worked out how many pages I needed and stuck them together with PVA.  That took a week to dry in the airing cupboard before the task of gessoing the pages.  That took several weeks, each page took 3 coats which took ages to dry and I was also making quilts.  I didn't really like the gesso at all as all the pages stuck together but they did get better once the paint was used.

The title page was done with water colours.

Poppy and I had a great morning making the dolls, she made one of her own and gave me instructions on the fairies outfits.  The frame was all the spare pages of the book stuck together with a hole cut out of most of them.  The background was water colour, clingfilmed, then ink printed on top with a home made leaf stamp and sponge. This was how I did all the backgrounds - something covered with ink prints.  The foxglove was a homemade stencil and acrylic.

The base for the next 2 pages was acrylic paint.  Although unplanned, I like the way the foxglove leaves blend into the background.  The fairies were original drawings simplified then the size changed on the computer for the twins.  I printed and painted several copies so they were ready as I needed them.

I used scrunched up tissue for the next 2 pages, then wove the reeds and sewed paper string for ripples.

 

For the next pages the background and foxgloves were painted with dye paints.  (The waterfall poem is by an old sheep pen in the Derbyshire Dales)

More watercolour with a magazine collaged log with woolly threads and sheep's wool added.

I think the rest of the book is fairly self explanatory.  The big foxglove was covered in felt.

I was originally going to add raffia to the back pages but having painted them I decided more would spoil it, I love the simplicity and find it very restful, it may even be my favourite page!

I have really enjoyed making this book although it did seem to take forever with all the drying between layers.  I've learnt a lot about the properties of materials and how they go together (or not)  Another time I need to think even more carefully about the positioning of holes and words.  I kept remembering and then forgetting again so some worked better than others.  At least the colours blend.
Poppy is delighted with the book, but now I feel obliged to make another and dedicate it to my grandsons.  Don't think I will ever feel inclined to use gesso again though.

M4 Ch8 More

As soon as I'd published the last post I remembered these pictures. (I think the pages stuck together when I was photographing.)

I was quite happy with the first toadstool picture until I tried adding the dark green contrast - it was the wrong colour .

This didn't particularly please me either.  In fact I probably didn't need to blog them except it shows ALL my work.

M4 Ch8 Developing your drawings

4.8.1.  My toadstool motif didn't need simplifying to make a template.  I like the way the watercolours shine through the overlapped toadstools.

The foxglove picture would have been better if I'd done the background first so the pink and green ran together better.  They do this in the bottom left but where I tried to rectify it at the top middle it just spoiled.  I do like watercolours though.

I did do the background first this time and it worked better.  It was tricky using the paper stencil as it kept sticking especially round the smaller flowers.  I like using card stencils more especially more complicated shapes like this although I am pleased with the final results.

The toadstool paper stencil was easier to use being a simpler shape.  I made the toadstool pattern random as I felt I should try it but for my book I (at the moment) can only imagine putting the images the right way up.

This is rather copying Viv's idea but it was a good one so I had to do it!

I had not used gesso before so wanted to see how different paints reacted.  No different to paper but what a smell!

M4 Ch7 Book Art

Here are the artists I researched and my thoughts.

• Su Blackwell.  Her work is mostly inspired by fairy tales.  She cuts images from old books to display in wooden boxes, others she cuts from newspaper.  I loved 'Wild Flowers' (2006) so delicate as is most of her work.  The cut out dolls as in '12 Dancing Princesses' is an idea I felt I could copy, simplified of course.  And, how does she make the butterflies stay up?
• Frances Pickering.  Going into her website I was immediately distracted by her workshops, I felt her work was on more familiar ground and she calls herself a textile artist.  She makes fabric books, where I liked the cut edges, as in the large sunflowers, and the idea of brown paper and calico, my kind of materials.  Two ideas struck me in particular, in 'Butterflies will come' she uses beads hanging down and generally she uses stitch as a highlight.  Two books to look out for at the Festival of stitch are 'Page after Page' and 'Under the Cover.'
• Paul Johnson.  Wish I'd known about him 20 years ago, a man after my own heart who uses his skills to develop literacy, 'making books to raise writing standards' and 'motivating boys.'  His own work looks very complicated, vibrant and colourful, full of life.  His little books reminded me of a couple of books I bought nearly 30 years ago for my son so I looked up those authors. Martin Baynton is described as just a children's illustrator and Patricia Casey (although looking the right age) as a life artist and sculptor.
• Beatrice Coron has produced stunning results using simple materials. She makes black papercuts of eg New York, and by sticking them on translucent paper the reverse looks like shadows.
• Mia Leijonstedt books are painted, sewn and pierced.
• Laura Davidson makes books in boxes and miniature books.  Her 'Book of Hours' is in a box and holds clock parts and poetry.
• Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord uses neutral colours and incorporates books into sculptures, eg the Spirit Book Series.  She sews beads into her pages.
• Cara Borer and Melissa Jay Craig both fold hand made books to make sculptures.  I was first attracted by Cara's 'Sea Nettle' which is a folded hardback.  I also love her butterfly.  She  photographs her own work to sell.
• Brian Dettmer and Guy Laramee use lots of books to make large sculptures.  Guy makes landscapes and similar easy on the eye work, Brian's work I found rather disturbing and almost scary, reminiscent of large insects and nightmares.

M4 Ch6 Raising the Surface

A4.6.1 I didn't have anything special to make holes with, except a 1 hole punch but enjoyed seeing what I could find.  I hoped the carving fork would make more obvious rectangle holes but guess the prongs weren't fat enough.

Like Viv, I like the reverse as well.

Here I was experimenting with V shapes. The one on the top right got a bit confusing, the others are more straightforward.

The reverse side

Here I experimented with a square/rectangle grid...

...and the reverse.  I like the way the same pattern looks so different as different shadows are made.

I tried half cutting a couple of fairies with some success

and foxgloves which didn't really work at all.

Then I moved onto a lichen shape.  It took ages to cut out the shapes but it was worth it.  I was pleased with the way they almost fitted together although I didn't realise until I started playing with the pieces.  

More lichen.  Different effects were achieved leaving the pencil lines and using a brown background and being all white as in the page from the back.

The mushroom shape worked well too, although here I definitely like the brown backing better.

I then tried to get a reed effect by weaving. The first page is the reeds and then I tried paper string and raffia to make the ripples.  Lots of lovely ideas and starting points to put in my book but that is still very much only in my head at the moment.

M4 Ch5 Drawing with Colour

4.5.1. Poppy and I enjoyed experimenting with these pencils, finding out how they behaved.  Unfortunately, Grandpa left a pint of beer within the babies reach so that was that!

I like the way the colour filled in the background but the hair and grass skirt kept their markings. The green dots on the foxgloves were added afterwards. 

I added more water to these pictures so needed to add more dry crayon afterwards.  I like the bright colours and could see the possibilities in my final book.

M4 ch4 Sgraffito

4.4.1  A sgraffito drawing.  Had to look up sgraffito in the dictionary, so that's a new word I've learnt.  I found this a lot more difficult than I expected. 
My pohuatkawa fairy has become a rainbow fairy, and I'm afraid she thinks she's Superman as I forgot to turn her round! I used wax crayons and gouche paint with fairy liquid added.  I haven't quite got the proportions right as I didn't leave enough room for legs but once you start on this sort of drawing there's no turning back.  I wouldn't use purple again as it came away with the paint.

 All these next pictures were covered in gouche but I tried different base materials. The base colours were a bit of pot luck as some time elapses between making the boards and scratching them.  Some I remembered, some not. The foxgloves had wax crayon and the colours are really vibrant.  I used Markels for the grass of parnassus.  The actual flowers are white but not only are my markels greens and browns they came away with the paint.  The toadstool has a pastel background and I think these worked well.
These are more experiments.  The seagull has a wax background covered with 123, a paint which covers anything.  It did but it also wanted to peel off in a sheet so was quite tricky to scratch off. 
The toadstools are also covered with 123 with a markel background.  This time the markel didn't come too and I like the gold.  I also indulged the 123 and let it peel off. 
The water reeds (just realised they're upsidedown!) had a pastel background covered with emulsion paint. The emulsion chipped off a bit so I didn't add make the reeds as thick as I would have done if I'd drawn them using a pencil.

So, I've done a lot of experimenting which is always interesting but I don't think I'd choose this way of making pictures.

M4Ch3 Drawing textures

A lovely chapter to do.
4.3.1 Wax rubbings  I was staying with my sister (Vivienne) when I did this chapter so we had great fun going round her house and garden finding things to rub and now have sheets of them.  Some worked better than others and I especially like the grid ones, air bricks and drains.

E.A. I also now have sheets of colour washed rubbings.  I think my efforts only work as backgrounds and need something more exciting adding.

4.3.2  Looking for texture.  I do love getting out with my camera, this time to Sissinghurst Castle, the sun shone and the spring flowers beautiful.  I also looked through old photos for more but restricted myself to 2 holidays. 

4.3.3 Drawing texture.  This exercise really made me look and think.  I liked using the Sharpies but, of course, pencils were easier to control to give light and dark.  Looking back I can see which things I enjoyed drawing and those I hurried or found difficult. eg. tree moss - hurried, coral - difficult.

M4 Ch2 Adding shading

I took photos this time instead of scanning when the spiral binding let in too much light.  Of course, I forgot to turn them round before adding them to the blog, good job there aren't too many.  Again I found the fairies easiest and the lichen most difficult.  I also realise I've jumped onto Ch3 with the lichen so maybe I'll try again.