Binding Commitments Part 3 of 3

Practice Books Style 3: Stylish Pattern Binding Outside the Spine 

This was technically the most difficult one, and it was with great trepidation I punched holes on the spine, (made of two layers of thicker-than-before cotton and two of stiff fusible interfacing,) but it worked, at least for now. I was helped greatly by the lovely weather today, with the sun coming through the window until I was done sewing. (Unlike all recent previous occasions when all the lights in the living room didn't give me enough light.) 

Three signatures are independently sewn on to the spine. I can glue the first/last pages of the signatures to the cover, or attach them by way of proper end papers, or just leave them. I haven't decided yet. Again, A5, with 110g sketchpad paper inside.   

The stitch pattern looked like wheat shaft or lavender flower to me, and I thought of using those colors, but in the end I chose a green closest to one of the greens in print. After the first green middle row, I thought I'd like the other two rows to be in red, kind of like a skinny bottle brush, but now I'm not sure. The green is hardly visible in real life; I might make them all green. 

That's the end of the three styles of practice books I intended to make. Now I'm going to debrief and make two not-practice versions; they won't be too different from these, but I'm thinking of varying the inside paper/size/shape. I would also very much like to make a collage notebook in A4.

Oh, I've got all sorts of problems with this one, too, some because I don't have the right material/tools, some because I'm too lazy to find out "how it's done". (Though I didn't cut the corner too close this time, I still need some emergency glue.) Suffice it to say, I had bloody giddy fun making these, and I don't think I'm ready to stop yet. Except now I have to go fill the pages, too, don't I? 

Binding Commitments Part 2 of 3

Practice Books Style 2: Paper Tape Binding Inside the Spine

This was a triumph-ish of my understanding of geometry, not skill; and not having proper prescribed bookbinding material, time spent thinking about  material on hand and how to use them. The result is Meh-ish as a book, but a bespoke sentimental sketchbook for me. (That reason at the end of the post.) 

This is how the spine looked before the cover went on. 

I used a piece of cotton, iron-on fusible interfacing, and back-of-sketchpad cardboard for the cover.

The fabric is spotless and well-pressed, but the blotches are some of the glue coming through. I haven't got a handle on how to prevent this, because I am spreading the glue as evenly as possible, but obviously not doing a good job. I could investigate types of glue, also. (EDIT: I had vague hopes that when the glue dries completely, they will disappear, but alas, not the case.) 

I cut the cotton too close to the corner, not considering the thickness of the cardboard, making the corners fray. I put a whole lot of glue on the corners, which I hope will help. I also intended to glue the book block closer to the spine so the pages... stay inside the cover. I can't remember what went wrong there.   

This is my homemade spine. This was the biggest challenge, and the result is a little delicate. It's good enough for my sketchbook, but I must try to not to handle too roughly.  

Decades ago when I started to read up on bookbinding, I found the exactitude required overwhelming, I never tried anything challenging. Of course having proper material/tool helps in obtaining better results, but if I'm only making fun sketchbooks for myself, there is a kind of thrill? in making them with material I have, and thinking/making up methods that's... original/quirky/unconventional/dangerous!      

This fabric swatch is old. Possibly while I still lived at home, I bought two cotton fabric to make summer skirts, one in blue and natural stripe, one similar but a little bit of red added. Mom looked at the two stripes I took out of the bag, and exclaimed, "Oh, just that little bit of red raises the temperature of the colours so much!" And somehow, immediately, I liked the blue and beige so much better than this one with the red. The skirts are long gone, as is leftover from the blue and natural, but this narrow strip stayed with me as a lesson of sorts.

I have one more style of book I want to make. 

Binding Commitments Part I of 3

Mary Ann Moss/Dispatch from LA has been offering her paid online courses for free for a limited time since late last year. I've been a fan for I-can't-remember-how-long, but only took one course, Sketchbookery, in Jan 2022. I didn't go back for more because I didn't finish it, as this course was heavy on drawing/painting, and I wasn't happy with what I was doing. (Although... I wonder if drawing the Bard's face 500+ times for the remainder of that year was my achievement as a result.) Anyhoo, having enjoyed her videos for the first two classes recently, I eagerly signed up for the third on creating our own sketchbooks.

Seriously, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one so much, nor planning to make any sketchbooks. I was in it for the delightfully creative, encouraging, and entertaining videos, and I enjoy watching folks bind books or work in their sketchbooks. But, oh, my! 

Before I get into the nitty gritty of my recent projects, I have to tell you: the course was first offered in 2012ish. It reflects the shabby chic, mixed-it-all-up style of the time. And the written instructions PDF are gone. So even though I watched and rewatched the vids to my greatest delight, I didn't remember the instructions as much as I thought I did. So I rewatched some more, took notes, and rewatched some more. I also began to understand some steps depended on what I wanted to do or how I wanted my sketchbook to look, if all I wanted to do was to make sketchbooks for myself. 

The course introduces four projects, but I was interested in the first three. All reuse existing book/photo album, with or without spines, of which I have only a couple. I decided to improvise the practice books by making my own covers using cardboard at the back of sketchpads, which made the process much slower but more fun. 

After the first round of vid watching, I cut paper for six books, two for each style I wanted to practice. All are size A5; the inside paper is 110g sketchpad paper. I also mistook the instructions, so I had three folios/sheets in each signature, and three signatures for each book. (Turned out I misheard the instructions.) I've also renamed the binding styles, so they're easier for me to remember. My language is jumbled as I'm still learning.  

Practice Books, Style 1: Exposed Cloth Tape Binding

The binding can be seen at the top of the first pic above. The instructions said to glue the signatures to each other (before stitching) to make one book block, and the first and last pages of the book block to the covers; I forgot both. Because it's a tiny book with only three small signatures, I decided I could ignore the gluing of signatures, but I did glue the book block to the covers to stabilize the sketchbooks. 

For the cover, I painted the cardboard with acrylic paint. Although the pictures don't show it well, I am particularly pleased with the very dark navy I mixed. The tape is a pale olive green grosgrain ribbon. Both books were bound with three pieces of ribbon, but on the left, I hid the middle one, while on the right, I only shoed the middle one. In the book on the left, the inside paper look wider than the cover; this is not the case but due to inexact gluing by less than 1mm. 

I have always been messy with glue, and it's always a source of disappointment. On the left the extra came right through the ribbon, while on the right it's escaped from under tape.  

For liquid PVA glue, thicker end paper absorbs the glue and stays tidier. 

* * * * * 

Each book takes so long to make, not only because I lack the experience, not only because I have to watch the videos multiple times to take notes and make sure the notes aren't missing anything important, but it appears every choice of paper/tape/fabric feel so important to me it is taking forever to make these tiny sketchbooks. (Not to mention, I've uncovered oh-so-much leftover scrap fabric as well as ribbons.) 

* * * * * 

MAM offered the class in this blog post; I hope it's not too late, but if interested, say so in the comment and make sure she can get in touch. Here's a little more about the course. I think she first offered it in 2012; the instructions PDFs are no longer available.

Some Thoughts on Paperwork Part 5 of ? - Changing/Varying "Style"

Different things I try/learn/observe in different places cumulate, allowing me to attempt new things/ways intentionally, or sometimes completely unintentionally. This morning, I had trouble joining the private group Zoon; even though I tried to log in five minutes ahead of time, I showed up 20 minutes late. And the annoying part is, I don't know which remedy finally allowed me to get through. Anyway...  

My "style", if I have one, is loose/not-realistic, but there have been results a little more realistic in recent times. 

I posted these two previously. The top one really surprised me when I painted it; it's the most realistic thing I did on paper that I can remember.   

I love the stem. But more than that, I love the colour dots at the bottom; they look like yarn sample colours. 

Although I have always loved blues and white, this is the very first time I've done anything on paper. And a little green snuck in. 

Here, I was trying to depict leaves by using the tips of brushes sideways. Don't ask me where the idea came from, my hands were doing it. These three  pics were timed exercises copying photos, with an emphasis on values. 

I may have mentioned Private Group Member C commented previously she liked a spot of black behind a bouquet in someone else's painting. I have wanted to try this out, and started painting all around an unfinished iris. 

Now that I do a lot of blind, half-blind, and not-so-blind contours, I felt ready to give it a go. (Say... shouldn't they be visually-impaired contours?)    

I don't use black on paper or the loom, so this is Payne's Grey, but when wet it was much too severe. So I switched to orangy yellow, another colour I've wanted to try with blues for a long time. 

Next, I quickly drew the contours, and tried a favourite inky navy blue. It's a sublime colour, but since Vincent's irises are blue, I'm not sure how this will work out.  

I just had to try this, with a slightly yellower orangy yellow, and I love it. Now I don't know if I'll colour in the iris; it looks good as is to me. I can't believe I'm whipping up these shapes one after another. . 

With some time left, I had to try the same yellow against my mostly-blues pansies. While I like the combination, of course the moment you add oranges and yellows to blues, it raises the temperature of the scene, and takes away the calmness, and I couldn't decide if it was a good change or bad. I guess that's why I unconsciously left it half done. 

Overall this morning was a good session. Even though it took me forever to join the meeting. And all this done before 9AM Saturday. :-D 

Some Thoughts on Paperwork Part 4 of ? - 1H March Drawings - a Picture-Heavy Post

All three of my art Zoom sessions are based in the Northern Hemisphere, and with them going into Daylight savings and us coming out of it, after Easter Monday-night-NZ-time face Zoom is the only one I can attend without much effort. (Although the early-Friday-NZ-time host is considering an NZ-daytime session during their summer.) Also, Suter sold my last scarf in stock, so really, I should get busy on the loom. 

With all that in mind, concentrating on a focal point, and stop meddling once I've "finished" are the new rules; when I get the urge to meddle, starting a second drawing helps. And to do that, focusing on an attractive feature helps to speed up the drawing. 

I ran out of silver gel ink, but it was satisfyingly finished. Then I went in with paint to add the light parts, and now she looks like she switched on the blender without the lid.  

A super quick, not-accurate drawing, and yet it the model looked exactly like this.  

This was an amazing model/pose; his right arm was far forward and close to his camera, presenting a fascinating foreshortening. And he had a lovely hairdo. I could have drawn him for hours.  

The lovely Monday night host; I think the hair worked. 

The green paint was working fine, and I was finished, and I liked it. Then I started drawing the shirt in blue, and the shape/size/placement was all wrong. A hard lesson in, "Stop meddling!" 

Happy with these; some details, some room left to imagination. Fewer lines would have been even better. Lack of likeness doesn't worry me. 

The drawing on the right is another example of my favourite models/poses not coming out well. Darn, darn, darn. 

For both women, I focused on the hair. They didn't look alike, but the drawings came out similarly. I'm fine with that. 

Friday morning NZ-time host with lilting Glaswegian accent; in the second try, I didn't have time for the head/hair or chin but to me this looks exactly like her.   

I started with the orange version, and ran out of fountain pen ink, so I moved on to the green with a ballpoint pen I just rediscovered. Brave of me; lucky it worked. Another of my fav model/pose.  

The more I get used to some of my new ways of drawing, I started to experience interesting new problems. See the "stabby" dots and "invisible" lines? The felt tip dug into the paper and didn't dance on the surface. I had to peek many times with this one to see what I was getting down and what wasn't showing. There's nothing on the other side; it's all on this side of the paper. 

Inexpensive black paper being hard to find, I'm experimenting with black gesso. Gel pens work wonderfully, but paint, watercolour or gouache, certain colors work and others don't. 

Gel pens, felt tips, and other modern pens are convenient and colorful, but for the amount of drawing you get, there is so much plastic waste. I experimented with a second refillable fountain pen. When held at the top end, these cannot be used at 90 degrees, but must be used at a slight angle, closer yo how you hold them in the normal way. It's a balance act. 

Drawings from the first half on March. 

Some Thoughts on Paperwork Part 3 of ? - A Mini Project

This is an example of how I used what I learned from Zoom art and applied it on a troublesome Letter Journal spread last week. 

In one of the private group Zooms, (is this word supposed to be capitalised?) we had to draw awfully complicated Paris buildings, one goal being to find what we want to focus on and what to omit. I drew blind lines. (I'm not calling them contours because I never draw only the contours.) When we were free to do whatever we chose later that hour, I blind-drew Vincent's irises, the subject I chose for the LJ spread. 

However, I realised the irises are so new/strange to me, (copying anything of Vincent's, in fact,) I couldn't tell which part of mine corresponded to which of his. Since I intended to colour them, I had to draw one, colour one, and move onto the next. After the Zoom session, I continued to draw the contours more of less blindly, occasionally looking and counting the number of petals, etc, not worrying when interesting parts were missing or in the wrong position. And then I drew/painted one iris in the journal. 

The left page, I thought, look more like Vincent, but if I weren't worried about likeness, I like the one on the right more. 

But I wanted to make it somewhat Vincent-like. I liked the last practice on the right the best. In order to better express the jaggedness/uneveness of his contour, I used a chopstick to draw the navy lines after all the other colours were laid down. The trick was not to stick the chopstick in the water bucket in between use, but to keep it dry. 

This is the final version in the swap journal. The colours look less true compared to my practices, (too much white, and substantially less of variations of blues,) but I think it looks sufficiently jittery and restless like Vincent's. Note the tiny hands at the bottom; the theme of his journal was "Fairy World". 

My interest in Vincent is his life/person, his era, friendships and post-Impressionism, his letters, and then his portraits. I found making a tiny not-exactly-copy of one flower extremely time-consuming and labour-intensive. I didn't like this for my paperwork, even though I haven't minded this kind of fussiness on the loom in the past. It's unlikely this kind of drawing/painting will become one of my repeat subject. Still, I'm glad I did it. Although... I might do a sunflower. And would definitely consider portraits. 

Something lucky happened in the final version, too. I used somewhat watered-down gouache for colouring in; (I had to mix colours and when I do, I tend to add water to make sure they are completely mixed, which wasn't necessary in this case,) on inexpensive 110g paper. In contrast, the journal spread was covered with a sticky substance, so I applied a layer of gesso. It prevented the paint from soaking straight through, and allowed me to mix/layer paint on top of it. And because I can't gesso evenly, it had a little texture, useful when imitating oil paint with watered-down gouache. 

I understand in the art world, "copying" has a specific definition.What I do sometimes is to draw by looking at, but not try to make an accurate copy of, someone’s work. I usually start with blind or partly blind lines, and sometimes colour them in. All very quick and uncomplicated. By trying to imitate? (i.e. mimicking by referencing??) I must be looking in a different way, carefully, and learn more than just looking/staring/observing. And if you repeat copying as many times as I do some paintings, there are always new things to discover. I like that. 

Next, please. 

Some Thoughts on Paperwork Part 2 of ? - Looking, Moving Slowly, Focusing/Highliting

One of the things we were repeatedly told in the figure drawing class of yore was to look, to not jump right into a drawing and start waving our hands/arms. I was very bad at this, often drawing as I prepared to look. Some weeks ago, in order to combat this, I somehow began to look for an element in the face I want to highlight, even leaving out other parts. I still started drawing while I looked for that special part, and often I still put in much too much, but the new focus helped quietening the mind. Some faces/poses yield so many elements I want to highlight; and let's face it, others, none. The easiest to highlight was the hair because of the textures and shapes, so much so some different faces ended up looking similar to each other on paper. Never mind, making things more complex is my forté; this simplification is new and exciting!  

I think this is why I turn to blind drawing more and more, as it slows down the hand. 

Then a new issue emerged; it's to walk away when I feel I'm finished. I try to stop by writing Q and to put the tool down, but more often than not I keep going and have ruined by meddling; and I seem to do this more often more recently. 

This man held a Matisse-shaped paper above his head, right elbow resting on the table. His eyes were also very quirky. I didn't get that far.

* * * 

Another thing I noticed; in short few weeks, I was gestural-drawing, something I loved years ago, but cannot turn on/off. I do it more often when I draw standing, or if I'm working "bigger". I try not to interfere, and it doesn't happen as often as I like, but when it does, it's intoxicating. 

Looking at the photos, I can't tell you with where one the magic happened. I don't know if I should make a note in future. 

* * * * * 

Something I tried in the private group: instead of blind contour drawing, I tried blind contour cutting. I noticed right away, when I'm cutting, I can only cut the outermost, or another, line, not all kinds of lines to illustrate a shape. Duh! I chose some of Modigliani photos and paintings I'm familiar with, but they were extremely quickly done, and somewhat unsatisfying. Groupmate C asked what I was going to do with them, and while I knew I had to do something, I had no idea. I chanced upon something I did with an incomplete screen print years ago, but it didn't work this time. I have other half-ideas, but I'm not sure if I want to spend too much time on these. 

* * * * * 

I knew this, but it remains true still: I prefer older people to smooth-skinned young faces in general, and faces that have lived a life, if you get my meaning. 

Also true, some of the best/loveliest/most interesting faces/poses don't turn out right in my hands, and the harder I try, the worse they come out. This is frustrating, and to put it mildly, soul-crushing; I could be working on a quick masterpiece in that time. I think this is what makes these sessions addictive, because maybe next time a beautiful face poses in a stunning way, I will be able to capture it! 

This man had the most professorial face and demeanor, and the only man wearing a jacket in my two months of Zoom drawing, but of course I couldn't do him justice. I can only hope the host picks him again. 

All the pics from Zoom Faces are from February; the private group photos are from January. 

Some Thoughts on Paperwork Part 1 of ?

I've been taking part in art Zoom art for upwards of three times a week for two months, two being free, public/anonymous, hour-long face-drawing sessions based in Europe, Drawing is Free and Pencils for Tea; the third, a private group I was invited to by chance. On reflection, it's been a rather intense and sustained effort, though the face sessions in particular don't feel that way, and as you can imagine, I've had thoughts. I better start, in no particular order, before they escape. 

Even in this short time, I noticed a changes/widening of my setup, so I'll start with those: 

Technique: I like blindish drawing, though it depends on the day how much I peek, or even if it's only occasionally blind. Looking at the photos, I think I'm actually drawing more without looking in recent times than two months ago, but facial parts are more and more falling into the right places. 

Increasing I am holding tool at the top, just grasping the tool at the top 1cm/2cm, not having control of the quality of lines, for dry and wet medium. My favorite is my Dad's old fountain pen. Although drawing with the non-dominant had was my go-to in the past, I haven't tried it yet.  

Tools: I started with thin black markers, color gel pens, highlighters I found while cleaning the office, gold and silver felt tips; then added a refillable fountain pen, water-soluble crayons and watercolor/gouache, in part to reduce plastic consumption of pens. (I've only bought gel pens and felt tips recently.) I usually use only dry or wet medium in a given session, but have mixed them up occasionally. 

Paper: I started smallish, either multiple faces on A4 pages or one on A5 pages, but recently I'm spilling out of A4 sheets. I have considered bigger, but each face sessions are relatively short, (2mins-something to just under 5mins,) I haven't. As well, I tend to sit during the sessions; I'll most definitely consider bigger if I were to stand and draw, always a possibility. 

Even with the wet medium, I tended to stick to 110g-ish paper, white for the most part but black also. Now I use different colors and weights, for the strange reason: there seems to be a distinct lack of inexpensive 110g black paper in Nelson! Previously black sketchbooks were available anywhere inexpensive white visual diaries, (usually 110g,) were sold, though I can't remember if they were more expensive. 

Now if they are available, they are twice or more times as expensive, and/or with 2/3 or even half the number of sheets. I have sourced 140g A3 paper in fantastically saturated black, but this costs more than the higher priced black sketchbook sheets, and the paper is too smooth, while I prefer bumpy/rough. One of the $2 Stores had breathtaking dark-mid-grey pads, around 100g, with rougher surface, 30 sheets for $2.50. (I know!!!) which holds water pretty well for the weight. I'm also trying out color printer paper. (If that dark-mid-grey came in cashmere or merino, I wouldn't hesitate to get a few kgs right away.) 

I'll keep looking for thin, rough black paper, but I know my preferences will change over time. I am, though, sticking to the inexpensive materials, because paperwork is therapy, in contrast to weaving. I work quickly and go through a lot of material. And it makes more sense for a pensioner.  

I'll stop here for this post. These pics are from January, before I got paper in different colors.