Sketchbook #27

I picked this book in the library rack "books for sale" for $1 - the size is just exactly what I was looking for and this cover is very nicely done: wonderful linen cloth, smooth matte finish on the book board - all I had to do was pull the actual signatures with text (sorry!) and restrain myself from putting too many signatures inside. Actually two was just the right number. This cover stood up to a beating of a rather vigorous 19 days (January 9th through 28th), traveled with me quite a bit in different bags and in the car and overall looks like new!

Here is inside spread and I will follow with more shortly! :)

Putting it all together

Putting it al ltogether - III, originally uploaded by apple-pine.

One of the strangest things about this sketchbook was that it never worked in a linear manner.

Last year I tried to experiment with having multiple books - one large in a backpack/ on a table/ when I know I will have a chance to paint or draw. And small one - for the spur of the moment drawing. But I wanted to keep some sort of the record as to what was the order of these books - and ended up with six small books between two larger ones. Meaning I have book number 15, and number 16 - but I also have 15 1/4 and 15 1/2 and 15 5/6 and so on ;)

It's hard to find anything there ;)

So this year when winter came and I realized that my bag starts to weigh too much (even though it's warm here in California it might get cold-er rapidly plus I usually carry things for myself and my little guy plus I recently got some really nice large watercolors... anyways:). I decided to introduce an alternative - a few pages in my waist bag - they are small, light and always there - and I will find a way to place them in the large book - I want to keep things in one place to see the flow. And - if I feel like drawing whatever that nice watercolor paper will not look at me badly as I will use whatever is under my hand at the moment - and if I like/need it - scotch tape comes in :)

And so it started - almost every day since the beginning of this book something would prompt me to draw on other papers. I started to use scotch tape and whatever tape I could find to place things and soon my book got FAT ;) And by the end time I reached the last page - already in 2009 it was bulging.

Here you will see a few spreads illustrating my attempts to keep it all together. How do you solve these problems? Keep several books at the same time? Glue things right on the page? Share! ;)

I have a bunch of FAT spreads to post in the next few days ;)

Sketchbook #26

Sketchbook #26: Open at front, originally uploaded by apple-pine. (Click on the image to see some additional notes)

This is another hand-made book - I made it while still working in a large Moleskine sketchbook and was happy to use watercolor on suitable paper again :)

It's horizontal, about 11" x 7.5" final paper size, the book is about 11.25" x 8" when closed. Inside - Fabriano Artictoco 90 LB CP WC, Fabriano Artictoco 90 LB HP WC and one signature with an unknown paper again - not a good one - and I am still looking for my notes to remember what paper it was not to order it again...

(Click on the image to see some additional notes)

I reinforced corners with little stripes of book cloth and sides with some sample papers from paper makers (I get those from printers and tear some samples from graphic design magazines as well) - and I like how it worked out as this sketchbook gets quite a lot of beating taking to fill longer than usual (this topic will require a separate post).

And I used some leftover gift wrapping paper on the cover - puts me in a holiday mood every time I see it ;)

(Click on the image to see some additional notes)

Everything worked fine with this journal but today it fell apart :(


(Click on the image to see some additional notes)

It's was the first time I used Yes Stikflat Glue - may be that was a reason. But I think it's because it's extremely dry here... I put some fresh watercolor from tubes in my sketching palette and it was dry in just a couple of hours...

So - I am off to have a drink of water and add some PVA glue to the spine and put it under some books for a while.

Beginning of a new book

Beginning of a new book, originally uploaded by apple-pine.

I was trying to start uploading more current sketches and looks like I am getting there :) This is a first sketch in my current book number 25 :)

Because of
a) lack of time and
b) interest in a more neatly looking book and
c) desire to use paper that is gentle to nibs of my pens

this book is a moleskine - 5 x 8.25, sketchbook.

Today I am almost done with it and a new sketchbook is waiting under the weight of a few art albums and a weight belt. New book has lots of watercolor paper in it because now I miss good watercolor paper ;) But I got to work with some fun pens and experiment with different medias in moleskine and overall am still having a lot of fun with it! Not too many things to share though since writing in it is very nice too - so many pages are covered with reviews, notes, recipes and lists ;) And also I was rather busy so sometimes all I got to sketch was my feet, my hand with whatever was left of the apple or bunch of fruits on my lap :)

This is a view onto the elementary school next door on a very cloudy day - the first such day since spring - I spend some time explaining what that is in the sky to my son - and had to sketch them too ;)

New handmade books on my table :)

This is book number 21 - I just completed it, scanned and will start posting images soon :)
- It was a good book
- but too big: 11" x 11" final paper size, a little bit larger with the cover - I had to re-organize my backpack every time I wanted to put it in - so I ended up carrying it most of the time - and it's not convenient.
- Big pages to draw - that was pleasant :)
- Hard to scan - did not fit in my scanner so some sacrifices had to be made ...
- 140 lb Fabriano Artistico Cold Press and Hot Press and Strathmore 140 lb Cold press.
- added a little plastic pocket (held with regular black office clips) - it has a couple of pockets to carry small items like extra piece of paper etc. - worked out fine.
- this decorative paper is a little unusual to handle - becomes wet with the glue immediately and then easy to tear apart while adjusting-flattening.



While working in this one I made 4 new books: 2 square ones - for my Mom and for my Friend they are both 7.5 x 7.5 and contain Fabriano Artistico Hot Press ans Cold press 140 lb and a sheet of Strathmore 140 lb cold press.

And I made 2 not so square books: 7.5 x 9 and 7.5 x 4.25 - both contain 90 lb Fabriano Artistico Cold Press and Hot Press (2 sheets each) and a sheet of Aquarius 80 lb cold press.

But these books were drying too slowly - I had to add some glue on the spine - and as a result I am working in a nice little Arches Travel book (6 x 10) that my Friend gave me :) Very toothy paper - very interesting to work on with both watercolor and watercolor pencil! I intend to try pen and ink too - before it ends ;)

Handmade Journals: Report

I made my first handmade journal pretty spontaneously somewhere in the beginning on May 2008.

It looked ugly but I love it nonetheless. Main lesson learned - I CAN DO IT - under 2 hours and no special tools (OK - I have basic handyman equipment at home - like hummer and large ruler - and I also purchased a tapestry needle - (after poking myself while making a small trial journal - ouch!) :)

About 3/4 in the first journal I made another one - and this one turned very nice - stylish looks, even pages, stripes on the cover! I am still posting works from it though I am on the next journal and would like to summarize some things - to share, remember and to learn!

Part ONE. Lessons I learned moving from the first handmade journal (which was 18th since I started numbering them) to the second (19):

A) Making spine is not that hard and is worth it! Just another piece of cardboard and the book will look so much better!

B) Checking the book somewhere in between drying to add some glue between signatures pays off (then when the book is completely dry it's ready to go :)


Part TWO. Lessons learned while working with journal number 19:

A) The size is marvelous to work with but hard to scan with my current set-up as I either need to move scanner to my lap or fold the journal badly.

B) I enjoyed lighter paper very (90 lb) much and I think I prefer hot press Fabriano Artistico - at least for now. It allows me to have more pages in the journal, takes writing much better (and I write in my books more and more these days), does not spoil pens (nexus pen died as I was scribbling on some rough watercolor paper earlier) and is still capable of everything good watercolor paper can do: I can lift color with the brush to adjust things, I can work wet and very wet (it buckles a bit - but it has it's charm too:), I can work with different mediums- from watercolor pencils to gouache and some funky inks!

C) I should enforce somehow the corners - since I carry my journal with me in a backpack and it meets lots of hands, some feet and even occasional paw or two, I need to make sure that corners are not falling apart. Perhaps some clothpaper? I will experiment...

D) Old/unfinished/ paintings = sheets of watercolor paper work great as endpapers and even as decorative cover papers (I did it for journal number 20 - below is a sneak preview of it).

E) Remember to cut the wrapping paper about 1/2 inch away from the corner to make sure that you get a good coverage.

That's about it for now - I will keep adding as I remember/learn more :)

Here is how #19 looks before going on the shelf:

And here is #20 (current one):


Some Raw Data:
JOURNAL#18:
Papers: Fabriano Artictoco 140 LB CP WC, Fabriano Artictoco 140 LB HP WC
Size: 7 1/2 x 7 1/2

JOURNAL #19:
Papers: Fabriano Artictoco 90 LB CP WC, Fabriano Artictoco 90 LB HP WC and one signature with an unknown paper (though now I have a suspicion that it might be lighter Fabriano...
Size: 11.25' x 8

JOURNAL #20:
Papers: Fabriano Artictoco 140 LB CP WC, Strathmore 140 LB CP WC, Fabriano Artictoco 140 LB HP WC
Size: 7 1/2 x 7 1/2

Please feel free to let mek now about any questions or comments!