Chapter 10: Postscript

 

Here is the text of the Christian Morgenstern’s poem as a whole, and, for better understanding, my English translation (which cannot do justice to this lovely humorous piece).

Die weggeworfene Flinte

Palmström findet eines Abends,
als er zwischen hohem Korn
singend schweift,
eine Flinte.

Trauernd bricht er seinen Hymnus
ab und setzt sich in den Mohn,
seinen Fund
zu betrachten.

Innig stellt er den Verzagten,
der ins Korn sie warf, sich vor
und beklagt ihn
von Herzen.

Mohn und Ähren und Zyanen
windet seine Hand derweil
still um Lauf,
Hahn und Kolben …

Und er lehnt den so bekränzten
Stutzen an den Kreuzwegstein,
hoffend zart,
daß der Zage,

noch einmal des Weges kommend,
ihn erblicken möge – und -
(… Seht den Mond
groß im Osten …)

 

The gun that was thrown away

As Palmström is walking one evening,
singing among high corn,
he finds
a gun.

Grieving, he stops his song
and sits down among the poppies
to look at
what he has found.

He imagines the disheartened person
who threw the gun into the corn field
and deplores him
with all his heart.

Meanwhile, his hand winds
poppies and wheat ears and corn flowers
around the barrel,
the handle and the cock,

and he leans the gun he has thus garlanded
against the stone at the crossroads
tenderly hoping
that the disheartened one

coming this way again
might see it – and -
- look at the moon,
large in the east!

Chapter 10: Altering my book, Part One

 

The server seems to have a difficulty uploading this post, so I split it into two parts.

 

1. Preparation

1.1 Choice of book

The first book I had bought was a picture book with high gloss pages. The size and number of pages fitted the project well, but the paper warped so much when I glued it that no amount of pressing helped. I then found an old library book on my shelves. Its paper is rough and behaves much better after being glued.

Size 18x21 cm

79 pages originally

Having been a library book, it had a plastic cover which I had to remove,. I also cut the block out of the cover to make stitching and handling easier. After the plastic had been removed the spine fell off, it was so worn. I used sturdy paper as overleaf to reconnect block and cover and glued in a new spine.

 

2.  Block and cover

To prepare the ground I glued papers together in pairs, then cut or tore many of them and wove in strips of other papers. Some woven pages were machine-stitched, most were painted with gesso. All this taken together made for  interesting textures to work on, but the pages became more like cardboard, especially when I glued further things in. I think another time I will be more careful.

3. Woven, stitched and gessoed page (right). The left page is the first and will be glued to the overleaf.

4. Another woven and stitched page. I like the way the images get broken up and mixed, it suggests further designing.

5. Planning the pages

I had some quite definite ideas for some pages and thought a lot about others. Below are a few pages from my sketchbook with thumbnail sketches for the book.

 

2. The book

 

My story is a poem called “Die weggeworfene Flinte” – “The gun that was thrown away” by Christian Morgenstern (1871-1914). It is one of my favourite poems. It works around an idiom: “Die Flinte ins Korn werfen” – “to throw the gun into the corn field” means to lose hope, to give up. The main character in the poem is Palmström, a most likable and quirky person, the hero of many of Morgenstern’s poems. I am sorry I did not find a good English translation which could have conveyed the charm of the poem.

20 pages / 10 sheets of paper, plus 2 extensions

Size 18 x 21 x 3 cm

 

Cover
I glued one of my woven and stitched background papers, printed with poppies, on the original book cover. To match the colours I added a light wash of ochre gouache.	The shoes, one of my line drawings, were coloured with Neocolor II and inktense pencils and glued on with PVA glue. The brown stripe was coloured in to give the shoes something to stand on.

To attach the shoelaces (leftovers from a much loved and worn-out pair of boots) I made holes in the covers, pulled the inner strands of the laces to the inner side and glued them firmly along the edge of the cover. This was later covered and secured with the overleafs (overleaves?).

 

Overleaf front A geometric version of a poppy image (see below) was the starting point for the drawing on the overleafs. They were drawn freely with acrylic ink (the black lines) and the nozzle of the ink bottle on Kraft paper. I then printed the petals with gouache and added the “music clouds”, which will turn up throughout the whole book.

 

Title page
“The gun that was thrown away” I traced the lines of the poppies, stems and leaves from a drawing and coloured them and the background with Neocolor II and Inktense pencils. The text was printed on transparent paper and glued in with matt gel.

 

Page 1-2
“As Palmström is walking one evening,	singing among high corn, he finds”
A rubbing of the sole of my walking boot is the first layer here, done with an A6 pencil on tissue paper, then glued on a woven, stitched and gessoed ground.	I coloured the sky with Neocolor II and printed the wheat ears with gouache.The musical clouds are cut out from copies of notes.

 

Page 3-4	“a gun”
	The shoes open up to show the whole gun.
The background and the shoes were done in sgraffito technique with gouache, transparent oil pastel and Neocolor II. I stitched the shoes to the side of the page.	I wanted the gun to be brighter than the rest, so it is just coloured with Inktense pencils and silver ink.

 

Page 5-6
“Grieving, he stops his song and sits down in the poppies	to look at what he has found.”
Again my geometric poppy experiment provided the idea for this page.	Neocolor II on woven and stitched pages without gesso. For the poppy petals I used tissue paper with rubbings from a shell and a gouache wash.
	Page 6 opens up to show gun details. Red paper from a flying lantern was glued on the woven page.
The patterned piece is a collage from one of the gun details, printed on copy paper and glued on the red background.	The handle is painted with Neocolor II, inktense pencils and silver ink, and then hand-stitched with zigzag stitch. The other ornaments are drawn with gel pen and felt tip pen.

Chapter 10: Altering my book, Part Two

Page 7-8
“He imagines the disheartened person who threw the gun into the corn field	and deplores him with all his heart.”
Rubbings of feathers with charcoal on tissue paper were glued into the book. The red splashes are a happy accident.	This image reminds me of heaps of feathers I sometimes see on a walk, where an unlucky bird has perhaps been caught by a bird of prey or a fox.

Page 9-10
“Meanwhile, his hand winds	poppies and wheat ears”
The left page was first covered with a thick layer of gouache, the wheat ears were printed in with a rubber printing block. To give more definition I outlined them with inktense pencils.	Then I glued red lantern paper on the right side, and on this poppies cut out from a piece of paper with oil colours from wiping the brushes. (I am quite satisfied to have made such a lot of these cut-outs, they come in very handy. The red poppy shape on the left is reversed and enlarged, cut also from lantern paper.

Page 11-12
“and corn flowers”
	I had made a very large corn flower head, but it was just too large for this book, so I made a downsized version. For the background I tore a coloured and printed paper to stripes and glued them on the pages, machine-stitched them and added washes of Neocolor II and gouache in golden ochre tones. Cornflower heads were printed with gouache, then the big flower head folded and glued in. I found that you cannot fold a pop-up element too exactly! Below left: a detail shot of the center of the flower Right: detail of a printed flower and text

Page 13-14
“around the barrel	the handle and the cock,”
	I love the shapes and shadows of this little trial from chapter 6, and thought they might evoke the mood of lengthening shadows and evening coming.  I used a tracing of this photograph on a background  coloured with soft pastels. Shoes, wheat ear and flowers are painted with watercolours, cut out and glued in. The shadows are done with watercolours.

Page 15-16
“and he leans the gun he has thus garlanded	against the stone at the crossroads,”
The stone was made with a rubbing, B4 pencil on tissue paper. I dotted frisket on the paper and washed it with grey watercolour, leaving white marks to make the texture of the stone more lively. The tissue paper is glued to 160 gsm universal paper, the outlines are machine-stitched. I wanted very much to use the paper on the left, from my soft pastel/oil pastel transfer experiment with the wheat ears in chapter 8. The oil pastels I used are of a dry variety and do not smudge. I think it works quite well here.	The “gun thus garlanded” was cut from my line drawing and painted on both sides with  inktense pencils. I made the frame by glueing and stitching two papers. It is attached to stone and sky with a few stitches, and painted with inktense pencils and gold ink. After much thought and unsuccessful trials (which could have been avoided with more advance planning) I thought the frame would give a good support for the gun. It creates both a contrast and a connection to the next page.
	The model for the stone at the crossroads is a memorial stone near my home, the rather grim memento of a murder committed in the 18th century. Below: two pages from my sketchbook exploring letters on the stone (left) and ideas for the surface (right)

Page 17-18
“tenderly hoping, that the disheartened one,	coming this way again, might see it, and …”
As evening is coming, the sky darkens. There is still a little light on the horizon. The back side of the stone is also a rubbing on tissue paper, this time of a wall.	I coloured the field and path with gouache and inktense pencils and wrote the line of the poem with light bistre and a broad cola pen to break up the texture. The sky was painted with gouache and Neocolor II, the little figure is done with a Rotring art pen.

Page 19-20	“look at the moon, large in the east”
For help with the pop-up moon I turned again to Robert Sabuda’s wonderful homepage http://wp.robertsabuda.com. I painted the moon with watercolours on watercolour paper. It rises beautifully! The idea came from a detail of Veit Stoß’  wooden sculpture “Englischer Gruss” (1518 in the church of St. Lorenz in Nuremberg). I have had the postcard below for at least sixteen years.
	The sky is painted with gouache and gold ink, ground and boots with Neocolor II and watercolour.
	Left: Practice painting and construction detail in my sketchbook. The design of the fastening piece ensures that the moon rises slightly from the side, which looks very well.

Overleaf backsame procedure as the front, with Palmström’s last bits of singing

3. Evaluation:
Does the work fulfil my own expectations?
Yes, I am quite satisfied with the result, and surprised at what emerged. Once I had started on the book I realized with amazement how much material I had gathered during the module, and it was a wonderful experience to draw from this fund and let myself be pushed along by ideas emerging from it. There have been many more drawings and paintings and ideas clamouring to get in. As it is, I think the book is rather packed already (too full perhaps).
Did I develop my ideas fully?
I find it difficult to say that, as there always seems to be a step more ahead, and when do you stop? Still I think that I went farther than I had expected, and new ideas and solutions turned up.
Have I used materials and methods which enable me to produce something exciting?
I am happy that I could include stitching both by hand and by machine, and I feel that this adds interest to the book. It is all in all a very textured item, starting with the woven and stitched pages, gesso or not, a variety of papers and colours, which have all their own properties, from smooth watercolour to pastel and gouache flaking from a smooth paper, and not least the shoelaces. The pop-up parts were a lot of fun, once I had found out how to do them, and I think they fit very well into the book, especially the moon.
If I had to do it again, what changes would I make?
With the experience gathered in this process, I think I would try to develop the drawing process further towards a freer approach, as I started to do with the overleaf pages, my very last step. I would also chose a book with more pages, just to have more space between the covers. The finished pages tend to become thicker and thicker.
Having taken so long I have learned LOTS about ways to sabotage my creative process, beginning with putting work off because I felt too tired or washed out to blocking my thoughts by listening to audiobooks (an addiction) instead of classical music, which keeps my mind free. I have also learned LOTS about the value of experiment and exploration. And: I feel I can draw poppies, cornflowers, wheat ears and boots in my sleep!
A last point is that I do not think I have used my sketchbook in the best possible way. I still tend to draw, paint or write chronologically. It would have been much more helpful if I had collected material relating to one idea in one section for further reference. I will keep that in mind for future work.

Authentication
This is me looking startled, and painting flowers on the gun shape for page 16/17.

The photograph was taken by my friend Karin Alfter.	I will give contact details in my email.

Time taken: 45 hours
Cost: approx. 20 € (price for book, a bottle of glue, cartridges for the printer, use of papers and colours from my stock)
Storage:

	I set aside this A3 sized box for storing source material.
	Material was collected in transparent document pouches.
	Separate folder for drawings and art work I considered finished.

Health and safety:
Apart from taking care with the cutting knife there were no special health and safety issues.
____________________________________________________________________________
This concludes my work for chapter 10, and Module 4 of “Creative Sketchbooks”. 
Thank you so much, Lizzy, for your cheerful support and advice! Thank you, Andrea and Alfred, for lending me shoes and gun!
I will be back for Module 5.