Welcome

Welcome and have a look at my work for Distant Stitch - Creative Sketchbooks, Module 6, with tutor Lizzy Lewis

In this module I will make a free-standing book on a theme chosen by me - Close to my heart.

Donnerstag, 22. Januar 2015

Module 4, Chapter 2: Drawing Tone

In this chapter I worked from B&W photographs, with occasional reference to the colour photographs to look at details.

 

1.

09 Pumps 01 Pumps









2.
I rubbed the whole sheet  with graphite  and created the highlights with a rubber. The shades were done with a B6 pencil and graphite stick.
05 Gingko 02 Gingko






3.

The tones were drawn with a B6, the veins in the leaves with an H2 pencil.
03 Wanderschuhe 03 Wanderschuhe

I was curious about how I could do tonal drawing on this  small scale.

The best thing to do, it seemed, was to block in the negative shapes (done with 8B pencil) and let them push the shoes into the foreground.

Module 4, Chapter 1: Observational drawing

My first idea was to draw my walking boots for their shape and details, and somehow the idea stuck. Then a fairy tale with shoes came to mind, and I think I have found my story (if nothing else turns up).

All drawings were done with pencil 3B on various cartridge papers, 180 and 220 g/square meter. Sizes vary,  I wrote them on the sheets (in centimeters).

 

1.

SANY6403 01 Wanderschuhe






2.

Drawing the shoelaces took a long time. The grid was very helpful for not getting mixed up.


SANY6409 02 Wanderschuhe


3.



SANY6407 03 Wanderschuhe







4.

I wanted to have a try at a small scale. I found it helpful for simplifying the messy background.


1-SANY6428 04 Pumps

A big THANK YOU to my dear colleague Andrea for lending me these fabulous shoes! (And she looks gorgeous wearing them, too!)



5.

Second drawing on a small scale.
Zweig 1 05 Gingko
1-SANY6461
I gathered these beautiful golden (not orange!) gingko leaves on the left and combined their shapes in an arrangement found  on the web. I like this image for the lovely negative shapes.








6.
 
SANY6408 06 Wanderschuhe







7.

Getting better with the shoelaces. I mirrored the photograph with the book in mind , the direction of reading from left to right.
1-SANY6444 07 Pumps

The photograph is unfocused, but with the clear shape of the shoes I could still use it.



8.



1-SANY6432-002 08 Pumps



9.


1-SANY6451 09 Pumps
I love these elegant shapes. 29,5 x 17,5 cm

 

I found it easier to draw the lines from colour photographs, as I could see the details better. Perhaps the backgrounds play a part in this, too.

Montag, 5. Januar 2015

Chapter 10: Postscript

Some photographs on the previous blog are rather small. So here are bigger files, hopefully better to look at.

 

Making of:

 

02 The cover
01 The book on an A4 sheet to see the size.

 

The book:

 

SANY6335 Overleaf front

Abbeycwmhir
 
11 Page 05 06 Abbeycwmhir 1
12 Page 05 06 Abbeycwmhir 2
15 Page 05 06 Abbeycwmhir  

Overleaf back
 
33 Vorsatzblatt hinten  

 

Finally I have to apologize that I forgot to add clear explanatory notes to my sketchbook images. I promise to do better next time.

Chapter 10: Creating a customized sketchbook

Although it might have been not the best choice from the design point of view I very much wanted my book to be about my walk in Wales last summer. I had collected a wide range of photographs and done little sketches on the way, and the memory of the mood is still quite vivid. While I worked on the book I was often very much in doubt if my choice was appropriate to the assignment, but I decided to go on with it and take my chances. 

Something is wrong with my scanner which I have not fixed yet, so the images are all photographs. I hope the quality is ok.

 

3.10.1. Book-making

I felt I needed sturdy paper to add the extensions, so a firm cover seemed to be appropriate.

 

01

I cut the covers and a spine from a shoebox and connected the pieces with bookbinder’s ribbon.
03

The ribbon makes a good connection which folds well.
07

Prepared paper: I coated map prints from my walk with gesso and glued them on 160 g universal paper to make a sturdy surface.  The paper was then cut to size.
05

Six sheets were sewn in, only one at a time, as the paper is heavy. I left space between the pages to accomodate extensions and prevent bulging.
06 The cover paper is glued around the edges of the  cardboard and fixed with clips for drying.

 

02

The paper for the book cover was made in chapter 8. It is wallpaper with acrylic print, watercolour washes, paper strips glued over, frisket and Brusho.
01

The book on an A4 sheet to show the size. It is a little larger than A6. I kept it so small because I did not want the extensions to become too panoramic.
03 With finished pages.

 

3.10.2 Gathering design sources

As I had special “scenes” in mind I made collages in Picasa as “mood boards” for these chapters. I also used sketches I had made during my walk.

 

 

For most of the pages I had an idea for the layout beforehand. Very often the ideas changed during work, some I could realize pretty much as planned. I more or less went along from page to page.  Often I worked in different sketchbooks just to get going or to try an idea or a colour or whatever. As you can see in the following photographs it is rather a jumble.

 

 

 

As you can see I also tried to copy details of Hundertwasser paintings, found in a library book. I wanted to see “how it works”, and if I could find a way to use it. Same with David Hockney’s paintings, which I found on the internet. I found it difficult to make a connection with what I had already in mind, and decided not to force it, although David Hockney’s use of lines to follow the form of the landscape comes in a little on the last pages of my book.

 

The book 

The pages are in a chronological order, following the course of my walk, again a decision depending on the narrative rather than on design concepts.

 

Vorsatzblatt vorn
A map printout with acrylic print and watercolour wash for the overleaf. The white line was made with white ink. This line is an element throughout the book and represents my walk. I wrote words on it with a fountain pen and a calligraphy pen.
Knighton
 
01 02 Knighton 1
The swallow was painted with watercolours. I copied it from a field guide. The back of the upper extension was painted with Brusho. The extensions were sewed with silk and linen thread. I like the way the white linen thread soaks in the colour.

01 02 Knighton 2
Extensions folded out. For the grass I scratched ink on the paper with a dropper. The colour washes are watercolour, the swallows and the power lines were drawn with a calligraphy pen.





Thistles
 
03 04 Disteln
I had not planned anything for the pages between extended pages. But it was clear very soon that I could not leave them white.
The grass and the thistles were printed and painted with acrylics, the sky was painted with Brusho. 
Abbeycwmhir
 
11 Page 05 06 Abbeycwmhir 1
12 Page 05 06 Abbeycwmhir 2
The abbey ruins were torn from marbled paper. I scribbled lines on it with bistre ink for more detail. The tree line was also drawn with bistre ink. Colour washes with watercolour and Brusho. Same with the sheep – three young rams who played near my tent in the evening sun.

The words on the extension are the beginning of the Lament for Llewellyn, son of Gryffydd, the last prince of Wales. I transferred the letters with oil colour on marbled paper and overlaid it with black lines written on transparent paper with a calligraphy pen.
The extension is sewed with the machine.
Bwlch-y-sarnau
 
07 08 Bwlch y sarnau
A lovely iron fence on the graveyard gave me the idea for the string print in gold acrylics. The background is watercolour, acrylics printed with a rubber stamp indicate the bricks of the graveyard wall. This was a surprise page.

Glaslyn
 
09 10 Glaslyn 1
09 10 Glaslyn 2
The lines were inspired by altitude lines, drawn with bistre ink, washed with watercolour and Brusho.
The extensions are machine sewn with a zig zag stitch. I wanted a flat fastening that would not interfere with the painting. That was not a good idea, as it was difficult to handle the bulk of the book. I should have glued the pieces on with a strip of paper.

 
Afon Dyfi

 
20 Page 11 12 Avon Dyfi 1

The lines are painted with a feather brush and watercolour on transparent paper.
11 12 Afon Dyfi 6

Detail: I added lines with a white gel pen for more definition. The extension was fastened with the machine.
11 12 Afon Dyfi 4

The whole extension folded out.
21 Page 11 12 Afon Dyfi 3
The stones are drawn with bistre ink and painted with watercolour.
A surprise page again, I like it a lot.



Pentrego
 
13 14 Pentrego 1 13 14 Pentrego 2
I transferred the pattern of the old half-timbered farmhouse and drew it with bistre ink. the rest was painted with acrylic ink.

A memory of the raspberries in the overgrown garden, painted with acrylic ink and watercolour washes.

I painted the whole page on A4 160 g paper, cut it out, folded and glued it into the book, on a design that had not worked.

Tea
 
15 16 Tea
I used watercolour, acrylic ink and lots of frisket. After trying this design in a little study I decided to emphasize the white lines.

The Begwns

 
17 18 The Begwns 1
26 Page 17 18 The Begwns 2
I printed the barley with acrylics, the colour wash is watercolour and Brusho. I printed a second layer on the wash, especially the yellows and ochres.The contrast looks stronger on the original, but I think I should have gone further.

For the hare I am indebted to Jackie Morris’ wonderful book “The Song of the Golden Hare”. (The hare on my walk was too far away and too fast even for a photograph.)
I added the paper on the opposite page because it seems to take up the mood.
One page has been cut out.
Hatterrall Ridge
 
Block for inserting This was a very long stretch, and I wanted to indicate this. First I had planned a long leporello down, but somehow the shape  did not seem to fit the landscape, neither would one going out to the side. In the end I sewed in four pages made with collage. The upper edges were cut to indicate the progress of the walk from the high ridge down to Pandy, so the pages on the left look back, and the ones on the right look ahead.
The papers used for the collage reflect the ruggedness of the landscape better than I felt I could do with painting on this small scale.  The papers were almost all made in chapter 8 of this module.
19 20 Hatterrall Ridge 1
19 20 Hatterrall Ridge 2


19 20 Hatterrall Ridge 3

19 20 Hatterrall Ridge 4
19 20 Hatterrall Ridge 5 19 20 Hatterrall Ridge 6

The extension is again sewed with white linen thread.

The red kite (I saw lots of them high up in the sky) was copied from a field guide.
33 Vorsatzblatt hinten The back overleaf corresponds to the front. The white line of the walk joins the line on the cover.

 

Measurements of the book: 16 x 10,5 x 3,5 cm

Estimated cost: around 3 Euro

The most expensive single item is half a bottle of frisket. All else was taken from my stock in small quantities.

Time: Around 28 hours, including design. The designing process was very much connected with the work in the book itself.

Health and safety considerations: Take care when using the cutting knife.

 

Evaluation:

The book  fulfils my expectations, and as a celebration of my walk I feel it is a successful piece. It is a beautiful object and good to open and browse. The choice of a firm cover was a good one. Some pages have surprised me, which is always a good sign. It was a good experience to develop the pages as I went along. It gave me confidence to go and make a start and work with what emerges. Although I had many doubts about my choice of subject I am satisfied that I saw it through. 

If I had to do this assignment again I would chose more specific visual features, rather than the narrative point of view. If I had done that here, there would be more emphasis on line.  Also I would calculate the number of pages to be worked more carefully. This turned out to be a lot more work than I had planned, and without the free time over Christmas and New Year I would still be at it.

 

However, this is my work for Chapter 10 in Module 3. I am looking forward to the next Module!