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.