studio notes

This Morning's Project

Another artist/blogger posted photos of a great little book that she bought, and I thought it would be fun to make one for myself. The books are very small, but perfect for making quick collages to jump start your creativity. My book measures approximately 3"x4", and the photos below document the process of making the cover for it.

Step 1 --- I cut mat board to size for the front and back covers and punched a single hole in each piece. Then I used glazing medium to adhere some dark green tissue paper to the mat board. Nothing special about the green tissue paper; it just happened to be what I had readily available. I have tried gel medium, white glue, etc. for adhering the tissue paper, and through trial and error, I've discovered that I prefer to use glazing medium.

Step 2 --- I used more glazing medium to add a touch of beige scrim to the top of the tissue paper. My thought was to give it more texture and a different texture for the next steps.

Step 3 --- A couple of base coats of brown paint, one of raw umber and one of burnt umber.

Step 4 --- Highlight coats of copper, then gold, then silver paint dry brushed over the surface to highlight the various textures.

Step 5 --- Voila, the finished cover attached to the book!

The pages in this book are made from various colors of cardstock, watercolor, handmade and other specialty papers --- anything that I thought I might find inspirational as a starting point. The book itself now hangs above my work table, close at hand for whenever I need a small project for some instant gratification or a creativity jump start.