Revisiting the cover

Proceeding at a snails pace I've managed to work on this book project. I'm of course an amateur artist and getting my feet wet while tackling this crazy idea is fun but scary. Although I painted the cover of the newly covered book one aspect of the painting I had over looked came looming to reality. I painted... let it dry and then opened the book to find it was upside down. I chalk it up to the whole transformation process of the book itself.

The painting of the cover was last night's work so this morning I have worked on the first page within the book. The inspiration came from a dream I had in which I was watching Monet's Starry Night sky swirling around above me. Like time lapsed photography the constellations marched across the sky like they had somewhere else to go.  Here I show you the process.

First the lighter wash that would become the clouds in the night sky with a lighter blue. On top of the light wash is a darker one applied with a brush with splayed bristles (looks like a fan) enabling the light wash to come through. I used sweeping motions to create movement for the stars to be applied next.

And lastly the ground below, black with darkness with only the trees, my house and barn to be seen. There also is small details (my lens isn't good enough to capture them) like smoke from a chimney and slight detail in the trees using Davey's Gray to give it a low contrast.

I do have something different in mind for the next page. But there needs to be a consideration of how thin the pages are and if I'll be able to utilize both sides of the pages. Once this first page (which is thicker than the actually pages with text) is dried completely, I'll have to do an assessment of the situation.

A New Project

Sometimes something I see on a website excites me into action. I am a member on Pinterest (be forewarned, it is a very addictive place) and occasionally I see a piece of art or craft idea I want to try. There was one image which caught my eye. Someone had taken an old hard covered book and transformed it into a piece of art. From cover to cover was paintings, drawings, ribbons, buttons and more creativity spilling out from it's pages. The women had taken more than a year to complete the project though I don't know if she worked on it every day.

For myself I thought I would challenge myself to do something of the same sort for the next 30 days. Our family's art closet is brimming with every kind of material imaginable. I've saved every art or craft material that's ever come in this house since the children were born. They do less art however there materials are crying out to be used. Baring the up and coming birthdays in the family and Thanksgiving, I pledge (this sounds scary) to do at least one page a day for the next 30 days in this new art book of mine.

The project actually started yesterday. I had to convince my husband to give up one of his old text books for my crazy idea. It really took him that long to choose one. No, I'm not mean... I just have no old books to spare. At least not that I'm willing to paint on or intentionally cover the text.

It's time to meet my new art project. Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics will never look the same.

Day Two: Right away I decided to give this book a facelift. Because I'm an Earthy kind of girl I went with unbleached wrapping paper with my favorite insects on it. I covered the book like I do with the children's text books the old fashioned way but instead of a brown paper bag I used the wrapping paper. In order to keep the cover on I decided to use Elmers glue, paint brush for application and masking tape which would be covered up. The school glue itself is a bit thick and I feared it would wrinkle the paper therefor I watered the glue down so it was easily spread with the paintbrush (it washed out just fine) and any wrinkles would spread out easily with a paper towel.

The inside of the cover didn't have to be pretty as my plan was to cover it will something else. One throw away item I always keep is thin cardboard or heavy paper. And this is what I had planned to cover the insides of the covers of this art book with. Using the same method I covered the cardboard with a different wrapping paper and applied the watered down glue in the same fashion as was used for the book cover.

Once two of these inserts were completed I applied them to the inside of the book's covers. I choose this particular colored paper was for it's creamy tones. The books pages are weathered and no longer white. So although the pages will be transformed the inside cover will not clash with the original book's coloring.

The cover is not finished yet. I will be working more on it tomorrow. I have some ideas for it but don't want to disclose them at this time. So it remains a bit plain for the time being.

Stay tuned.

Well, I'm still here

I am still here though my attentions have been sidelined at the moment. I have plans to change all that with this fun challenge.

The 30 Days of Creativity challenge is to kick start those muses who are sitting on their butts. Wake up muse of mine!! Objective: to create anything, something once a day for 30 days. It does not have to be completed but there has to be progress.

Believe it or not I have 3 lino blocks drawn out that need slicing up. This is the time to crack the whip and get er' done. What I want to know is whose with me? You? You? How about YOU!

gee I scare myself