Show Plug
If you’re in Canada…
More info on their page. Come see the show. I have a few pieces there, made somewhat rushed due to end of semester. Should still be fun though. I just recently sent off a framed print of “The Swarm” to a print/drawing show in Columbia, Missouri at the university. Otherwise, I need to submit to more shows to before school starts. It’s hard to balance, but the school reimburses the application fees, so I should take advantage of it. What’s nice is that over break, I got two emails for separate show/print exchanges coming up, so I need to get cracking on the new work starting tomorrow.
Until next time,
Megan
Over the Horizon
Here’s a sneak peek of a very large project I’m starting for next semester. It seems like a feat that will be long to endure, but I’m excited about it. Unfortunately, to explain it now would be confusing without visuals and spoil the fun of the big reveal when it’s completed. I’m still not sure how I’ll digitally display it online because without some tech knowledge, the meaning will be lost, but at least the visuals can be enjoyed and that’s all that matters in the end.
Keep in mind, these are very in progress sketches that will be worked on and then further worked on in Photoshop before they’re printed out as “final products” individually to be a part of a more complex project that will launch from that point.
I’m going to have to edit a lot of these in Photoshop later to change the scale of the character to fit the younger age that I’m working with. I suck at keeping her in proper child proportions with her surroundings. She’s like Clifford the Dog or Alice and she’s randomly eating food to grow in various illustrations. It’s very annoying.
The progression of one of the drawings. So far, this one has took the longest, but it’s also the most complete out of the batch. I’m trying to have a mix grouping of complex and simple images to have variety amongst the illustrations.
My sketchbook which contains a lot of the thumbnails for the project. Sadly, I do not have an impressive sketchbook full of refined sketches. It usually looks like a bunch of chicken scratches with both the drawings and then the notes that I take to interpret what I’m drawing. Needless to say, my sketchbooks will never be on display for other viewers. I do like viewing other people’s sketchbooks though!
That’s all for now. I’m going to keep working on the sketches for the rest of break and through out the semester, so there will be plenty of posts explaining the background of the story and characters and whatnot.
-Megan
Handmade Books: Finished
These were finished awhile ago, but I couldn’t display them online until the recipients got the gifts. Now I can show off these fun little projects.
I’m getting better at making these. I’m far from being an expert, but repeatable attempts have made my craftsmanship improve. I wish I could have took a bookmaking class at my old school, but maybe if I hold out, I might take one at this school. I’m pretty sure the undergraduates are ten times better at this than I would be, but I’m willing to suffer the ego depletion to learn this skill correctly. It is nice to switch it up and do something creative that’s a different from drawing/painting/printmaking. Hopefully, I can incorporate what I’m doing here into future projects.
-Megan
Economic Gifts: Handmade Books
Being in school with loans and such leaves little options for holiday/birthday gifts of grandeur. I had to be a little crafty this year and with some luck that came my way, creative projects bubbled up. If you’re good at craft making and want to expand beyond a mixed CD or gift card, consider this alternative.
I work at the printmaking department of school and one of the best perks is when classes are over and careless students leave behind all sorts of paper and bookmaking supplies. Pretty patterned paper to unused archival paper for signatures and plenty of book board to make wonderful journals and sketchbooks for people. These are more the high end quality materials for making journals. If you want to make something that lasts for years like a scrapbook, archival or acid-free papers/board would be keen. If your relatives and friends are like mine however, they use and discard (hopefully recycle), so archival may not be required.
Instead, use your resources! If you are (or were) an art student, you have plenty of used sketchbooks and paper pads with hard backing that can be cut off and reused as book board. Chipboard can often be found in packaging materials. Leftover scraps of mat board or illustration board work too. Sometimes I use cardboard and just paint it or cover with paper. Cardboard is pretty easy to punch holes in to attach the signatures. Inside paper can be as cheap as copy paper or as thrifty as recycling scrap paper from past paper projects. Covers could be decorated with leftover prints (see above), origami paper, old newspaper or magazine, handmade paper, paper you decorate yourself, or just paint right on the surface.
There are plenty of bookmaking resources online to help you make a book (see list below). Binding is really the only difficult part of bookmaking. If I’m making books for myself, I often just use leftover bead wire and make a spiral bound journals.
These are excellent for single, loose pages, but the wiring can often look a little rough. It’s also suggested to use a small file on the edges of the wire too for safety measures.
Another smart idea is to use old, discarded hardbound books and refurbish them with new pages inside. An old children’s book cover with blank pages inside is an awesome sketchbook for a young, aspiring artist.
If you don’t think journals/sketchbooks are very applicable for anybody, make a memo pad, like the spiral bound one above, or a planner. I worked with somebody who designed her planner sheets with a design program, but you can also use the contents of a cheapo planner from a dollar store.
If your craft skills are a little lacking and you don’t want to even attempt the harder aspects of bookbinding, there’s the accordion fold. This isn’t as practical for journals, but the visual effect is impressive. For me, I attempted to make coffee table photo albums before Christmas, but couldn’t finish them in time.
They’ll be birthday gifts instead. It’s probably best if you format the pages to be closer to the ratio of the photographs you’re using, maybe making it 25%-50% bigger instead of what I did here. What I did was make the accordion fold and then used decorative paper to make the “mat board” part of the page. What’s not displayed here would have been the photo corners that would have been installed as the place holders for the photographs. I also made hardbound covers that would have been glued to the end pieces. Easy project and very functional; can be displayed fully opened or folded together in book form on the coffee table.
Below are a list of links to various bookmaking resource sites. The projects can be as cheap or as expensive as you like, you just have to be resourceful in your materials and supplies and know that if you want something long lasting (and better made), that it will be more costly. Some research will be required to avoid pricey mistakes.
Resources
Handmade Books community on Livejournal - A great resource and springboard for project ideas. The community posts superb projects that you can take inspiration from. They also list several links on the side for different binding methods, both beginner and advance.
How to make a hardcover book- simply stated and with diagrams.
Binding signatures to a cover- This how-to was done by a comic artist, so he utilized a paper cover (that was a thicker stock), which could be good info to know if you’re wanting an alternative to book board.
Simple Binding - These are better with non-hard covers, otherwise you have to pre-plan an area in your book board for the cover to bend. (secondary how-to here)
Fabric book covers - a good alternative to those that don’t have pretty paper or bookboard material.
Accordion fold -one of the different styles of accordion fold.
Loads of links to other bookmaking methods - This lady’s site has a comprehensive link list.
Outside of the internet, I usually reference different bookmaking books. Bookstores have them of course, but it wouldn’t hurt to see if the library has them first. Bookmaking books are far more informative and having pictorial instructions for every section is helpful.
Happy Holidays (again) and I’ll hopefully post later this week.
-Megan
Ugly Sweaters
It’s really annoying when you have some fun project photos that you want to upload but can’t because they’re Christmas presents and will most likely be spoiled if posted about too soon. Even more unfortunate is the fact that you have to wait until the 28th to post said pics because that’s when the family decided to celebrate. Dur.
Until then, enjoy the loveliness of Ugly Sweaters as also posted on this site. Yes, it’s cliché and fun.
Ah. Classic. Happy Holidays.
Quick Reads
With semester over, I actually have time to read some books and goof off (more) online. Here’s two of them. I’ll probably post more as the break progresses.
Castle Waiting: by Linda Medley
I have the nice hardbound version of this book. The story blends all the familiar folk tales as well as some obscure. It’s lighthearted and humorous. The drawing is also lovely and whimsical and does not fall into conventional comic book or manga stylings. You can get a short synopsis that’s better than anything I’ll write up on its wikipedia page.
Garfield Minus Garfield: webcomic, I guess.
Just as the title states. It’s the Garfield cartoon strip, minus Garfield, who is erased out with Photoshop. One of my graduate classmates told me about this site. Essentially, what you realize is that Jon Arbuckle is immediately transformed into something largely unnoticed when you take away the cat he “talks” to. The strips tend to get repetitive, but it’s worth at least reading thirty strips.
