Tag Archives: journal

Book Review Monday: The Century of Artist’s Books: Johanna Drucker

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I've written about this book before it's a gem of a book about Artist's Books. It's one of my all time favorite books on artist's books and art books in general. On my copy the cover is a nondescript green with red lettering. Nothing about it's outside seems particularly interesting but it's what inside that counts. It is an art history book. I make no attempt to hide that. Some of the text is dry but it's a very detailed and informative account of artist's books.
The pages are filled with loads of images, sadly all are black and white, but that doesn't detract from the ideas that the books possess.

AS this was one of the first books I read on artist's books I was amazed and drawn into the concept that one could go about creating a book that was their own art, not just a book that contained their art. The concept floored me. It was one of those moments in an artist's life that is a defining moment, something critical to move them from their artistic rut.

This isn't a book that is going to TELL you how to make something or give you a diagram nor a description of precisely how the artist created their book but it will give you a description of the book and an idea of how it was made.

I give this book 5/5 binder needles and 2 paint covered thumbs up.

This is a book for inspiration in addition be being another great reference on artist's book.
See more of it here.

Hump Day #13 Sharpie and Gesso

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Hdprompt_4

The prompt is open ended and deals only with the material, subject and content are up to you, but the material is dictated.

The next material that I want to write about is actually a combination of materials but it’s a very cool combination that will give you a ghosting effect. The 2 materials are plain old Sharpie brand markers and plain old white gesso. I use Liquitex brand gesso but I think this would work with any brand.

Start out by writing up a journal entry in sharpie. You can use any color, I’ve done this techniques successfully with black and red but I’d love to see results that use other colors. After giving the sharpie some time to dry fully, go over your lines of text with gesso. A nice even thiin layer. There should be no need to thin it with water but if you aren’t getting an even layer you can loosen it with some water. You should barely be able to see the writing under the gesso while it ‘s wet. The key to this technique is a thin even layer.

Now wait for it to dry. If you are impatient like me you can hit it with some heat and dry it out, but you don’t have to.

When you come back to it you should see a faint purplish bleed through of your writing. I find that mine is barely legible but it can clearly be read. From here you can decide if you want to write on top of the gessoed words or draw or collage. As you layer over the gessoed writing you’ll find it becomes more faint and more ghostly. It makes a great background for more writing, drawing or collage.

Prompt # 13 Combine 2 materials: Sharpie and Gesso.

Hump Day Prompt #6: Artist Quality Acrylic Paints

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The prompt is open ended and deals only with the
material, subject and content are up to you, but the
material is dictated.

Artist Quality acrylic paints. There are lots of brands of
“artist quality” paints. I’m a fan of Grumbacher and liquitex. Grumbacher dries
flatter where liquitex dries shiny and plasticy. Acrylics don’t crack and
remain flexible forever. That flexibility over time is also a difficulty that
you’ll need to deal with as your pages will stick together if not treated
properly. At most craft stores you can find an inexpensive set of acrylic
paints with a variety of colors, these are great to get you started.

Prompt #6 Use “artist quality” acrylics to makes a
page.

Leave a comment with a link to your blog with pictures of what you’ve done!

(Note: after you finish a page with artist quality acrylic, particularly more expensive brands you’ll notice a slight taskiness left tot he page, weeks and even months later. This is a serious issue to addressw ith a block of wax or candle. I favor rubbing down a page with a 50/50 mix of paraffin and bee’s wax  and then burnishing it down with a soft piece of cloth. This will seal the page and keep it from sticking. You could also just slip a sheet of waxed paper between pages. Do this last because you won’t be able to stick more paint on top of the wax- most won’t stick.)

Hump Day Prompt #5 “Craft” Acrylic

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The prompt is open ended and deals only with the
material, subject and content are up to you, but the
material is dictated.

Next on the hit parade is acrylic. I love me some acrylic
paint. When you start art journaling your going to go to the craft store and
look at the seas of paint- 2 parted but like seas of artist grade VS craft
grade- what to do!!!!! Both are great for different reasons. Craft grade
acrylic has come a long way in the last 20 years. The bigger brands have added
some lightfastness and quality to their paints. IN terms of craft paint price
is directly linked to their quality. Most tubes are around $1. I like Delta
brand. Applebarrel comes in a lot of colors. Find a sale and spend $6. Pick up a
tube of red, yellow, blue, green, and orange. Buy darker colors- you can add
white later. These liquid paints are great for backgrounds and flat painting,
ie if you don’t want texture these are wonderful. They dry quickly and dry
matte or flat. They layer well and some people do fantastic stuff with them.
The great thing about them is that unlike artist quality paints they dry
completely and don’t stick to one another, so you can work on facing pages and
not worry about the pages sticking together.

Prompt #5- use craft grade paints to make a page.
 
Leave a comment with a link to your blog with pictures of what you’ve done!

(Note: In relation to last weeks HD Prompt craft grade acrylics are GREAT for toning pages. Try it you’ll like it.)