The Book of Drawings. Making the cover

As I began to assemble the cover I didn’t really have a solid plan. I knew I wanted it to have some elements from classic bound books. I also wanted it to look like it had been sitting in water for a long time. I began by looking for a sheet of fabric to use as a cover. I found an old canvas book bag which I thought would work well. The canvas was a light cream colour which meant that I could re colour it. To do this I first got the fabric damp so that the colour would speed. The colour I chose to use was a really watered down acrylic paint. I tried to get a gradient from light to dark on the fabric.

 Once the fabric had dried I could then measure out the size I would need to use. I wanted the book to be small but as big as the fabric would allow. The size I measured out was just over A5. This meant I could now cut out the hardboard which I would use inside the cover. I needed three parts, two for the covers and one for the spine. To attach them to the fabric I used an ordinary glue stick. It’s important to leave a small gap between the covers and the spine, this will let the book open and close. While the glue was drying I used a lot of heavy books to help flatten the fabric. When the glue was dry I then glued the excess fabric into the book, I did this in the same way. 

At this point the cover is technically done but I wanted to add some decoration. I had some olive coloured ribbon which complemented the blue of the cover. I used this to make a bookmark and a safety tie. To glue the ribbon down I used an all-purpose glue as it’s a bit stronger than a glue stick. I also used the glue to seal the ends of the ribbon, this stops it from fraying. Another stylistic choice was to add a black piece of fabric to the spine. The fabric was an ofcut from the book bag. I used acrylic to stain it black which gave it a washed out look. I glued it to the spine using the glue stick. 

 

In the original planning stages, I had an idea of a tadpole becoming a frog. Because my book is about pond life I thought this would be a good illustration for the cover.  I also somehow wanted to incorporate printing into my book, this seemed like the opportunity. I made the four stamps out of hard lino. I had never used this before but I din't find it too difficult. Once I was happy with the cuts I tested them out on a spare piece of canvas. I was pleased with the designs so I went ahead and printed them onto my book cover. I did this one by one using a printing press as it gives a much better print. By using a press I also embossed the designs in to the book with makes them appear more genuine.

Finally I added some gold paint to the book as I thought it would make the book seem more interesting. I used gold acrylic which I dry brushed onto the black spine. I also painted a swirl shape on the front. I’m glad that I did this because the book was looking a bit bland beforehand.