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Much of a muchness
Things that make you go 'hmm'…
Back to the drawing board
Posted by on September 11, 2007
I wanted to make a sketch book for L’s son who is a very talented young illustrator. He had said that it would be useful to have different kinds of paper in a book so that he could choose the surface he wanted depending on the drawing he was doing. I pondered on this and came up with two solutions, one was a coptic stitched book (good for a sketch book as it opens out flat – see below) which had two different types of paper in it, a smooth sketch paper and a rough watercolour paper, and the second idea was this book. The pages can be taken out, added to and at the moment are the same combination as the coptic book but can be easily changed for other sorts of paper as required.
I had a try at this ‘album’ sort of binding before and it was not a success. This has worked much better and I am quite pleased with it. The papers on the covers are lovely Japanese papers and I have used a black linen book cloth for the spine.
I have also been experimenting with a soft cover book. I wanted to try this eventually with suede or leather but this card prototype is quite fun and you get the idea of what I am aiming for. It’s very rough but was useful in working out potential problems. Next one I make, I shall photograph each step as I complete it!
Much of a muchness 
I guess L’s son will be very happy with this sketch book. I like the cover design a lot. Thanks for sharing :D
I really hope so. It’s a change from my usual styles but that’s not a bad thing. Broaden my repertoire!
Nice work again. I don’t like the soft cover book as much, but it is still nice. Do you sell these?
The soft cover book was just to try out the weaving technique and see how it works. I got a bit ambitious and tried to weave through too many slits – I think that simplicity is the key!
I plan to sell the books as soon as I have a large enough stock and my web site is finished. Certainly before Christmas, I hope. I aim to take commissions for personalised books as well. More details to follow…..
What a cool idea Diane. To make a book with different types of papers. it sounds so obvious when you say it but it’s just not something that you find anywhere. maybe you have found a niche market here that might be worth exploring further.
And I love that red and grey book. What a great look.
I can’t take the credit for using different paper inside – that must go to the intended recipient of the book! It is nice to personalise a book though. I hope to do much more of that.
Thanks for your comments!
I like both versions and the soft cover idea is great from the drawing perspective …..
I love the red and grey……terrific colour combination and design…..you certainly have great ideas Diane :)
The card wrinkled up as I was bending it to weave in and out of the slots but as a concept I like it. A comment on another post has given me another idea which I am very excited about!
I’ll probably need another trip up to London first though, unless I can find what I need on the internet!
Oh the joys of living in the countryside!
Great blog and awesome crafts.
Thank you, I enjoyed reading your blog and web site too. Your paintings and photographs are lovely!
very beautiful sketchbook! I’m searching for the perfect kind, as a student in architecture and i liked that idea very much… may i ask you what the binding is made of? i see some copper rounds … but i don’t understand what they are..
I was thinking to make a japanese-stab like sketchbook but this one is way better :)
And yay for different kind of papers! I love to have sketchbooks where i can chose which one i like best for my drawing.
If you put ‘Christmas has come early’ into the search box at the top, you will see the first book I made like this and you will see a photograph of the hole punch I used to make this sketch book and the brass screw posts which hold the book together. They fit the holes perfectly and you can buy them in silver or brass colour and in different lengths.
Hope this helps :-)
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