Altered Silver

This altered book project, Angels Among Us (named after the title of the book), is really just an excuse for me to play with colors. It's a small (5x8", 127 pages) hardcover with many Gustave Doré woodcuts and various clip art angels used as spot illustrations. This book found its way to me by being a remainder under $2 that I selected sight unseen, solely on the basis of its title (if you've looked around my blog or website, you know I have a thing for angels). When I later held it in my hand, I could see how thin it was and couldn't imagine putting a lot of dimensional embellishment into it. I decided to go with some light collage and color - lots of color.

This book's paper loves water. It loves it so much, it just soaks it right up and shares the bounty as far as it can. Not a good trait; it's like trying to paint watercolor washes on thick newsprint. After that discovery, I chose to first cover each spread with a base coat of acrylic medium. That seals the paper and provides a great surface for the media to follow.

The next stage is to cover each spread with watercolors. Different color choices are made for each spread.

Then I dig into my digital stash, pick out a photo of a cemetary angel, prepare it to be used as a base sketch (very unlike a photograph), and print the alteration. I cut it out from the paper and glue it into a waiting spread. I really like bringing this digital aspect into the physical book. Sometimes additional items are glued to the spread as well, including quotations, other images and punched shapes.

The real color fun comes next as I go over the angel sketch and the entire spread with crayons and colored pencils. Other media can come into use also, like Zig markers, as long as it doesn't add bulk, although I may add a few dimensional items later.

I'm not sure any of the spreads are officially finished as yet, but for now there are these few worth peeking at and more to come.




Keywords: art,altered book,angels,collage,mixed media

After the leaves had been sealed on both sides (as previously described) and were thoroughly dry, I could start working on how to restore the natural color they had when I initially gathered them off the ground. I tried several different ideas, but let's cut to the chase here and go directly to what worked best: chalk. I use Carb-Othello, but any good brand of artist's chalk should work as well. (Not sidewalk or blackboard chalks.)

The technique is happily quite simple.

Using appropriate colors, gently apply the chalk to the top of the leaf. "Gently" is the keyword here; after falling and drying, leaves are similar to old, fragile paper which will easily chip, tear or break, so use very little pressure. I found the weight of the chalk stick itself was usually sufficient. Stroke in a direction away from the stem. Change colors as needed for the main colors desired. (No need to try to accentuate every subtle change of hue. Those variances will still be apparent later.)

Wet a good bristle brush, then blot the brush so that nearly all the water is removed. The brush should be only damp enough to affect the chalk. Stroke in a direction away from the stem, and the applied chalk will spread and blend.
(Ignore the watercolor crayon shown in the photo. Chalk=good; watercolor=bad.)

Then I let the leaves dry completely, which took about 4-6 hours. After a bit of testing, I decided to give them a second application of the chalk & water. For the second time around, I used the same colors of chalk, but only needed to apply it to select areas so that round went faster.


Results were well worth the efforts for both the yellow and red groups!

When the color-enhanced leaves had dried over 24 hours, I again put them into my book-stack press and allowed them to remain there undisturbed for over a week. This was to extract any lingering moisture and improve their flatness. Now they can be stored in whatever manner is convenient, and they're ready to be used in altered book or collage projects whenever needed.




Technorati Tags: altered books, collage, mixed media, paper arts, leaves

I had a couple opportunities this autumn to gather some very color-filled maple leaves, aiming to preserve them for future use in some paper arts project. So here are the details of what I did to them.

The first group I gathered was about 30 which were mostly bright yellow. The second group was only 9; these were more red, with touches of yellow. For the most part, each group received the same treatment, with one exception.

The first step was to find a sturdy book that had large enough dimensions to accommodate the largest leaf. As soon as possible after gathering them (even minutes can count once you've brought the leaves indoors), I put the leaves into this book, two or three into a page opening, with several pages between each set of leaves. The book was then placed on the hardwood floor and about 15 additional books were piled on top of it. This was my makeshift "press." The first group remained in the press for 3 days. The second group remained in the press for a single day (fully 24 hours). There was no significant difference noticed from the time variance. Each group pressed very nicely and the colors of both groups were quite muted (to shades of brown) when removed. (I also have, however, some ultra-flat leaves that remained pressed for over two weeks.)

Next, the leaves had to be sealed to stop their color from changing further, to prevent mites, bacteria or acids transfering from the leaves to anything they come into contact with, and to strengthen the leaves for later use as embellishments. Sealing was done with acrylic...and this is where the two groups deviated.

The first group (mainly yellow leaves) was sealed with matte medium. Using a foam brush, I applied the medium over the top of the leaf first and set it aside. When it was dry, medium was applied to the bottom of the leaf.		The second group (mainly red leaves) was sealed with colored glazing medium (1 part paint to 11 parts glaze). Using a foam brush, I applied yellow glaze to the bottom of the leaf and set it aside. When that was dry, I applied orange glaze to the top of the leaf.
What I want to remember for any "next time": - Using a colored glaze for the sealer is a help in rebuilding the lost natural color. - Applying the sealer to the bottom side of the leaf first helps keep the leaf flatter through the sealing and coloring stages. - I placed the sealed leaves onto a clean sheet of wax paper to dry, supported by closed paper bags. I found it was good to return to them after about a half hour, lift each leaf and reposition it slightly. This discourages any bond to the wax paper that might be forming and makes the leaves easier to remove from the wax paper later. - Make absolutely sure each leaf is fully dry at each stage before doing anything to it.

You'll notice in the photos that I left the stems in place. I didn't seal these because I intend to remove the stems before including the leaves in any project. (If I was going to retain the stems, they'd need to be sealed also.) I kept the stems on through this preservation simply because they make convenient little handles for moving the leaves around individually.


Here are the first group (left) and the second group (right) in the process of drying after being seal-coated. Drying time took 6-8 hours for each side. Trying to move on before the leaves are completely and fully dry is bad news; don't ask me how I learned this. :x

The next step, restoring the lost colors, will be covered in tomorrow's entry.



Technorati Tags: altered books, collage, mixed media, paper arts, leaves

Less than a day after writing about my Angels & Aliens project, the Pentech GelGrip pen I was using for the sketching ran out of ink while on duty. To finish the drawing, I grabbed the Penstix micron pen that I'm using in my altered text book (which I haven't described here yet), but the micron gives an entirely different writing experience. It's more of a "final lines" kind of pen, not really for "sketching."

So, while I managed to finish this particular spread with the micron, it really is not at all suitable for drawing. With any luck, I'll find a suitable replacement soon, perhaps as early as tomorrow. I don't think Pentech makes this particular type anymore (I'd bought it many years ago), but maybe there'll be something similar.

It's just so sad to have the demise of a worthy pen. At least its final gasps went to a good cause: my art. ;)


[edit 10/30/05]: A new pen has come to my rescue. It's a Bic Smoothie retractable. They call it a "ball pen" (not a ballpoint), and it writes like a rollerball. Feels good to use and happily doesn't bleed through the A&A paper. :)




Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, pens

I just came across this little toy, by way of Meggiecat's blog archive. It's a little software goodie (for Windows) called Quiltmaker that is designed for "sketching" a quilt design. Check out the details and download your free copy at the Quiltmaker website. While I'm sure it comes in handy for those interested in making quilts, I can't help but think of all its other possible applications. You could play with making GraphArt, for instance, before touching a piece of graph paper. Maybe design page backgrounds to print out, test out color combinations for a collage, or stick with black & white and make rubber stamp designs.


Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, collage, paper arts, paper crafts, mixed media

I was embarking on a new project, to make a quick, daily collage in the spirit of a "gesture drawing." I wanted to keep all these collages together in the same spot, but after putting the first collage into a composition book, I discovered that the composition book just wasn't going to work out for me. Others seem to be having good results with them, but I simply couldn't accept the too-thin paper as a support for glue and pencil and paint and whatever else might be needed.

I looked around and selected an old hardback book I'd recently acquired in a book exhange. It's about collecting postage stamps as an investment practice and was published in the early 50's, so it's quite old and out-of-date. The previous owner had generously marked most of the pages with some kind of black pencil or crayon, to highlight certain paragraphs and statements. I decided to leave those be and just accept them as "lovemarks." The cover and pages still seemed to be in pretty decent shape, however. Very carefully, I removed my paper bits from my first collage in the composition book. I'd used glue stick for adhering them, so they came up relatively easily.

I transferred the bits into the stamp-collecting book, retaining the same arrangement, but needing to compress their positions somewhat to adjust for the smaller dimensions of the page. I had used watercolor over the initial glueing, so the pieces had some strange colors on them. I didn't want to attempt using watercolor in the stamp-collecting book, so I used colored pencil as a substitute. And voilà, my first "gluebook" collage was in its new home.

What can one actually do with a composition book? I've got three of them now, and it seems like they should be good for something, right?

I decided to paint this one. The cover, that is.


I sponged on individual layers of sienna, yellow ochre and dioxazine purple. Finally, I sponged on clear iridescent medium to give portions a bit of shine (if I followed these steps again, I'd apply the iridescent medium with a brush to keep it more consistent, although it is less metallic-like than it looks in this photo). Then I added a paper bit on one side so that it would be obvious which end was "front." The uninspired scrap I grabbed for this purpose is a multicolored happy-face that says, "There's always something new."

I must say, this composition book looks very enticing now, less utilitarian and more inviting, like it's just asking to play a role in "something special."

But currently, I'm only using its pages as undersheets (to catch stray glue streaks) when glueing my daily bits.




Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, collage, mixed media, gluebooks, composition books

Why are so many people using composition books for their gluebook support?

In USA, composition books are a familiar item most of us have grown up with. They're about 7.5" x 9.75" and usually contain 50 sheets of paper folded in half (for 100 pages), with center-sewn binding and a foldover chipboard cover (typically with a black/white mottled pattern). That seems all well and good for writing on with a ballpoint pen, but the (wide-lined) paper in a composition book is only 14-16# weight. That's extremely thin paper to be expecting it to hold up to the rigors of daily collages.

And yet, there are many people out there using composition books for daily collage and journaling, even applying watercolors, acrylics and a wide assortment of markers and pens. Here's one, and here's one, and here's another, and another and yet another. I tell ya, they seem to be everywhere! (And each one of these links is definitely worth visiting!)

Since so many are doing it, I figured it must be possible, and I acquired three composition books to get myself started.

It was August 28. I only remember because that was the date recorded for my first gluebook entry. I'd decided I'd seen enough and read enough, and now I had my composition book, so I might as well just jump in to glueing: i.e. making a quick daily collage. I paged through a couple magazines, pulling out what seemed right for the time, then I glued those pieces onto the first page, along with the title/price sheet from the new composition book pack. When all the pieces were in place, I looked at the expanse of empty lined paper showing between the bits and decided to add a watercolor wash.

The ultra-thin paper, already feeling cranky after having paper bits glued onto it, became downright ornery with the addition of watercolor.

I looked through a couple more online galleries of composition book journals, elegantly covered with paints and glued bits and markers and just about anything. I turned back to my cantankerous composition book and decided to seal a few page-pairs together with acrylic medium (much as I'd done with the F&W pages) to give the paper added strength. I made three page-pairs and hoped they might settle themselves when dry.

They didn't.

I added pale watercolors using very little water and hoped the touch of color might perk the pages up.

It didn't.

I liked my initial composition, my first "gluebook" collage.
I didn't like the composition book I'd put it in.

This tale will continue in tomorrow's entry.



Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, collage, mixed media, gluebooks, composition books

When I first started seeing things called "gluebooks" in web galleries, I didn't have a very high opinion of them. I saw standard composition books used as a place to glue daily ephemera. Got some junk mail that day? Glue it into the composition book. Went shopping? Glue your receipt. Emptied an office product? Glue down the box cover. Snacked on a candy bar? Glue the wrapper. Prepared ground beef for dinner? Glue down the meat weight label. Etcetera ad infinitum ho hum...

What's the point of that???

I decided I wasn't interested in them, yet it seemed that once gluebooks had entered the realm of my awareness, I began to see more and more of them without looking for them. And although most were of the glue-down-the-daily-ephemera variety, there were some standouts, collages being called "gluebooks" that actually approached a level worthy of being called "art" (such as nearly all of this entire website). I started being more intrigued, but still didn't "get" what gluebooks are about. If it's just about gluing down daily ephemera...uh, why do that? And if it's about building art collages in composition books, why not call them "art collage books"?

I began searching "gluebooks" on Google, viewing as many galleries as I could find. I also began seeing less of the glue-down-the-daily-ephemera type and growing more intrigued. At last, I came upon Lisa Vollrath's Gluebooks and Journals gallery and that led me to her Discovering Gluebooks article, her Throw-Away Collage article and Throw-Away Collage gallery. One of Lisa's links led me further on to Jane Dickinson's Throw-Away Collage-A-Day Journal page, which also provided me with the answer to my most pressing question: "Treat this as a gesture 'drawing'," Jane had written on her website, "knowing every one won't be a masterpiece, but it's a great way to loosen up."  Eureka! Jane's statement spoke to me in the art terminology I was familiar with. Gluebooks then, were a paper arts version of a gesture drawing! All that clicking you hear is the gluebook imagery puzzles I'd seen falling into place for me at last.

With this resonating definition, the urge to join in followed quickly. To simply make a quick "gesture drawing" (albeit in collage) without trying to "make art" as such, and to do it daily, a "gluebook" becomes an exercise in familiarizing oneself with one's tools and methods as well as assisting in building a (relatively quick) body of work. As I've recently been slowing down on my F&W work, unsure of what I want to "immortalize" on all those book pages, the "gluebook" or quick daily collage, seemed an ideal way for me to attain more finished bookwork without agonizing over what it should become or how to get there.

My initial gluebook pages can be viewed in this August 2005 BlogSpirit album. I tried to also make albums for September and October, but BlogSpirit is bogging down too much with photos. However, all the gluebook entries can be found by selecting the "Gluebook/DailyCollage" category on the left column.

[edit 10/9/05]: BlogSpirit is feeling well enough again that I was able to upload both September and October gluebooks to photo albums (found in the righthand column). If the albums stop working for any reason, the tip for using the Categories works well regardless.




Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, collage, mixed media, gluebooks

After playing with acrylic paint for awhile, the brushwater takes on some interesting colors. This water is destined to be disposed, but it can assist in transforming plain paper into something more special.


When my brushwater becomes very saturated, I grab a couple sheets of solid tone paper. I crush, crumple, twist and otherwise mutilate the paper short of tearing it. Then I simply put the paper into the brushwater, sometimes in a crumpled ball, sometimes folded, making sure every part of the paper gets touched by the water.

Now the paper sits in the brushwater for at least a half hour; the longer it remains, the more intense the results can be. Meanwhile, I prepare a section of the kitchen countertop by laying down a sheet of plastic large enough for whatever size the soaking paper is (usually 2 sheets of 8.5x11"), then cover the plastic with several layers of newpaper. On top of the newspaper, I add two paper towels opened flat.

When the paper has soaked long enough, I remove it from the brushwater carefully (one piece at a time) and gently squeeze most of the water out of it while holding it between my palms over a sink. The paper is extremely fragile at this time, being full of liquid. When most of the water has dripped off from the squeezing, I open the paper so-very-carefully and lay it flat over the prepared paper toweling. When it's nicely flat, I overlay the paper with another layer of paper toweling and press and smooth on/through that top layer (so that I'm only touching the paper towel, not the wet paper). This helps flatten the larger folds and crinkles, plus extracts more moisture (which is going into the paper towels and the newspapers). After pressing and smoothing for a bit, the entire works is left alone to dry (with the top layer of paper towel still in place).

After about an hour (more or less), the paper is dry and the resulting decorated paper can be viewed and worked with. The paper could also be ironed to remove the last bits of crinkles, if desired.


This works pretty well on every color of 20# paper I've tried (from very light to very dark) though naturally, the results will also depend on the color(s) of the brushwater. When I had a pale yellow brushwater, I used white paper scraps. For the wrapping paper (shown in the photo in both untouched and brushwatered versions) the brushwater was just a blah kind of mud-color, yet it reacted with the paper in a quite pleasant manner.

All of the newly decorated papers will find their way into my collages and altered books at some point.



Technorati Tags: altered books, collage, art journals

There are many techniques for transfering printed (or photocopied) material from one surface to another. Some of the methods can get pretty complicated. I've tried out two of the simplest-seeming methods so far.

Inkjet onto acetate
Basic instruction: Print from your computer onto a sheet of acetate. Burnish it to the new surface.
My findings:
- It works. Keep in mind that the resulting print will be reversed, so if you want to transfer text, it needs to be reversed before printing; then when you transfer it from the acetate, it'll be the right direction.
- It's messy; the reason the transfer works is because the acetate isn't porous so there is nothing to absorb or hold onto the ink. This means that touching it or brushing the printed area against anything will transfer the ink also, so it's best to print only one item at a time.
- The resulting transfers I got were generally satisfactory, but less than thrilling (partly due to an inadequate printer).

Acrylic Medium
Basic instruction: Apply the medium in several layers to form a plastic film over the printed item. Then remove the underlaying paper and adhere the film where desired. (Any acrylic medium will do the trick, even Mod Podge will work since it's acrylic-based. Either matte or glossy finish is fine; gel medium will also work but take into consideration that it requires longer drying times.)
My findings:
- It works well.
- Mildly messy; use a sheet of wax paper to keep your work area dry and collect the little paper bits.
- The resulting transfer looks as if the original had been printed on the secondary material.

Here's how I used the medium transfer method for the "dans le jardin" spread.

I clipped this image from a garden sales catalog. The arched trellis appealed to me as an invitation, a gateway to cross through. I applied about 6 layers of matte medium over the image, allowing plenty of drying time between each one. (I've since found that I can get by with as little as 3 layers of medium, but the final film is necessarily weaker and more prone to tearing.)

When I figured I had built up enough layers of medium on the image -- and all was thoroughly dry -- I turned the image over and used a paintbrush to add a touch of water to the back of it. (This photo might seem confusing at first; the back of my chosen garden trellis displayed another garden trellis. Easy distinction: This backside picture has no arch connecting the gateway trellis pair.)

I let the water have a few moments to soak into the paper, then began gently rubbing my finger in a circular motion against the paper, starting from the center. I continued the gentle rubbing until the paper began to dissolve and peel.


These are more progress stages. Notice the picture from the frontside (the arched trellis) is starting to become more and more visible while the removed paper bits are building up in little piles around the working area. I kept going until the colors and detailing of my chosen picture were quite visible, using a touch of the brush to add moisture whenever the paper started feeling too dry.


When I was satisfied, the film was flipped over again (back to its original direction) and adhered into a waiting spread with matte medium. My camera isn't strong enough to show it but the transfered image is transparent; the book text that shows through the gesso also shows through the transfered picture.

More on this spread to come.




Technorati Tags: altered books, collage, art journals,mixed media