Altered Silver

I'm posting what I can tonight because it'll be a week or two before the next post. So here are more pages from Odyssey, my ongoing altered text project.

 

« pages 124 & 125 »
These pages followed the usual process. Gesso base, lightly sanded, watercolors, then colored pencils. Page 125 also received a bit of dotting with a Pitt brush pen to add texture.

Text:
It was always his real name,
his real name,
that name.

He asked.

Now, bleedin' frantic surprise registered alarm.

He asked.
He asked.

No. Never.
I was stubborn.
Never.

He asked.

Oh, he mustn't. Oh!

 

« pages 124 & 125 »
Page 124 bears little resemblance to how it started out; it just kept changing along the way as I added this and modified that. Finally I stopped fiddling with it, and this is how it was left.

The media for page 125 is almost exclusively gesso and gel pens, with a small amount of watercolor. I'd just gotten a set of 36 gel pens in a rainbow of colors and had to play with them in nearly all my active projects at the time.

Text:
I have not failed.
I have faith.
He told me that I know,
I made this choice.
God yes,
I must have.

First dare ask questions.

cynical, cynical hell.

 

 

« pages 162 & 163 »
It's been awhile, and I don't remember now if page 162 received gouache or not. It was either that or the usual watercolors, as page 163 got. I think there's a bit of gel pen on 162 also, but it might be Pitt brush marker. In fact, the colored pencils on both these pages were most likely the water soluable type, at least in part. I began a love affair around that time with watercolor pencils (and crayons) that shows no signs of letting up; I'm not complaining. *smile*

Unusually, page 163 also includes some collaged paper, the second instance of collage in this book. It was the best way - really, the only way - to add the handwritten note to this page. But I can also say it was a bit of a challenge cutting the paper to fit between the selected words and rivers.

Text:
I wandered since the compromised aftermath,
movements tampered and suspect.
Tear-stained, ravaged, scared, shocked...
I laughed.
I laughed.

All I had seen: left or adjourned or forgotten.
I couldn't find anything that resembled it.
To talk to him, I hung on to
the handwriting
he handwriting.

More spreads from Odyssey, my (primary) ongoing altered text project and the reason for bringing this blog back from the brink of death. As usual, these pages are presented in no particular order.

 

« pages 56 & 57 »
The media for this spread are watercolor with colored pencils, and of course, the Pitt pen for lines.

Text:
in the moonlight
tonight, tonight
in the dark
late at night

after a hard word,
make pleasure oddly.
I said don't, don't.

 

« pages 150 & 151 »
For page 150, the media were gouache and marker. For 151, the blue areas received a watercolor base, then Prismacolors for all the rest, including over the blue.

Text:
Out on a limb,
out, out, out
Even I'm shocked.
I'm getting the handwriting inside.
You were right...I love.

I. want. my. finish.
The good lord told me
the same damn thing.

feeling... feeling...
in the wilderness.

 

----
Blog note: A few at a time, oldest to more recent, I'm restoring the lost images from the previous AlteredText1 posts. Posting them at Flickr now, which means they should be stable and accessible at least as long as this blog exists.

Here are a couple more spreads from my ongoing altered text project, Odyssey. The project continues to move right along; I have about 70 pages completed at this point.

« pages 164 & 165 »
The media for p. 164 is watercolor and colored pencil; for p. 165 they are gouache and Sharpie. Each page also had a gesso base layer.

The design of p. 165 was inspired by an old, syndicated episode of Frasier in which a painting could just be seen on a far wall of the main apartment. I only caught a quick glance of it, but it suggested a somewhat-cubist flower vase that seemed like a cool idea to include on a page.

Text:
thought...ask...spoken...
messages...tell...statement...
told...asked...messages...
question...statement...type...
working working

I was working and just splitting persistently in need.
It was obvious that I was going to be
I was going to be
!psycho!
He infuriated me.
I want a good thing now!


« pages 84 & 85 »
The media for these pages include watercolor, colored pencils, gel pen and Sharpie (alcohol ink pen).

Text:
He was a little absent-minded.
"You have been spoiled probably."
Increasingly I suspected he was splattered crazy.

Sorry.
No way.
Manic outrage didn't ruffle the truth.

 

 

. 

Here are a couple yellow/orange/brown spreads of altered text from my long-term Odyssey project.

« pages 128 & 129 »
The media for these pages include watercolor, gel pens and Pitt markers, on the customary base of gesso.

Text:
fervent hope
I would hope
would hope
I would hope

I agreed to see him.
To my surprise, I discovered two.
They glowed.
They wait.

He would be giving his part.
His part: extraordinary, personal regard, completely convincing.
He loved.
We shared.




« pages 156 & 157 »
The decoration of page 156 was inspired by a banner advertisement I saw somewhere on the internet. (Nice to know those ads are good for something.) Over the gesso base, I used wax crayon and colored pencils.

Page 157 required more effort than it appears. After the gesso base, I used Masquepen to lay down liquid frisket over the selected text areas. Aside from a quick test on a far back page, this would be the first use of frisket in this book. I also masked off the page margins with low-tack tape. With the page thus prepared, I sponged on a variety of watercolors, adding a few splatters as well. When the paint was dry, I lifted the tape, removed the frisket and added the brown marker outlines. I'd thought I was going to do a bit more, but the sponging turned out so well that I decided the page was finished.

Text:
I told myself I was likely to fade
(knowing he was magic)
I said I was telling myself I was circling.
I couldn't see.
I waited, then said...
Some questions, my questions, answer the questions!
I said, I said, I needed to know, I needed!

Now?
— Bientôt.




Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, palimpsest, altered text, mixed media

Squeezing in a slice of time to post another spread from my ongoing altered text project Odyssey.

« Pages 140 & 141 »
Page 140 illustrates an intense colloquy, and the page design is intended to depict the contrasting emotions of the speakers. I love it when I find such useful paragraphs as this one containing four instances of the word "notice;" great providence! This page is gouache and colored pencil on a gesso base.

Page 141 continues the story after the conversation falls silent. Gesso base followed by watercolor and topped off with Sharpie extra-fine markers.

Text:
he:
can't you

No, I can't.
I'm okay with--
But I don't like--
I don't think--
now I feel--
I think--

he:
notice
notice
notice
notice

I--
I'm--
what the--

He knows no problem.
As I paused, I looked for one
Then I examined, studied the problem.

watching him watching
He said nothing to me.





Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, palimpsest, altered text, mixed media

Here are a couple more spreads from "Odyssey," my long-term altered text project.

« Pages 136 & 137 »
For such a very brief page (only 4-5 short paragraphs) as 136, there was quite a gathering of the word "do" (also present in "does" and "don't") which was impossible to pass over. Fortuitously, the page is also in an ideal location of the story for indicating a wholehearted agreement. Media: gesso, ballpoint, colored pencil.

The design of page 137 was executed by half-following a watercolor tutorial for painting raindrops. The technique was necessarily modified for application on the book's page, over gesso, and it was finalized with assistance from colored pencils.

Text:
I do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do!

I had a long report.
I have a report to agree to wager Camelot.
I was going to ask, absolutely sure.
I love.

Process On.


« Pages 158 & 159 »
Page 158 had been inked about a year before it finally received color with (Staedtler Karat Aquarell) watercolor pencils which I hadn't had the year before. The page turned out pleasantly jewel-like, so I believe the wait was definitely worth it. Media for this page include gesso, watercolor, watercolor pencils (used dry), black marker and Zig Opaque Writer (for the white dots).

Page 159 received its treatment very early on, in the autumn of 2005, decorated with violet and light blue ballpoint pens. Some time later, I added a light watercolor overlay to a few small sections.

Text:
I asked.
And somewhere in my mind deeply, I discovered unmistakable recognition.
I unmistakably know.

(lover)
All of it was God.
All of it was me.
(lovers)
(lovers)
(lovers)
All of it was one one I.




Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, palimpsest, altered text, mixed media

More pages from "Odyssey," my ongoing altered text book project.

« Pages 80 & 81 »
The media for this spread were watercolors and colored pencil on a gesso base.

I was attempting to use the colored pencil to emulate a particular appearance that I'd seen in an abstract oil painting. About halfway along, I forgot about the oil painting look and just continued playing with what the pencils were doing. In the end, portions of it do resemble oils and other portions resemble watercolor, and whatever it all adds up to, I like it.

Text:
My investigations
(so twisted)
bad news - good news
I impatiently need time for God and angels.

To me, the best thing was doing some good.
That interest didn't impress him.


« Pages 82 & 83 »
For these pages, the media include watercolor, gouache and colored pencil on a gesso base.

I had big plans for that wonderfully large expanse of page 82; I wanted to really show off a melding of watercolor and gouache where one flows smoothly into the other. Let's just say there are some plans (of any size) that don't exactly get off the ground as anticipated. Ultimately I like what emerged on this page, even though it's quite different from the "big plan."

Page 83 is also different from the original intent, but again, I'm not having any problem living with how the page finished up.

Text:
[a big open space]

Your point, I said, was a joke.
(tease)
(joke)
You admitted that you may be a jokester.
But why?



Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, palimpsest, altered text, mixed media

« Pages 60 & 61 »

Media for these pages include gesso, marker, ballpoint, watercolors, colored pencils and opalescent smiley-face stickers.

Yes, really. Opalescent smiley-face stickers. They don't look exactly as the scan shows (because of the opalescent factor being difficult to scan) but it's close enough to give a pretty good idea. Which came first, the stickers or the page? The stickers came first and presented the challenge to work them into my altered text book without disrupting the "storyline" of it. Happily Page 61 offered some perfect text that also worked well for the story. (Members of the AlteredText Yahoogroup will notice Tom's "cracked plaster" look used here, too.)

Text:
Why? Why? Why?

Most of me knew
Most of me adored
Most of me laughs
Most of me was surprised.

I saw smiling.
I saw smiling.


« Page 67 »

Media for this page were gesso, marker, watercolors and colored pencils.

This recto chapter opening faces a blank page for which my current plans are to leave blank. One of the early pages to be worked, I fiddled with a comic-style mock shadow to make one section of text visually indent into the paper, and the other section to be raised above it. If I'd been planning ahead instead of just fiddling around, the final effect could've been much cooler.

Text:
Everyone sticking out
or everyone ignored.
Who 
changed
changed
changed
the suggested need?



Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, palimpsest, altered text, mixed media

A year after beginning my altered text project, it is still happily in progress and slowly but surely coming along. Here's some more from it.

« Pages 70 & 71 »
The media for this spread include watercolor and colored pencils on a gesso base.

After having completed the initial inking and while in the middle of applying the gesso, I noticed there was a much better word choice for "description" on page 71. The word "supposition" was right there on a nearby line and would have expressed the thought more clearly. Oops, the opportune time was already well past so I continued onward, but it sure was interesting at that late time to discover the (previously overlooked) better word. Once spotted, it was blatant and hard to believe I'd missed it.

Text:
I was frustrated, ill-equipped...
I was seriously, defiantly seriously,
thinking about leaving, retiring strenuously.

...couldn't believe, couldn't believe...
Now you know, I said in defense,
supporting a description that he was defeated.

Somebody should have told me.




Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, palimpsest, altered text, mixed media
 

At long last, a chance to post some more pages from my altered text project. I'm nurturing a new routine at this time, in which I ink a new page and gesso a previously-inked spread each day. I'm still scrambling to fit in coloring/painting time, but it's good to have progress of some degree being made on a more regular basis for this project.


« Pages 78 & 79 »
Media for page 78: gouache and watercolor on a gesso base, with gel pen spiral doodles.
Media for page 79: watercolor and colored pencils on a gesso base. This is the page that taught me (the hard way) that even permanent Pitt pen can be water soluable when the pen is used over gesso. :o

Text:
Step back.
Quietly he managed to hold off from (I assumed) a fever so high.
I was distressed, abrupt, pontifical.
...but of course...no doubt...
I tried to talk.
The silence was scary...long...long...


« Pages 68 & 69 »
Media for this spread: watercolor, colored pencils and a fluorescent highlight marker on a gesso base. This spread was colored before I was regularly sanding the gesso, so it shows a lot of texture, and I used a white eraser on the margins (and text balloons) after the scan was made, so the pages look a little cleaner than this shows.

Text:
Running chances to make the goal.
Risky.
Suddenly puzzle, danger, risks.
Russian roulette.
Dangerous risk.
Was love toast? toast?
Suddenly...freaked-out...have to...stop.
Don't.
No.
--interrupt--


« Pages 58 & 59 »
Media for page 58: ballpoint pen and wax crayon. I positioned the eight squares first, then sought the text within those squares. It forms a rather staccato delivery, but I find it works out here. The hatched lines were done with blue and green ballpoint, cross-hatched within the squares. Lighter shades of blue and green crayon were colored over the hatching in the center and border areas. This is the first use of crayon in the book, but probably not the last.
Media for page 59: watercolor over a gesso base, followed by streaks of gel pen in the outer sections.

Text:
struggle...don't start...
don't start...vivid...
sorry...to sneak under order...
head off...and couldn't know...
I never would have the answer.
I'd seen! I'd seen! through a sudden high fever...
But receiving absolutely nothing admitted.



« Pages 3 & 4 »
Media for these pages: watercolor, gouache and colored pencil on a gesso base. Despite how it looks here, these two pages do not face each other as a spread but are back-to-back and together form the very short Prologue. Page 3 is the first text page of the book, the one I initially stared at for over an hour before flipping through the book for an easier place to begin. Six months later, the page (and its verso) fell together with surprising and satisfying ease. Sometimes it pays to wait.

Text:
I lived.
Peaceful, curling dark mists.
Camelot.
I never expected I could open.
Luminous, beautiful, bright, he sang out love, a magic message of matters of life and death, extravagantly to change my life.

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Technorati Tags: altered books, art journals, palimpsest, altered text, mixed media