Above: the full batch of regular size Nideggen journals. Click on the image to view an enlargement.
The above photo of mine doesn't do justice to the range of colors in the books' fabric and decorative papers, but people following the current saga of the Nideggen batch of books will enjoy this overview of the completed books. (The two smaller books made in this batch were shown on my July 6 post.)
There is something wonderful that happens when you get that cloth and decorative paper wrapped around a bookboard! Papers that might have looked "marginal" before simple glow in their new incarnation. (To see the papers before they were bound see my July 3 post.) This is of course a great argument for making more and more books and seeing how this transformation happens. Before you discount a dubious piece of decorative paper I hope you'll push forward and discover this for yourself as well. My students are always pleasantly amazed and I am always thrilled with their results.
Even sheets that seem a little dull or lackluster can be revitalized with a little bit of contrast. For the center two books in the front row I wasn't sure I liked the original purple, orange, and blue mix of colors. I took a scrap and spattered it with metallic gold paint and bingo, it was just the contrast I was looking for. Dick liked the gold flecks on the paper when paired with the green fabric, but not the gold fabric. I liked it on both and so I splashed them both with gold. Sometimes the "answer" to the contrast question is to splatter a really dark color, perhaps a navy blue or a sepia brown.
Something else that I find very interesting when binding, the same paper looks totally different with different fabrics. It's obvious, but until you see the end result it doesn't necessarily make an impact. Again, the two center books are a good example of this. With the gold fabric all the browns come out of the mix. With the green fabric the purple really gets some umph.
I suggest that you keep scraps of your handmade decorative paper. Label the colors, as well as the order of application or any other application techniques, on the back. I have never gone back to remake a paper, but I know when I stop keeping these swatches that will be the day I need to recreate one. I do find that taking the swatches to classes where I teach this technique is helpful to the students who have essentially one go to get something down on paper before we move on to the binding.
I do find that before I make more decorative paper if I spend a moment looking at the scraps in my scrap box I will move on from color combinations I've been using a lot and push in a new direction, or I will gravitate back to familiar colors, only in different applications, because I really like those colors. Either way having the scrap box is a good thing. (I use a flip top archival storage box from Light Impressions: originally made for packages of photo prints I think.)
When you label your decorative paper also be sure to note the type of paper you used as a surface. Not every paper yields the same results with the same technique! Also after painting or after applying paste, it may be difficult to recall, without a visible watermark, exactly what paper you were working with. I used Strathmore Aquarius II for the decorative paper on these books. It is thinner (80 lb.) than the 140 lb. paper I usually use, so it was easier to wrap around the boards, but it wears differently, better than paste paper, less well than some thicker papers, of course depending on how hard one is on his book.
But more important, I find that Strathmore Aquarius II results in softer patterns than the hot press 140 lb. watercolor papers I might use (I use several different ones for decorative paper). Keeping track of the paper you use for your decorative paper will allow you to repeat looks you like, whether or not you want to use the same colors!
Have some fun with color today, whether you're binding, painting, quilting, or simply looking at the world around you because the sun is shining!
Note: I appreciate the inquiries about this batch of books, but they were all spoken for when I started. Because of other work commitments I won't be binding again until October. (Well actually I have to make a class sample next week, but that's a bit different.) The Nideggen paper was a special bulk purchase and I will not be binding with it again in the near future, except for custom orders.
just beautiful.
Posted by: Velma | July 10, 2009 at 07:36 PM