artist book Archives - Linda Germain

Make a brown bag book

artist book, book arts, handmade books, inspiration, mark making, techniques / Linda Germain / February 5, 2024

Today, I had the urge to make a brown bag book. I share with you my process so you can make some too.

First I took the bag apart, so it was one flat sheet.
Then I ironed out the wrinkles
Painted white gesso over the store advertising
Added some bold black india ink marks
Cut into long 10″ strips (final size 6″ x 9″)

The cut the long 10″ strip into 6″ x 9″ sheets
Fold each in half and stack inside each other to make a single signature
Clip together and punch 3 holes in the spine
Follow video instructions to sew together

A couple of extra tips:

It is ok if the pages are not perfectly the same
Make sure your holes are big enough for easier sewing
You can choose how you stack your sheets so you create a blank page spread and then a painted spread. Play with how you stack the sheets together to create a book that suits your style.
Press with heavy weight to get it to lay flat

I hope you enjoy the process as much as I did. Check out the self study classes available now.

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Consider not knowing – OK

artist book, mixed media printmaking / Linda Germain / January 11, 2024

Often I like to know how things are going to play out.

How the impression will print
How the marks will work together
How the colors will combine

But this wanting to know ahead of time can stifle creative exploration. So I try to remind myself to:

“Let go and see what happens. It is only a piece of paper.”

When I can suspend the need to know and embrace the attitude of play, then new ideas often show up. It can take some time and warm up exercises to move beyond the need to know. That is one reason that I love the gelatin printmaking process. It is easy to grab:

a couple of stencils
stamping tools and
a stack of paper and start printing.

The feedback I get is immediate and I can quickly adjust my approach to change the results. I say if I get 2 out of 10 prints that I like then that is a success.

What about you? Do you allow yourself the space and time to venture into the unknown? Try it out next printing session and see what happens.

Check out the self study workshops that are available now. And jump into creating and not knowing.

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Layers of marks – a story

artist book, inspiration, mark making, mark making tools / Linda Germain / November 3, 2023

I like to make marks with:

stamping tools and the gelatin plate. The details can be amazing.
a pencil/crayon and my non-dominate hand. The line can be raw and authentic.
small hand made stamps. The patterns can be very stabilizing.

I combine these and a few other mark making techniques to make visual story books.

If you are curious about this approach to art making, then check out the details of the upcoming class Make Marks + Books.

This 7 lesson class is about exploring mark making and using a few simple printmaking techniques to make artist books. We will use a non-linear approach to layering and responding to the images. It is intuitive and yet guided by design principles, like variety and repetition.

Join me in the online class – Make Marks + Books. Give yourself the gift of time to explore.

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Looking at Faces

artist book, drawings / Linda Germain / August 17, 2023

I have been playing with quick sketches of faces.

I think my seeing is improving. I am starting to see the different shapes that the facial features can take.

I practice my “seeing” the shape of eyes, nose and mouth, as I watch videos and talk to people. I am enjoying this relaxed way of learning.

I have been exploring different drawing materials. My current favorites:

Gray crayola crayon
Prang watercolors
Black gel pen

I like to work in 2 or 3 small notebooks at one time. That way the watercolors have time to dry. I have bound a bunch of Enso’s that I did earlier this year. I was wondering what I was going to do with all those zen circles.

They are painted on 90 lb. drawing paper and the paper is a little warped, but I was still pretty successful in using the double fan glue binding to hold 20 pages together.

If you have a lot of single sheet papers that you would like to bind into a book, then check out the class Bound Prints. I teach you how to use the glue based, double fan binding.

Enjoy!

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Tiny house collage with book pages

altered books, artist book, book arts / Linda Germain / June 13, 2023

I wanted to share a quick little collage project that I did with the margins of old book pages. This is a fun thing to make when you are stopped and don’t know where to begin.

Materials needed:

Book pages with various shades of white and yellow
Glue and scissors
Colored paper or book cloth
Pencil, pen or markers

I am sure you have most of these supplies in your studio. Watch the video and build a village!

If you would like to explore more ways to use books in your art practice, then check out the online course, Books as ART Materials. Class starts soon.

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