Tag Archives: Paper

Making Sketchbooks With Colored Papers

Posted on by

There are dozens of videos and blog posts demonstrating how to make sketchbooks.  This isn’t really one of them.  Then again, it sorta, kinda, is.  I’m writing it because I mentioned that I’d made a couple small sketchbooks using brown paper in the Facebook group, Artist’s Journal Workshop.  One of the regulars in that group asked if I could show how I made them.  This post is what you might label a “Cliff Notes” (does that date me too much?) version of how to make a simple sketchbook.  I encourage you to surf through the YouTube videos for better explanations.

What are we talking about here?

These are the two sketchbooks I’ve made.  Both are identical in construction.  Both are 5.5×8 in size.  The one on the left contains brown pages, cut from plain, cheap postage wrapping paper.  I find this paper works well for pen drawings and you can even add light washes but it’s not very happy with too much water, however.  The cover of this sketchbook is made by cutting a file folder to size.  The benefit of this approach is that it’s already folded and the material is designed to act as a cover.  In short, it’s ideal and easy.  The binding tape (optional) is gaffer’s tape, a black, a fabric tape used to hold everything and anything together.  Think of it as a heavy-duty masking tape, which could substitute for this purpose.

The second sketchbook is composed of several colors of Canson mi-teintes paper.  I believe this is listed as a pastel paper but people use it for pen and watercolor sketches as well.  It’s not quite as smooth as the brown paper but it’s much thicker.  The cover comes from a 12×12 sheet of heavy, patterned paper I got in the scrapbook section of the art store.

fff

fff

Besides the paper materials, what tools are required?

  • straight-edge
  • knife (Xacto, roller, or paper cutter)
  • measuring device
  • something to poke holes in the signatures (the folded paper) – I used a compass point
  • large needle
  • thread (see below)
  • scissors

Cut and prep the paper

To make a 5.5×8 sketchbook, you need a bunch (I used 6) of paper squares cut 11×8.  I’ll leave you to your devices to achieve this.  Then you need to fold each sheet so that you have a two-page signature leaf that’s 5.5×8 inches.  Use something hard and with an edge to crease the fold as tightly as you can.  I found it desirable to actually iron (low heat) the brown paper pages as the paper came off a roll and tended to retain that curve.

Once you have these pages, simply stick them, one inside the other, creating a single, 12-page (or 24 if you count both sides) signature.  The inner pages will stick out slightly beyond the outer pages.  Trim them if this concerns you.

Cutting and prep the cover

If you’re using a file folder for your cover, just cut it to fit around the paper.  Otherwise, fold your cover stock in half and cut it to fit around your paper.  That’s all there is to making a cover.

Sew it together

There are lots of fancy ways to sew up sketchbooks.  This ain’t one of those ways.  My goal wasn’t to replace my beautiful double-stitched Stillman & Birn sketchbooks.  It was to tie a few pages of colored paper together so I could sketch on them.  So…easy-peasy…we don’t do hard.

Before we get started, notice that there are three holes in the spine of this sketchbook.  These are punched before we sew.  Make the holes a bit larger than your threading needle to make the sewing easy but not so large that things get sloppy.  Punching those holes could be considered the ‘hard part’ but remember, this is easy-peasy sketchbook making.

Get out your phone book and flop it open on a table.  Open your sketchbook to its middle and stick the spine into the centerfold of phonebook phone book.  Take your sharp thingie (you chose your tool), and stab through the entire sketchbook halfway down from the top and through the fold of the sketchbook.  The phone book will hold everything in alignment and provide a place for your sharp gizmo to exit.  Easy peasy.  Now repeat that process an inch from the top and an inch from the bottom.  Voila, the “hard part” is done.

Let the sewing begin.  Use whatever thread you like but it should be fairly thick.  There are special bookbinding threads available but I just used several strands of cheap embroidery thread and a large embroidery needle.  There isn’t much to this…really.  It’s harder to explain it than to do it.  I’ve made a crude drawing of the thread path as an attempt to eliminate the proverbial 1000 words a picture replaces.  The green arrows are when the thread is outside the book; the red arrows indicate the thread inside the book.

There is one thing to note.  The thread going into the center of the book, and the thread coming out of the center of the book, should be on opposite sides of the long run of thread that goes from top to bottom on the outside of the book.

Once you do this threading, just grab the two ends of the thread and pull everything tight.  Then, tie a double knot in the two ends.  Notice that this will cinch down on that long thread running along the spine.  That’s why the ends need to be on opposite sides.  I hope that is more clear than it sounds (grin).

Cut off at least one of the loose ends.  Whether you cut the other end depends upon whether you want a long end to wrap around your sketchbook to keep it closed.  I did this for my mi-teinte paper book because this thicker paper doesn’t want to close completely flat.  I cut both ends on the brown paper sketchbook and then covered the entire spine with tape.  I think this actually provides a better, cleaner solution but to each his/her own.

So there you have it – how I made a couple of quicky sketchbooks.  Hope this helps someone.

 

 

Stillman & Birn Sketchbooks: Excellence In Execution

Posted on by

I’m new to sketching, but  I’ve been doing it nearly six months and I am a paper and pen freak.  I just love them and in spite of hammering away on a computer all the time, I have at least a dozen pens inked up and various waterbrushes, brush pens, pencils, nib pens, and paint brushes in use regularly.  It’s nuts, I know, as my abilities with these tools are limited but, for me, playing with the tools is just as important as doing art.

My approach to paper has been different.  I’ve spent the last bunch of decades as a fountain pen user – almost exclusively.  Fountain pens require high-quality papers if you’re going to enjoy them to their fullest.  So while I’ve tried the ever-popular Moleskine journals, my requirement for a paper had been reduced to “Is it made by Clairefontaine/Rhodia?”  If it was, I was happy.

This didn’t work for sketching, principally because I needed a more absorbant, and thicker, paper so I could play in the watercolor pond.  So I started a quest for sketchbook/journals.  I just counted and I have NINE of them (remember, I’ve only been doing this for six months).  When the dust settled, I had fallen in love with the Stillman & Birn Alpha series sketchbooks.  The binding is bulletproof and the paper far exceeds expectations when it comes to handling lots of water while doing watercolor washes.  I reviewed the Alpha here, comparing it to my Fabiano Venezia sketchbook.  Here are a couple of the sketches I’ve done in it to give you some idea of how the paper responds.

And so I was like a kid at Christmas when the postman arrived with my order of new Stillman & Birn sketchbooks.  I wanted to a spiral-bound book for field sketching and while my pack can’t handle 9x12s, I bought the 7×10 Alpha for that purpose.  I like the idea of sketching without having a double-page spread to contend with, mostly because I’ve watched other artists working with spiral-bound journals in videos.

I also picked up a twin of my current 5.5×8.5 Alpha hardcover journal, though it’s not an identical twin.  Instead, this one is from the Stillman & Birn Epsilon series and while paper thickness (100lb) is the same, it has a smoother ‘plate’ finish.  The Alphas are quite smooth but, being curious, I thought I’d give an Epsilon a try because a couple artists I admire are using them with good results.  Of course, they could create great art on the bottom of a cafeteria table.  They say that watercolor tends to puddle a bit (the effect on all smooth surfaced papers) but that they actually like the results.  I’m excited to try the Epsilon.  You can find more info about these journals on the Stillman & Birn website.  Oh…and no, I don’t work for them.  I just like their journals.

It’s said that the scariest thing for writers and artists is the blank page.  In my experience, there’s some truth to that.  Somehow, though, I’m really excited about having a couple hundred blank pages to fill.  What are your favorite journal/sketchbooks?

When Was The Last Time You Looked At A Fire Hydrant…

Posted on by

… really looked?  Me neither…until I got interested in sketching.  Even then I didn’t give them a glance until I found the sketching work of Pete Scully.  Pete is a master urban sketcher, mostly doing sketches of buildings in the US Davis area and mostly of the buildings there in.  I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from his work.

One of the things Pete is known for are his fire hydrant sketches.  He’s found some of the most wonderful fire hydrants in his travels and he’s made a point of sketching them.  This caused me to look at the fire hydrants we have here in Quebec City and I was surprised to find that ours are pretty cool too.  They are mostly a pale red (sun bleached?) and yellow but their shapes vary as they represent vintages that probably date from the Victorian era to the present.  I had fun drawing this one and so I share it here.  One in a Stillman & Brin Alpha journal using a Noodler’s Ahab flex pen and Winsor & Newton watercolors.

My Ideal Idea Book – What’s Yours?

Posted on by

Most writers have some method for recording ideas, making location notes, or maybe even sketching out a scene.  What’s yours? Mine must be portable as I never know when a good idea will start rattling around in my head.  I go for walks and just think about my current project.  Scene ideas will pop into my head, a whole new story idea might come up, or maybe I’ll have a great dialog idea.  I’ve got to write it down.

For most, the tools are a notebook and ball-point pen, though I’m not alone in being particular about my writing utensils.  What makes me anguish a bit more than most over this idea is that in addition to being a writer, I’ve got a fountain pen fetish.  If I’m going to put ink to paper; it’s got to be done with a fountain pen.

Fountain pens generate special challenges.  Those of us afflicted refer to the perfect triad of paper, pen and ink as though it were some magic potion, and I suppose it is, as a great pen only writes well with the proper ink on the proper paper and finding this combination is much of the fun of writing with fountain pens.

I’ve tried many combinations and I’ve found the ideal combination for my needs.  The goal is actually more complicated than just finding pen, ink, and paper that work together as I’m a guy.  I have no purse.  Some might say I have no brain.  So in addition to the general need for pen/ink/paper compatibility, I need:

1) The pen needs to be cheap because I’m prone to losing them.

2) The notebook must be small enough to fit in my back pocket.

3) The ink needs to dry quickly as I need to be able to make notes and shove the notebook back in my pocket without smearing.

Here’s my solution.  All of this stuff, except for the Moleskine notebook, is available from my favorite fountain pen store, Goulet Pens.   Nicest people on the planet and they provide a fantastic online shopping experience.

Cheap Pen & Quick-Drying Ink

Platinum Preppy pens are simply the best bargain ever.  With a street price around four bucks, they provide a smooth-writing pen and a natural for a portable, cheap pen system.   If you lose one it’s not a burden to replace it.

Platinum cartridges have a small ball inside them that help to keep ink flow even when the pen hangs out in my pockets for long periods of time.  The problem is the ink, which isn’t bad, but I’m fussy about my ink.  Goulet Pens has a tutorial that talks about converting a Preppy to an eye-dropper pen (you fill the entire barrel with ink) and I’ve done that.  While I’ve never had one leak, I don’t like the idea of carrying them in my pants pocket and elimination of the cartridges also means elimination of the small ball in the cartridge.

But it’s easy enough to use a syringe to fill any cartridge and that’s the approach I use.  My ink of choice for portability is Noodler’s Bernanke Blue (also comes in black).  It flows well from Preppies and it dries almost as quickly as I can lay it down.

Small Notebook size

The critical dimension for my portable notebook is that it must fit in my back pocket.  Thus, Levis determines my notebook size.  I use a Moleskine notebook as it fits well.  I have tried a Rhodia Webnotebook as the paper is superior but it’s just enough larger that it’s uncomfortable to carry on my butt.  If that’s not a problem for you, I highly recommend this notebook.  So, for me, Moleskine it is and my ideas are captured and I get to enjoy writing with a fountain pen.  What do you use to record your thoughts?

 

 

 

 

This Was A Good Day

Posted on by

I spent the morning revising the final chapters for my upcoming novel, Her Book of Shadows.  I really enjoy the revision process as all of my ideas really come together during this time.

And so I was pretty happy already, when someone knocked on the door.  It was Mr. Postman and he had a box for me.  It was from Goulet Pens, those guys I talked about a few days ago.  It was a small order but I’m sort of a nut over pens and paper so I was excited.

As is typical of Goulet Pens, the package is bullet-proof.  I think Brian and Rachel own an interest in in a bubble-pack company but I’m not complaining.  What it means to me is that everything arrives in pristine condition and I get to burn a few calories digging my way into the the stuff I ordered.  Brian could teach a thing or two to other people who ship products to me.

This order was only two items, a small Rhodia Dot Pad and a spiffy Rhodia Webbie.  I love the small Dot Pads as simply scratch pads, mostly because the sheets tear off cleanly and can be used for sketching as well as writing.

I tried Rhodia notebooks a couple years ago when I got frustrated with my Moleskines, whose paper had gotten flaky, at least for fountain pen use.  The problem at the time was two fold.  Rhodia insisted on putting their logo on each page.  This was a small problem and I could have overlooked it.  A bigger problem was that the darn things wouldn’t lay flat and it drove me nuts.  I used that notebook for about a week and pitched it.

The new Webbies, though, are wonderful.  They use 90-gram Clairefontaine paper which is my favorite and they’ve removed their name from the paper.  Most important, however, is the new Webbies lay flat…flat…flat.  As they have always been, Webbie covers are beautiful.  I love mine.  Yes, indeed, it’s been a good day.

Cheers — Larry

larry@larrydmarshall.com