Bookbinding Class with Roz Stendahl

Simple Round Back Spine Book
click image to enlarge

Have I mentioned that I was taking a bookbinding class with Roz, from Roz Wound Up?  I have long been interested in learning to bind my own sketchbooks.  There's something very appealing to me about adding this deeper level to my sketchbook practice. 

Years ago I started keeping a sketchbook using junk books from Ocean State Job Lot. Then I graduated to a Moleskine.  Great for markers which is generally what I was working with at that time. (Faber Castell Pitt Artists brush pens, still love them too!) ) Then I discovered UniBall pens and the Yarka kids set of watercolors. If you used them without too much water they adhered pretty well to the Moleskine's slick paper.

click image to enlarge

Next, I was in Rhinebeck, NY painting the Hudson River Valley for a group show I was invited to participate in, in Rhinebeck.  There's a great art supply store in Rhinebeck called straightforwardly enough Rhinebeck Artist's Shop. There I found the Pentallic Nature Sketch which has 130lb paper in it. While not strictly a watercolor paper it's more of a watercolor paper than most mixed media paper, imho, and I loved it the moment I saw it. Heavy paper is something I love. The only thing I didn't like was the paper cover which inevitably would start to rip off the spiral binding, They have since changed their front cover to a heavy cardboard (like the back) but they've covered it with faux leather type stuff in forest green and their cover design embossed in silver. Not bad. 

click image to enlarge

After filling a couple of those, Stillman & Birn arrived on the scene and well, wow, they set a new standard for artists' journals. I started with the Alpha series but immediately switched to the Beta and Zeta with the 180 lb. mixed media papers (rough and smooth, respectively) in them. I also love them because the covers are perfect for creating artwork on. I collage, paint,  mono-print with a Gelli plate (btw the label on the book above is a mini Gelli print) and I love the feeling of ownership that gives me. The journal is mine from cover to cover.

click image to enlarge

Learning to bind my own books really deepens my relationship with my sketchbook though. Now I'm not just creating art in my sketchbook, the book itself is becoming a personal work of art in it's own right. The whole process from choosing the paper, to choosing the book cloth or making the paper that will cover the book boards, to choosing size, shape, number of signatures, all the way to the color of the thread used to sew the signatures together becomes a creative process and an opportunity for creative expression. 

click image to enlarge

This is the second book I made in class. I love the linen book cloth and would definitely use that or something similar again. It seems rugged and natural, and that aspect seems perfect for taking out into nature to sketch.  

click image to enlarge

The class has been fantastic, extremely detailed, so while you will probably make mistakes because you're a  novice ( I certainly did!) you'll know what to look out for and make far fewer mistakes and probably not have a complete disaster because of Roz's attention to detail in her instruction.  There is also an amazing amount of personal help from Roz for an on-line experience. Really, the next best thing to being there. 

click image to enlarge

I've always been intimidated by book binding. The process seems like alchemy to me. You start with some paper, boards, string and cloth and then somehow if you say the right incantation and make the right cuts and folds, you get a book, and in my head a book, even a blank one is a sort of scared thing. A book houses knowledge, fact and fiction, poetry and prose, art and photography. Books transport you if you read them and transform you if you write or illustrate them.  While my journals are purely personal, I view myself as writing and illustrating books non-the-less. Sacred work in my book! 

click image to enlarge

The process is both harder and easier than I expected. First, it's a lot of work, physical work with your hands (and arms) cutting, tearing, rounding the spine board, etc.  I was actually amazed at how quickly many of the steps went, but equally amazed at how many individual steps there were. I'd have to make a lot of books to be able to remember how to put a book like this together from memory. On the other hand, the whole construction process didn't take that long even for me doing it for the first time, and that includes watching the videos, or portions of the videos several times. I worked on my book in blocks of work time, not all at once, and still I think the first book was done in three days time, and I was also working on the second book at the same time, so when my first book was entirely done the text block for the second was already completed and the case was assembled but not covered. Putting together the second book only took an additional day. 

Today, I did some testing on the Gutenberg 130 gsm2 paper we filled the books with. Using some scrap I accordion folded a 5 in. wide piece and started doing sketches to see how the paper behaved for me.  This is a much lighter weight paper than I am used to but my first impression was very favorable.  

click image to enlarge

Here's the first test sketch of Molly, using Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and QoR watercolors. First I love the texture and the color and those are two big pluses for me.  The watercolor application was only light washes of color which caused only a slight waving of the paper. Not a big deal, but that will really require me to be spare with the amount of water I use....which could be a good thing forcing me to be conscious of  how much paint I put and where. It may also require me to stop working and not over work in the watercolor department and that's probably a very good thing. There's a little ghosting on the reverse side from the pen, I don't know how I'll feel about that. I'll have to work on the other side and then evaluate. 

Meanwhile, I'm planning my next book binding project! Can't wait!!