This is my first self-bound book; ( I'm a little bit proud, I admit)....15x19,5cm (approx. 6x8 in),made of 300g (140 lb)hot pressed Fabriano Artistico Extra White satinated watercolour paper, some Canson-Mi-Teintes paper in earthtones and some economic sketch paper in grey.
The reason why I tried bookbinding was the following: I tried (and bought) so many sketchbooks with different papers, but was not happy with the quality of the paper...you all know the problem, I guess...Sometimes, the paper is too thin to do a watercolour wash and it buckles, sometimes the paper is too rough to do a pen and ink sketch...Or you have a watercolour paper, but the surface is not o.k. and the colours sink in and all the brightness disappears...Then you have the little Moleskines: practical, a bit too small and a surface which rejects watercolour...The watercolour Moleskine has fine paper, indeed, b u t the format is horrible...The only ready made sketchbook I can really recommend for its paper quality is the one from Vang (Vangerow), DIN A5 (approx.6x8 in) with 60 pages of 230g e x c e l l e n t watercolour paper, but is has a disadvantage, too: it is only available in a horizontal format which I dislike.
So now at least I have a sketchbook with the papers of my own choice with white and middle tone papers, for all purposes, and the format is o.k., too. (Although I did some concessions to that: the Fabriano paper is not cheap, so I had to use a format which produced as few waste as possible which lead to this format). My preferred format for a sketchbook, however, will always be 17x17cm (approx. 7x7 in), square.
Das ist mein erstes, selbstgebundenes Buch. (Ich gebe zu, ich bin etwas stolz darauf). Es besteht aus 300g Fabriano Artistico Extra White satiniertem Aquarellpapier, einigen Seiten Canson-Mi-teintes-Papier in erdigen Tönen und einigen Seiten aus grauem, billigem Skizzenpapier.
Der Grund, warum ich mich gezwungen sah, Buch zu binden, war folgender: Ich kaufte in der Vergangenheit so viele verschiedene Skizzenbücher, war aber mit der Papierqualität und -zusammensetzung niemals wirklich zufrieden. Mal war das Papier zu dünn, um zu aquarellieren und es verzog sich deshalb; mal war es zu rauh, um mit der Feder zu zeichnen. Oder es handelte sich zwar um Aquarellpapier, aber die Oberfläche war so schlecht, daß die Farben einsanken und jegliche Leuchtkraft verloren ging. Dann gab es da die kleinen Moleskines: praktisch, ein bißchen zu klein und ein Papier, dessen Oberfläche Aquarellfarben abstößt...Das Moleskine-Aquarell-Skizzenbuch hingegen hat wirklich gutes Papier, aber das Format ist schrecklich, lang und schmal, mit herausreißbaren Seiten...
Das einzige Skizzenbuch, das ich wegen seiner Papierqualität uneingeschränkt empfehlen kann, ist das von Vang (Vangerow), DIN A 5, mit 60 Seiten bestem, 230 g schwerem Aquarellpapier, das die Farben leuchten läßt, aber auch dieses hat einen Nachteil für mich, denn es ist nur im Querformat erhältlich.
Nun habe ich also ein Skizzenbuch mit dem Papier meiner Wahl; mit weißem und mittel getöntem Papier für alle Techniken, und das Format ist auch o.k. (obwohl ich da einige Zugeständnisse gemacht habe, weil das Fabriano-Papier nicht billig ist und ich deshalb so wenig Verschnitt wie möglich produzieren wollte. Dies führte zu diesem Format, wobei ich immer noch denke, daß für mich ein Skizzenbuch idealerweise das Maß 17x17cm haben sollte, also quadratisch!
7 comments:
These look beautiful and you are wise to use such versatile paper for watercolour, pen, graphite and even gouache . I must say I enjoyed ordering my own selection of paper (Sanders Waterford) and size - guess what 7 x 7 ins - and come to that the cover from the wonderful Cambridge sketchbook maker. Your own creative sketchbooks are every bit as stunning. Well done. Something I could never tackle for myself.
Joan, very interesting that you,too, like this 7x7 format!-And don't say you couldn't tackle it; it is easier than you think...
And I am proud of you too! It looks and sounds great.
I bound a book last month and love it so much and for the same reason, it is just the way I want it.
Gorgeous! And making your own books is really addictive.
A wonderfu first try.
Good luck in making more.
A fabulous first try I would say. I have bound a number of books at various times, have even sold some. I find them all very difficult. I am not a sewer or small motor skill person nor good at measuring. That said, I love the finished product so much and get so much satisfaction at having done them that the struggle to get them done is worth it. My one word of advice is, hey waste that bit of paper to get the size you love. those cut off bits of paper can be used for other things perhaps.
Claudia, your book looks like a treasure, beautifully bound and filled with exactly the paper you want and need. I admire your courage in tacking this project.
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