Spent some time today working on the altered book project I'm doing with illustrator Katie Nairne and photographer Ella Dickinson (who also happens to be my sister!). Since starting work as a print technician, I seem to have collected a small mound of mono print offcuts, so I was keen to use them for some collage pieces this time round. It is always interesting to see what the others have come up with, and this time was no exception!
I started by responding to some of Katie's pieces, as she always has the book before sending it on to me. Her infinite road page seemed like the perfect place to incorporate some of the awesome wrapping paper the book arrived in (always a nice touch), hence the appearance of a new sphere featuring a bird. From there it seemed natural to add more colour in the form of two more spheres.
The page with the etching of Jesus on a stamp started as a standalone print, but when I read the words on the page it seemed to fit so well that I added it to the project, using watercolour pencils for the background. On reflection, they dried much lighter than I had anticipated, which is worth noting for future projects! The pegasus page was another addition to the white mare which had already been drawn by Katie. I felt like the phrase 'Wings of fire spread from the old mare's shoulders', was too good to miss with so many flame coloured offcuts in my mono print armoury. Once again I was struck by the freedom that collage can bring to making an image. Everything is less controlled and more ad hoc, which makes the process more enjoyable (and at times more frustrating!)
I had also been hoarding an old 'Winter Blackbird' linocut which had a few errors, but which I thought might work for the book. Sure enough, the word 'winter' seems made to fit the image, and I like the subtlety of the way that page turned out. The last page came somewhat from a place of wanting to use up leftover pieces of paper, and from wanting to make something of the phrase 'crouched dizzily against the precipice-face'. This page was the quickest to create, and the most enjoyable. Whilst composition was considered, I allowed the paper shapes to dictate the image more than I have done in other collages, and I'm really pleased with the vibrancy of the outcome. Now the book heads South to Ella - in record time!
I started by responding to some of Katie's pieces, as she always has the book before sending it on to me. Her infinite road page seemed like the perfect place to incorporate some of the awesome wrapping paper the book arrived in (always a nice touch), hence the appearance of a new sphere featuring a bird. From there it seemed natural to add more colour in the form of two more spheres.
The page with the etching of Jesus on a stamp started as a standalone print, but when I read the words on the page it seemed to fit so well that I added it to the project, using watercolour pencils for the background. On reflection, they dried much lighter than I had anticipated, which is worth noting for future projects! The pegasus page was another addition to the white mare which had already been drawn by Katie. I felt like the phrase 'Wings of fire spread from the old mare's shoulders', was too good to miss with so many flame coloured offcuts in my mono print armoury. Once again I was struck by the freedom that collage can bring to making an image. Everything is less controlled and more ad hoc, which makes the process more enjoyable (and at times more frustrating!)
I had also been hoarding an old 'Winter Blackbird' linocut which had a few errors, but which I thought might work for the book. Sure enough, the word 'winter' seems made to fit the image, and I like the subtlety of the way that page turned out. The last page came somewhat from a place of wanting to use up leftover pieces of paper, and from wanting to make something of the phrase 'crouched dizzily against the precipice-face'. This page was the quickest to create, and the most enjoyable. Whilst composition was considered, I allowed the paper shapes to dictate the image more than I have done in other collages, and I'm really pleased with the vibrancy of the outcome. Now the book heads South to Ella - in record time!
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