A Book a Day? What's Up With That?


Hi, and welcome to this year-long project. So what's this all about and how did it happen, you might ask. In mid 2007, artist Noah Scalin decided to make a skull out of anything he could find, every day for a year. It stretched him in ways he never imagined, as an artist, a writer and a person. His experience turned into a blog that went viral, and then a book.

Others have picked up on the idea: 365 Hearts, 365 Masks, 365 Bears drawn on a cellphone, 365 paper napkin mustaches.
I wanted to play, too, and I chose books. I love books, I know a bit about making books (thanks to my talented book-maker sister, Marilyn Worrix), and they're broad enough in definition to give me a lot of creative leeway.

The whole point is not really the books. The idea is to stretch myself in many ways as an artist and a person, to set up a discipline, stick with it and see what that teaches me.

I hope you'll join with me and follow along on the journey chronicled here, and let me know what you think.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Book 214 - "A Little Nonsense" from Edward Lear - Single Sheet Folded Book

Something easy tonight -- a little 6-page book folded from a single sheet of paper. Fun to make and, I hope, to read.

I've always enjoyed the nonsense songs and writings of Edward Lear, ever since I first came across one of his silly songs in college. And I remember how surprised I was to discover he was a Victorian writer. He seemed so contemporary to me in the '60s. For this book, I choose three of his limiericks and the three matching illustrations. I picked a pair of self-portrait line caricatures--one for the front cover and another for the back.

This single sheet folded book structure is the easiest thing in the world. The only tricky part is getting the text laid out correctly so it reads right after the book is folded. I just folded up a prototype from computer paper then marked the front and back covers and numbered the squares for the interior pages, noting their orientation on the page as well (up or down). After you've marked it, unfold it flat and you have a very clear map of what goes where and in which direction.

I laid out the drawings and text in PageMaker. Most likely any other desktop publishing or design program would work as well or better.

This would be a nice simple project to try with kids using t heir own drawings.







1 comment:

  1. I've never heard of him. He is silly and the drawings are funny, too. A little nonsense is good for the soul! ;)

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