DRAW AWESOME ALBUM PART 5 - MORE BINDING Assembling the end papers and title page Before beginning the binding of the cover, the first step was to assemble the end papers and title page for the front of the book. Both had tabs to be inserted into the slot between pages 1 and…
KURETAKE COMBINATIONS - SMOKY BRUSH PENS AND GRAPHITE WATERCOLOURS After a busy day and an afternoon struggling with figures in the accounts, no more time or energy for a studio session. I watched a DVD instead, and while doing so, I tested my new Kuretake brush pens with their graphite gansai tambi paints.…
DRAWING PRACTICE FROM A COUNTRY DIARY Since our outing to the village fete on Saturday, I have been feeling very tired, and after I'd compled my necessary domestic tasks, there was nothing left in the energy bank for studio time. After a few days of this I was beginning to feel a bit…
NEW KURETAKE PENS I have my friend Caroline on the ArtKula forum to thank for these - she is the great temptress on the forum, introducing us to all sorts of art materials that we've just got to have!! These water-based brush pens are a six-pack of gorgeous smoky grungey colours. Right up…
VILLAGE FETE On Saturday we attended the annual fete in the village where we used to live. It's always a fun day out, and I usually find plenty of bargains on Annie's white elephant stall. This year she celebrated 40 years of manning this stall, selling all kinds of things people don't want…
DRAW AWESOME ALBUM PART 4 - END PAPERS, COVER BOARDS AND TITLES End papers These are the papers which line the inside of the cover and back the first and last pages of the book. The pages of this book are 12 x 12 inches and I needed large enough paper. My hubby…
DRAW AWESOME ALBUM PART 3 - EMBELLISHING THE FORE-EDGES The addition of the hinges does add some thickness to the bound edges of the pages. The stack of fore-edges is therefore slightly thinner than the binding. This doesn't matter, but having this bit of leeway, I decided to go a bit bonkers and…
DRAW AWESOME ALBUM PART 2 - HIDDEN HINGE BINDING The Hidden Hinge method There are several ways of doing this, but I chose to make separate "hinges" from 1 1/2-in wide strips of card which I then scored and folded down the centre. These strips were inserted into the open edge of each…
DRAW AWESOME ALBUM PART 1 - PREPARING THE PAGES Background Throughout last year I took part in the online drawing course "DrawAwesome" presented by Phil Davies. I came across his ad on YouTube with a link to a free tutorial, and I was hooked. He is an amazing teacher and very early in…
KINTSUGI AND THE ART OF COFFEE MUG MAINTENANCE Cracked mug I was devastated recently to discover that my favourite mug had developed a crack, and was leaking. I was given this mug many years ago by a friend who knows I love cats, and I love all the fun kitty pictures on it.…
