It was 100 degrees yesterday (in PA!) and it probably was again today for all I know. Luckily, the Sketchbook Project is a bit more portable than my paints! Today I worked on the cover of the sketchbook from the air-conditioned comfort of my living room chair.
I started off with a template I made in Adobe InDesign...
Then I drew my star shape using the lines as a guide to make sure I stayed straight.
You can't have all the little pieces connected, otherwise you'd just have a big hole in the cover, so I tried to leave some space in between. After the outline was done, I filled it in with pencil...
This will help when I go to transfer it to the sketchbook. I flipped over the page and traced my outline with a black Pitt Artist pen so I could see it more clearly.
Then I transferred it to the sketchbook cover, pressing hard enough for the pencil underneath to create lines on the cover, which I again outlined with the black pen.
Next was the cutting, which unfortunately didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped! The tip of my exacto knife broke off, and I had some near misses in cutting out the pieces. But overall it wasn't a total disaster. I colored in the star in the middle with black pens to cover up some of the lines I missed.
The star in the center is very fragile... In retrospect, I should have left more room between the pieces, but I'll know better the next time I try something like this. I will probably add a thin sheet of vellum underneath to lend more stability and create a frosted window effect.
The first page of the book will be one of my starscape watercolors showing through the window, which means I'm going to have to add watercolor paper to the book. When I unbind it, I'll be adding two sheets of watercolor paper: one just under the cover and another as a centerfold. Then I'll paint the cover with an indigo blue watercolor wash and rebind the book with metallic embroidery floss.
Next week I break out the watercolors!
I know what you mean about the heat!! We've been under a heat wave here in southern OH...temps at 100 most of last week!! Fortunately my "studio" is in my finished basement!! Love the star template...I don't think I have a steady enough hand to cut one like that!
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