Abecedary

A is for Aspiration or Acrobat or Adjective or...
B is for Blink or Bed or Bone or...
C is for Curry or Cushion or Contemporary or...

How do I choose my words for the Alphabet book? Right now I have a list in the book of lists that I just keep adding to. The problem becomes when there are twenty ideas for A and only three for X yet they have to work together in the layout of the book. A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z. Just a little work to deal with and that's not mentioning that I'm still deciding between a single addition or multiple. Just a little bit of work.

As for "Mouth" I'm working on the final page which will be posted soon.

A New Cover

The cover of the book had been bugging me for a while, the binding looked too decorative and light weight compared to the simplicity of the rest of the illustrations. By making the binding fuller and bolder it is now more in sync with the simplicity of the drawings.

I have also started sketches for my next project; an abecedary (alphabet book). I was looking for a project that gave me a lot structure with an abecedary I know how many pages and the focus of each one. I tend to be more creative when I work with limitations.

What I have so far is that it is going to be a square book with pages at least six by six, I am waiting to see what words I come with to choose a theme or media to use but I have narrowed it to lino prints, collage, or a mix. The advantage of the lino is that I can make more than one copy. In fact as I am writing this I am picturing a book mixed of prints and altering the pages also.

Well before I can begin that project I have one more face to sew for the mouth book.

The next face

I'm beginning to believe that while I am calling this book Mouth the eyes are just as important in the whole expression that that is unintentional. This latest picture is called endearment.

Line Drawings in Thread

The idea of someone's mouth alone doesn't work as a composition, except maybe in a coloring book. I've decided to add the full faces of my subject this way the viewer gets more of a sense of what the person is doing. On this page he (my father) is reading something that he has just been asked to read out loud. The way he is thinking affects his entire posture and facial expression. As I search for page subjects for the odd numbered pages I am struck how while mouths are my original focus it is their entire expression that appears as I transfer them from photos to line drawings. Most of the photos that make good drawings aren't the most memorable photos, they have to have more defined lines in their faces and folds in their clothing. I feel like I give them a new life as a sewn sketch.

The use of the thread itself limits the sketch in terms of curves and details and these limits have made doing this more enjoyable. I am finding that I work better on projects that have boundries. In this case it is not only the sewing but that I am only using the few colors of thread that we have around. As each image appears in thread it seems to be in a pause, not a pose, as if a moment later the thought would be gone.

The even numbered pages are actual photos that have been places between two sheets and sewn closed. Those have other requirements, they need to have a high contrast of lights and darks for the picture to be understandable through the glassine. (Unfortunately those pages don't scan very well). 

Bookmaking Project

This is the cover of my latest project: Mouth. It is a hand sewn book made out of glassine illustrated with thread and photos. They way people hold them when they aren't using them or when they are talking has been catching my eye lately. Most of the illustrations will be done in thread from photos of people. I tried asking people if I could take pictures of their mouths and all that got me was a bunch of people making faces at the camera. I still am not sure if actual photos have a place in the book or if it is a one or the other sort of thing....