Printmaking Show sign-up went up. Organizing this is going to be a little bit of fun & complications. Of course, in order to obtain a gallery, I have to get up at 5am (or earlier) to go to school and stand in line for gallery sign-up. And pay $15 deposit. I will soon be an awesomely known person in the art building, perhaps.

In History 1B we discussed how Christopher Columbus believed that by finding a route around to the other side of Asia, the forces of Christianity would have a back-door by which to attack and overtake the Turkish Empire occupying Jerusalem. Not to mention the sweet trade route that going direct to China would provide. Also, scientists already knew the diameter of the Earth, so if America hadn't been in the way, Columbus and his crew would have starved on ship on their way to Asia. Columbus, I have concluded, was kind of an ass.

Bookmaking class was all about combining signatures to make a case-bound (or hardbound) book.

It helps to build a mock-up of your book project. I built this at 1/3 size. The final book will be a little larger than 9"x 9". The signatures are not stitched, but labeled and folded together so I can see how the pages will wrap. This helps a ton in planning things out.

Here is the edge of my mock-up. There are 18 sheets of paper, two per signature, for a total of 36 leaves. All this translates to 72 pages. A huge book, especially since the final paper will be heavy.

First, the signatures are punctured and stitched, then they are sewn together using binding tape, which can be ordinary linen or the specialized and more expensive stuff. Then you put them in a vise, and glue the signatures together, while it is held in a vise. I can't stress enough how much the glue smells.

The tape going under the signature stitching. The tape will be firmly attached to the Cover boards. I'll get pictures of that Monday.

I love bookmaking. It is the fusion of crafts and art that I love to sink my teeth into.

Oh, and yesterday, I did do some drawing in Life Drawing, but our model had no muscles or skin. The things I drew in Intermediate Life drawing yesterday I will post tomorrow.

Drawing and painting from models all day is a case of serious Awesome.