Sketch Book Work

I started my project by researching into different ways of using paper to create illusions of dimension and depth, to make a space more than the 2D material I'm using. My separate research page lists artists and techniques that I've found to consider and try out in my own work.

Book Binding

Zine Workshop

When looking to create a zine for this workshop, I wanted to be able to experiment with paper folding so that I was able to incorporate and gather more ideas for my main project. I really loved this 'Crime Scene Zine' by Trevor Yardley Jones and how the book folds out to create scenes contained in this small space. I also think that because the book when folded up reads from one way to the other, even when folded out into the scenes, it still reads that way and your eyes go from one room to the next so I think that's a interesting way of creating narrative without it being necessarily a sequential one.  

I like that I've used extra pieces that fold out (the fridge and record player) as it makes it more interactive for the viewer and gives them a chance to explore the narrative further on their own terms. If I was to take this idea forward, I think in terms of materials I would use grey board instead to reduce the bulk and make it sturdier and to also bind the book with fabric to give it a more polished look. 

I came across this style of book which is usually in the form of a children's story book with cut outs and some text for each panel underneath. I thought this was a good way of incorporating all the elements I have experimented with, like cut outs, paperfolding, dioramas and potentially pop ups too.

I was inspired to do cowboy / western inspired scenes because I remembered in western films how they're filmed in different angles. Like in a comic book style of angling a frame in my opinion. In a shootout when there's a closeup of someone's eyes, a shot looking through their legs with their opponent on the other side, a cinematic shot of a layered looking landscape. I thought that this would be fun to experiment with layering of paper and trying to achieve dimension and depth.

I folded concertina pages in half and then used that difference in dimension to create layers of a scene. I did notice that using different lighting affected the piece, especially when using a moving light which also makes the shapes move along too. 

I picked Pearl De Vere who was a prostitute and madame in Cripple Creek, Colorado, which opened her own successful brothel after a gold rush brought trade to town. I thought she had an interesting story due to her being a successful woman who ran her own business in the 1800s when women didn't have a particularly wide variety of jobs or lived as lavishly as she did through earning her own money.

For Pearl's story, I wanted to pick out key points which I could use for each section of the book. I researched her history and about her brothel in order to get those stories.

I wanted to look at using just shape for my layers so I could create something that could rely more on lighting like I experimented with. I think with this mini piece, I found that I need a sturdier paper that will also spring back better when folded up again. I do like the simplicity of just using colour and shape to define the scene though. I think a limited colour palette through out the book will also help it look more refined.

I wanted to test out how I was going to make my book beforehand on a smaller scale so that I could find the best way to construct it. With my first try above, I used concertina pages and ribbon to tie the front pages together. With this way, the pages were able to open fully, but when folded up, the pages fanned out which could be solved by attaching a heavier cover. I also wasn't sure about the pages not sticking together and being bound in the middle so I sewed them together, in the pictures below. This didn't work with the bind that I did as the pages wouldn't fold out completely so this wouldn't work. Maybe with a different bind it could work instead. 

I added in pages in between and sewed and glued some. I think that the glue worked better as the pages laid flatter and looked neater. Adding another page or two would even out the look of the book and I think adding more pages in between will also be achievable with this method. Cutting out each layer beforehand is certainly thee best way to get my work into each page.

Book Construction