Finish Me! Art Journals - Getting Started on Finishing

Well this is pretty much how my desk has looked all week - piled high with stacks of papers!

These are pages for the latest batch and I spent a happy morning spray can in hand.. Really liking them, mind you, I'm finding I like every book even more than the last. I've had to close orders for the books for a short while, just so I can catch up on those already on my request list. As soon as they are done, I'll make a new batch and let you know here when they are up for grabs.

Getting Started on Finishing the Book

I promised to share some ideas and tips to help finish the book. Today's might seem simple, but I think it's a really fundamental thing - get to know your book! A conventional shop-bought sketchbook will usually use the same paper throughout. There are no surprises. The Finish Me books are quite the opposite, I've tried to use all sorts of things and now's the time to get familiar with what's in your book. 

Get a feel for the papers that I've included: thick, thin, translucent, plain, printed...have you got drawings, prints, photos, rubbings, stencilling? Maybe there is text or images which suggests a theme? Perhaps there's a combination of colours on a page that suggests a colour palette?

When you look through the book, does it bring to mind things that you've saved and have stashed in a drawer somewhere? I'd suggest spending some time over the next couple of days finding out anything that you think might become relevant to the book. Perhaps you have your own prints, drawings and other bits and pieces that are currently homeless. Pull them out of the drawer, folder or heap and keep them handy. This book has started out as my work, but now it's time for it to become yours.

I'll be back again soon with the first hand-on tips for working on the pages.

Bye for now,

Laura

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