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Hey friend!
For this week’s prompt, I’m trying something different using the tools Substack has made available to us – posting, video, comments, and Chat. We are going to make a book structure this week. It’s a lengthy project but doable in a week, so I’ll explain the plan above, with a couple of follow-up videos below, and throughout the week I will post in Chat each stage of my project.
My hope is that you will make the book with me filled with your maps, notes, and observations, and in Chat post your progress, ask questions, offer support to others, etc. I want this to have a collaborative workshop feel.
I’ll walk you through my process below…
Gather materials
At the beginning of a project, I like to gather the materials I’m going to use. In the video below I discuss the materials I’m planning to use, paper choices, and tools.
Find a theme
Sometimes I think this is the hardest part of a project, but decide on a theme we must! Since the Peregrine Falcons have come back to the island to breed they will be my theme. What are you interested in? What would you like to explore in this project, and what question(s) would you like to answer and share? Do you have anything in your journal you’d like to explore more?
Take some time to brainstorm your topic.
Thumbnail ideas
At this point, I like to make very loose, messy sketches and notes to work out my idea in my nature journal. Nothing is precise or accurate, I just generate visual ideas and write down my thoughts. This is a good stage to experiment with media and find out what you’d like to work with. I’m working with pen and watercolor.
Make a mockup as well as the actual book
I always make a “dummy” for bookbinding projects – sometimes I make several. Watch the video below where I demonstrate how to make the hidden book structure and share my thoughts about folding paper. I’ve included a time stamp log if you’d like to skip around, and if you have any questions, post them in the Chat.
Time Stamp
00:00 – 04:03: Tips about folding
04:04 – 22.27: Making the book structure – the mock-up
22.27 – end: Making the book structure – timelapse
Plan the book and make roughs
Once I’ve made my mock-ups and the final book, I start to plan out what goes where. I use the dummy to plan the composition, play with lettering, and finalize the layout. I make a lot of rough sketches and write drafts. I create my map (see last week’s prompt) and plan the cover.
Make final illustrations and lettering
Once I have everything worked out to my satisfaction, I transfer my drawings and text onto the final book structure. I usually use a lightbox (taping the paper to a sunny window works, too), but sometimes I’ll just draw everything again.
Then I paint and letter the pages.
Easy peasy, right? It’s a lot of fun so I hope you follow along with my progress in the chat this next week and share your own work if you’d like. And post your questions in the Chat – I’d love to help where I can!
Because June is International Nature Journaling Month, I have something big planned for us next month to pull together everything we’ve done so far over the past few months and get us ready for our summer (or winter, for my Southern Hemisphere friends) nature journaling. It’s going to be so much fun, and I can’t wait to share it with you in the theme post and prompt on June 2.
xoSusannah
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