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Experiment - Niches in Art Books

Paper Craft Project Technique: Altered Book Practice For Beginners

Mar 8, 2008 Jenn Greenleaf

Adding niches to altered books is not only interesting when your audience looks through them, they are really fun to work on. Nervous novices take note!

Some feel very overwhelmed when approaching an altered book project and, really, who could blame them? There are other seasoned book artists who find these kinds of projects natural and easy, though. It takes some practice, some patience, and some diligence to work your way from nervous novice to seasoned pro in the wonderful world of book arts.

For this project, the need for an open imagination, a book to alter, a cutting knife and notebook are needed. The idea is to brainstorm ideas, and then work through each experiment. The altered book spreads created through this exercise are for experimental purposes only, not for presentation. This takes on that sort of sketchbook scrawl style where ideas are worked out, and then brought forth to the final piece.

Step one: Follow the direction in how to affix pages together in an altered book. Prepare the entire book so it is ready to experiment with whenever the mood strikes and the moment presents itself. This will take some time, so be sure to prepare for that.
Step two: In your notebook, brainstorm as many ideas as you can about niches you can create in various altered book projects. These ideas can focus on a theme for an entire altered book project, or they can be for a single altered book page spread. This notebook is also going to be set up in a sketchbook style. Doodle your ideas out, be messy, make notes, make diagrams, and let your imagination lead you from idea to idea.
Step three: Once your altered book is completely dried, experiment with the ideas you have brainstormed out in your notebook. Make mistakes, make a mess, and don’t worry about what the final result is going to look like. Get used to how the knife feels cutting through the pages. Make notes about how to use the papers left over once they’ve been removed. Make notes about what you could’ve done differently from page spread to page spread.

This experiment works best when you don’t feel the pressure to create a finished piece. This exercise isn’t about finishing something beautiful; it’s about working through the process until you feel comfortable with all the materials and tools. For those who are already used to working on these kinds of projects, take it a step further by experimenting with something you have never done before. Or, consider taking what you know and brining that information to a nervous novice to help them spread their creative wings.

The copyright of the article Experiment - Niches in Art Books in Mixed Media Arts is owned by Jenn Greenleaf. Permission to republish Experiment - Niches in Art Books in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.