some geekiness for you

[balaa]

So since I havent been inspired in the ways of productive art, I decided to finally paint up a sketchbook to haul with me to cons. I think in good part I was really inspired by Kenket's Pressed Furries Book..in that she took it a step further than just being a sketchbook for sketches of a specific char. I've wanted to do my own for a while just didnt have any solid ideas of what direction I wanted to go.











If you pick up the reference, Kudos..and it was very much intentional. The Lord of the Rings has always been a huge source of inspiration to me, in many more ways than just the artistic sense..and so it seems appropriate to pay homage to that source. Still trying to decide what abouts to put on the back cover of the book. Just nothing jumping out at me.

I will start the book with a sketch of some sort and pass it off to other artists, that are willing to participate. Basically there are no rules for the book. The only way I can describe it is with this pic:

Im still reworking the prologue, ideas..suggestions..comments of any sort are certainly welcome :).


EDIT: did the backside real quick.

Comments

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

It's kinda like one of those that opens a Disney animated movie... :D

[camelai.livejournal.com]

Wow, looks awesome. Gorgeous work! Your LOTR-inspired stuff is always beautiful.
Just an FYI;
tomb=place where you keep dead people
tome=book
;)

[lizkay.livejournal.com]

Oh ooooh trés nice! It looks heavily authentic and has a very "precious" feeling ^__^
I planned something similar for my Therpa series, though my texture will be printed on since my skills in painting such textures is.. gnagna..
Well so a great book filled with awesome art, what can be more precious?

[bagheera.livejournal.com]

*grins* I see you have worked on it much more since last time I saw the piccies, annnnnnnnnd the gold paint looks beeeeeeeautiful! :D Can't wait to see it in person. *slobbers stupidly over the sketchbook* xD

[nyokirrr04.livejournal.com]

That presents very well to describe invented worlds... Oh well, currently on my comics "Reptile People" but a design like that could be a good way to present how I elaborate their world also.

Really good idea, that's gonna be fun to look at it.

[curisquris.livejournal.com]

That's awesome! I've been into fancy leather bound books, sketchbooks and stuff lately so this especially gets my attention XD I've been wanting to do something like this also! (and I'm actually working on www.sirist.com to make it a flash site with an 'old book' you can turn the pages on)

It'll look great with your artwork in it. Can't wait. :)

[curisquris.livejournal.com]

BTW - what font is that? I've been looking for some fonts that resemble Stephanie L.'s for awhile..

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

the font is called Ringbearer :)..same font as used on the dvd covers and suchness. The other is called Aniron :).

[akeyla.livejournal.com]

whoooooooaaaaoooowww!
where did you get that book to look like that? I only have my... really ugly black spiral bound ones... this one is... music to my eyes!
and what a wonderful idea!
I've always adored themed scetchbooks that werend the loose thinks like I drag around...
and the text is so inspiring! tingles ma fingers... now, okay, its very cold here so ma fingers are tingling all time but man what a cool book :)

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

twas just a regular leatherbound black sketchbook. Think someone gave it to me as a gift waaaay back when and I only dug it up recently and decided..black was just boooorrring but I really wanted to keep that leather texture to it..so I was careful with how I layered the paint. I definetly like it greenish brown better :D. I see sketchbooks like this one was originally at various bookstores..usually they arent leatherbound but sometimes they are. Im not even sure its real leather..hah I'd, in fact, rather it not be ;).

[demonvaska.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I'm going to bug you about the book because I'm a slutty bibliophile and I love aged pieces. Did the paper inside already look aged or did you alter it? Did you alter the book cover? And if you did age the outside and inside, would you accept a virgin sacrifice to implore you to put a tutorial online that I (And others) could read and follow?

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

feel free to bug away, I'm more than happy to share ideas :). The paper actually inside the book is left unaged, because I still havent decided if it would be worthwhile to dye each page and dry it. I don't want the paper to become so warped its hard to sketch on. So instead so far I just painted/dyed and burned the edges if the paper so when the book lays closed it still has that old look about it. I used coffee and burnt umber paint to paint the sides with and hah just burned it on the stove ;). As for the actual book cover, I started with a layer of flat green paint I mixed, made sure to smooth it out and make the layer as thin as possible so as to preserve the leather texture the book originally came with. Then once I felt it was smooth enough, I went ahead and took a dry art sponge and went over the cover just to push the paint into all the cracks and such. Then I took darker paint (black/burnt umber/and a little of the base color green) and used a slightly damp sponge to lay over the darker area textures. Then I kinda went back and forth between lkights and darks to texture the rest of the book. And followed that by cutting out bits of the cover with a knife and sanding some areas down a bit.

Thats pretty much it up to this point, if theres anything else ya want to know, feel free to ask :).

[demonvaska.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a lot of work so far, but your efforts certainly show for it. Of course, as a non-skilled person, reading lines like 'started with a layer of flat green paint' doesn't explain exactly what you did, but the sort of nauseating detail I'm looking for certainly isn't something I'd ask you to re-iterate. Instead, can I ask if you followed instructions on how to do this, and if so where did you find them because I'd love to learn how to accomplish this sort of look.

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

Just winged it...figured if one thing didn't work, I'd just slather it with another layer of paint. Essentially I just started with no clue of what I was doing or if it would turn out even half as well as I personally think it did. If I do another (and actually I intend to do 2 more if I can find more journals similar to this one), I will take pictures as I work :).

[demonvaska.livejournal.com]

Wow, for a completely winged attempt that's impressive. Maybe you should take commissions for aged books, I'd certainly be tempted.

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

I wonder if you could make a fake spine for the spiral bound ones O_o...and blend it with paint and such..still wouldnt be the same but I agree, I tend not to like the spiral ones..though as far as usefulness they are great.

[neongryphon.livejournal.com]

It is such a spiffy idea. And it came out great. About how long did it take you to make this?

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

umm not sure really..didnt keep track. Kinda worked on it between this and that..but not horribly long I would guess :). *snuggles your eyecon* ^__^

[taasla.livejournal.com]

Woooowie, that's so very pretty.

The pages on the book, did you dye them yourself, or were they already like that?

It reminds me of a journal my roommate got me from Mexico made from bamboo. The paper within it is... beyond godly, with the most gorgeous grain. I'm sort of reminded of it. :3

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

I dyed/painted the sides of the pages but not the pages themselves and burnt the corners. The first page when you open the book had a lovely peach color to it but I threw on some paint/color pencil texture to accent it :D. The rest of the actual pages are mostly left white, havent decided if I want to dye each individual one, think since the paper isnt super on it..itll warp too much..so chances are I'll leave it as is.

But chyes, I love handmade paper..love love loveeee.

[marbled-genet.livejournal.com]

That is really awesome!!! I love the back cover design... did you carve it into the book?

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

nupe, painted it in and outlined it with a black micron pen :)...but it does kinda give off the carved look from a distance oddly enough :D.

[khaosdog.livejournal.com]

Beautiful!

You inspired my to make something like this for my characters. :D

[devil-mushroom.livejournal.com]

Wow what an awesome idea!

now if I had the patiences I'd totally do something like this for keeping all the intial sketches for my book illustrations....but I'm not patient lol.

Wonderful job you did.

[celty.livejournal.com]

Awesome idea, and awesome execution of that idea. Looks professional o__O

[jcjc.livejournal.com]

If I have this kind of book, I won't use it but keep it like a treasure. XD
Where did you download the fonts? :3

[catboyxp.livejournal.com]

oooooo, sweet! love how th book cover and back cam out 8o.

[swandog.livejournal.com]

Swans!! There are Celtic swans on the back!! Ieee, I love you!! XD <3<3<3

[xxbalaaxx.livejournal.com]

heeeeeeeeee swans always make me think of you!!!!

[aelius24.livejournal.com]

Whoa, very nice!

<>

[lmai.livejournal.com]

WOW! Balaa that is the most awesome, beautifull, gorgeous sketchbook I have EVER seen! I love the idea behind it *is a Lord of the Rings Nerd/fanatic*

The sketchbook has actually inspired some painting idea's for me!!!!! OMG YOU GOT ME OUT OF MY RUT *Pounce Slobbers Glomps Luvs and slurps and fluffles*

[rocks-awakening.livejournal.com]

oh how beautiful! id love to have a sketch book like that! it looks like it took forever to make.

[casidhe.livejournal.com]

Whooo... it looks absolutely beautiful!

[eosfoxx.livejournal.com]

woah that rocks ö.ö
did you paint the pages to look like that?

something like that looks sopersonal - very cool

*inspired*