With the change of each new season I begin a new sketch journal. This pumpkin came home with us from the grocery last week so it marks the first sketch in my Autumn sketch journal.
Here is my now retired Summer journal and my newly begun Autumn sketch journal is the blue and white one on the top. It makes the eighth journal that I have made myself for my sketching use. Since the very first one that I began in the winter or '09-'10, I have consistently made and started each new journal with the beginning of each season. At first it just worked out that way. Now it's something that I
have to do. Every quarter turn of the year I am planning and constructing a new sketchbook. I have never run short of pages yet I don't always fill every page before the next Equinox or Solstice arrives. And sometimes I think I should just wait until I completely fill the current sketch journal before moving on to the next, but I don't. The urge to start again with the new season has become too great. It's my ritual now, I suppose.
In case you are wondering, my handmade sketchbooks wouldn't win any prizes in bookbinding, that's for sure. But they do work very well for me. The pages are 5.5 x 7.5 inches. With this size I don't have any paper waste when tearing down the paper for the signatures. It takes two full sheets (22 x 30") to make one sketch book. I also like working with this scale and proportion as a sketching format. I have seven signatures of Canson Edition paper, which is a sturdy, multi-media paper that I enjoy. I have used bright white, cream, antique white, vanilla, I like them all. I also have a signature in the front and in the back that have one sheet of Canson Edition on the outside and plain, old copy paper, about 10 sheets, inside each. So there are 9 signatures total in my sketchbooks. In the first signature (with the copy paper) I paste in calendar pages and use these as planning pages. In the last signature with the copy paper I keep a written journal, reflecting on what has happened during that season. I use fabric for the covers of these books, mining my stash left over from sewing days. I may actually have to break down and buy some more fabric soon though. I have used various papers for the end papers inside the cover, most often Mi-Teintes, again, because I happened to have that sitting around. A pocket inside the back cover and a ribbon bookmark makes it complete. And that's how I make my sketch journals. For now, anyway.
"All my journals are like strangers to me when I meet them
and are my best friends by the time I have to say good-bye."
More information and inspiration on book making
Paper and Threads
Trumpetvine Travels
(I use her instructions for stitching my signatures)
Creating Books and Boxes by Benjamin D. Rinehart
(I follow the instructions in this book for making the covers)
