Miniature sketchbook

TasSketchmini06web

The sketches I made on my recent trip to Tasmania have proved a valuable resource for further artwork – I made a large drawing using some of the elements (see here) and now have made a miniature version of my sketchbook.

In creating this miniature book, I scanned and reduced the pages from the sketchbook, then re-arranged the drawings to suit a small format, going from an A4 sketchbook down to pages that are 10.5 x 9 cm. All the drawings were redone from scratch, I felt if I traced the forms I would lose the original loose quality of them, and the painting was often reinterpreted too.

Once the drawings were done and the labels added, I glued the panels onto a long strip of mulberry paper, a thin but strong Japanese paper which has small pieces of organic material embedded in it, which felt like a nice accompaniment to drawings of natural objects. The front and back covers were made of card with mulberry paper pasted on, and the decorative corners and the panel beneath the title plate were made from offcuts from my recent prints.

This little book, along with the portraits in my previous post, and a small oil painting will be submitted to the Annual Awards exhibition of the Australian Society of Miniature Art. The exhibition is not until June, but I wanted to have the work complete well in advance.

Author: anna warren portfolio

I draw, I paint, I am a printmaker. Always searching for the interesting detail in the world around me.

30 thoughts

  2. This is really terrific! The final book looks really great! And I love the idea of this. I have an accordion mock up on my desk and I’ve been thinking about what I want to do with it. I find the accordion fold to be a challenging format. Thanks for sharing your approach!

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    1. Thank you Jean – I had no idea at the beginning that this would become an accordion/concertina book, I had actually planned it to be stitched and bound, but as the work progressed I decided that wouldn’t be the best way to show the pages, so this seemed to be the best answer! I like to keep my options open as far as possible when making a book, as I find it often evolves differently from my original idea.

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        1. Doing it like this really does take the pressure off, because you can make the book suit the material. I have a beautiful hard back concertina sketchbook, with its own slip case sitting in my cupboard, waiting for the right project, and it has been there for 2 or 3 years, I think I am just scared of it!

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          1. Ah, yes, those haunting, hoarded materials we like to collect but fear to use! Thank goodness they usually do mock me into putting hands on them (eventually), but it can be agonizing to decide when and how to help them fulfill their destinies. 🙂 Love this!!
            Kathryn

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  3. I began writing, then enlarged one of the photos – and lost my comment. I hope I will get to hold this in my own hands and study it when I am in Sydney in a few weeks. It looks so tactile as well as visual. It looks like something that wants to be handled.
    Seeing the work station, one can see how methodical you are and I’m sure you must have enjoyed working on this very much. Every page has been conceived and executed with love.

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    1. You’re right Julie, I did enjoy working on this. I had to make various decisions along the way as it progressed, but at each stage I didn’t find myself agonising, each decision presented itself quite neatly. I will definitely bring it when we meet in a few weeks!

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