Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine- the Binding. Ta da!

          As I'm in another time-crunch I decided to put some photos of the finished book up on the blog, and post the how-to steps when the opportunity presents. I just don't have the time to make a new web-page at the moment. Above is a view of the endpapers with two of Leonardo's sketches from his notebooks.
          I returned from the Miniature Book Conclave (highlight for me - James Reid-Cunningham's presentation) on Labor Day, having sold some books, and realized that I only have a couple of weeks to the Oak Knoll Book Fest, which I signed up for. So I'm making books for the next two weeks. I haven't attended this previously, it will be a new experience for me, which I'm looking forward to, - lots of Fine Press books, and maybe some artists' books. 
          Anyway, on to the book. I decided to sew it on vellum slips, as previously noted, dyed red to blend with the burgundy goatskin. The slips are laced into the cover giving a secure board attachment. I wanted to reference Leonardo's notebooks in the binding so extended the leather on the back board at the fore edge to form a flap, which folds over the text block and fastens with grosgrain ribbon ties. The flap is lined with a thin piece of leather and finished with a blind-tooled double line around the edge. 

         


 This design meant that there was really no need for a slipcase as the fore edge is protected by this extension. In turn this helps to keep the price of the book down, as boxes and slipcases are quite time-consuming to make. I used the same art-work for the title on the front cover as I had drawn for the title page, which gives the book a unity of design and the lettering is quite decorative in itself. This is a deceptively simple binding, as it involves quite a lot of work, which I shall describe at a later date.

Here are the details of the book:

Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine, 40 pages inclusive of blanks,almost 3 inches high by two and three eighths of an inch wide approx. It is a Limited Edition of 20 copies numbered, and signed by me, the poet Charles Anthony Silvestri and the composer Eric Whitacre, whose account of their collaboration also appears in the book.
          The book is printed on a special making of handmade paper from Griffen Mill in Ireland, using a Craftsman hand press and polymer plates, set digitally in Brioso Pro typeface designed by Robert Slimbach. The five full page illustrations were drawn especially for this book and transferred to polymer and printed on the press, onto handmade Japanese Bicchu Torinoko Gampi paper. Each illustration is individually hand-gilt and burnished using genuine gold leaf. There are five of Leonardo's studies of creatures that fly, from his notebooks, two as shown above, plus a bat, moth and flying fish. 
           This book is copyright Janet Kellett, and the words of the song are copyright Charles Anthony Silvestri, with the account of the collaboration being copyright Eric Whitacre. Please respect our copyrights.
           The price of this book is CD$450.00, which presently equates to US$425.00, plus shipping and insurance. Publication date was Sept 5th 2010, and the edition is half sold as of today. Please contact me through my website with your street address if you would like a hard-copy book announcement, or if you would like to purchase a copy of the book.
          I shall be attending the Oak Knoll Book Fest in Newcastle Delaware, on the first weekend in October, and you can see the book there, along with a few other titles of my books that are still in print.
I'll post at a later time with all the steps in making this binding. This book has been quite a journey and the discipline of writing this blog, trying to remember to take photos and explaining my thought processes has been also quite an experience. Thanks to all those who have followed along with me.  

And so to Text...Layout, that is.

Having completed the five full-page images (yes, I'm saving two as a surprise), I'm now in a position to lay out the text properly. I should mention that way back last summer, when I was searching for a suitable paper, I did a very rough layout calculation to ascertain the number of pages (and the amount of paper) that I would need. I ordered the paper to be custom-made at Griffin Mill (see Paper Trails) and it is now sitting under my bed, well-matured by now.
          I always make a rough mock-up of the book, starting with the number of pages I think I will need. This book came out to about thirty-six pages (some of which are blank), that is, eighteen leaves. I decided on three sections of twelve pages. This is not the usual layout. I keep the sections fairly small as the binding works better, rather than having a few large (i.e. fat) sections. Making a mock-up shows where adjustments need to be made, I print out the computer layout and images, and stick them into the folded pages, and move them about as necessary. Apart from the text pages, you have to allow for half-title, title page, frontis, business info (ISBN, copyrights, press info, acknowledgements, colophon, limited edition and signature info, table of contents, bibliography - mix and match as applicable).

It is important before designing the book to take into account the number of illustrations and where they will appear in the text, so the book is balanced. It can look odd to have a whole bunch of illustrations in one part of the book and none in another. (Seems obvious, but inevitably you find lots of ideas for certain parts of the text and none for others.)
          I had already decided on the font I would be using, Brioso Pro (see Prince of Fonts),and firstly tried a traditional layout, aligned to the left like a formal poem, with any extra words that wouldn't fit moved to the next line down, with an indent (below, left in the photo). 
I didn't like the look of this, it seemed rather lifeless and uninteresting.

One of the problems with a miniature book is that when you use small font sizes, you lose the beauty of the letterforms and it is difficult to read. The text is after all in 
many books the most important thing about it. Illustrations, paper, binding are there to support the text, so I use a slightly larger size than you might expect, and in this case I'm using 11pt for the body of the text. I then decided to play around with the words, to make them visually more lively and interesting, to match their meaning. Sometimes you can draw attention or contribute to their meaning by the way you arrange them on the page. This includes keeping certain words together, and sometimes emphasizing them by giving them more space, as I have done with this 'siren-song' verse.I laid it out as if I were doing a piece of calligraphy, and for me this works better than the formal arrangement. The photo on the right  also shows again the trial printing I did, using a polymer plate on the handmade paper. So all the image and text files have been sent off to Boxcar Press for processing into photo-polymer plates, and should take about a week to come back to me - Canada Customs permitting. 


And now a treat, a new online exhibition of artists' books, "Canadian Women Artists' Books: The Creative Codex and its variants" from the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. Feast your eyes on these gorgeous books!

Etruscan Light at the end of a 'Tormented' Tunnel

          So, the polymer plates arrived on the Monday before Christmas, and I prepared some paper on Tuesday evening ready for printing trials on Wednesday. The preparation consisted of cutting the trial papers to size, labelling them (very important) and layering same between sheets of damp blotting paper so that the paper picks up enough moisture to feel cold to the touch, but is not visibly wet. Leaving overnight or for a few hours gives the moisture time to even out so the sheet is uniformly damp. It will print very much better, more evenly and darker using less pressure than if printed dry. After a few prints on practice paper I printed the image 'Tormented'... onto some Torinoko Lightweight Japanese paper (from McClaines) and it printed very well. I had anticipated some difficulty with the solid black areas (the falling figure looks a little concave on the plate) but it was fine. I used a fairly hard packing, as I didn't want the image punched into the paper too hard.
          I next printed the plate of trial text in different sizes of Brioso Light onto the Griffen Mill handmade paper, and was very pleased with the result and glad I had chosen the Light version. You can never really know until you try it. I'll probably use the 17pt size on the title page as I think it rather handsome. 

  I then experimented with various Japanese papers, Akua colors and pochoir, using brayers instead of brushes. With my previous use of this method, the repetitive motion gave me severe shoulder and neck pain, and started my quest for an alternative method of obtaining colour prints, hence the foray into woodblock and wood engraving. I intended to use some small brayers and cut some Mylar stencils. I then had to break off for Christmas preparations.
          After the break, I tried out the stencils with brayers, and found that the surface of most of the Japanese papers was not sufficiently sealed (not sized enough) to take the action of the brayer and a fairly stiff ink. The fibres 'picked' with just one layer of ink. For use with a brayer (roller) the ink has to be of a stiff consistency otherwise it doesn't coat the surface of the brayer evenly and slides about on the ink palette. I tried one western paper, a Zerkall book wove in a soft white colour, which worked well, but I disliked the appearance of it next to the Griffen Mill handmade text paper. Also, the coloured inks always look better on a white paper. So where am I now?

          Some months ago, I obtained samples of a lovely range of Japanese papers, thin and translucent, in various colours. They were truly beautiful, but at the time I couldn't see how they would work with my colour woodblock ideas. A couple of days ago, during my research on sirens for one of the other images ("..softly whispering their siren song"..), I came across some pictures of ancient (BC) Etruscan vases, and light dawned. The Etruscans were the people of an ancient civilization thought to predate the Romans, and they occupied part of the area of Italy now known as Tuscany. How very appropriate, I thought. I have no idea if Leonardo actually would have seen these ancient pots, but I like to think he may have known of them. Here are some examples:
The Etruscans decorated their vases in various tan and biscuit shades with black, and sometimes dark blue and maroon. I could achieve this elegant and sophisticated look using the coloured papers. I tried the "Tormented.." plate, printing dry, and love the look, it opens up all sorts of possibilities for the other images, and will set the character for this book. It is a break-through moment for me, as I have been endlessly obsessing about the 'how' and now I can concentrate on the 'what', knowing how it will appear.


Here are the prints drying on the line (an idea I took 
from various other printmakers, including Sue Woollatt and Andy English - thanks guys). I also show some of the prints on the Bicchu torinko paper from the Japanese Paper Place in Toronto. They are handmade, and dried on wooden boards, which gives them a little texture and character.
          The prints are not quite done, as there is still another experiment I have to do, but that will be in another blog post, when the material I ordered in November finally arrives - good old UK Post Office. Well, that's quite enough excitement for this week.

To carve or not to carve, that is the question...

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of engraving a piece of hard wood or Resingrave with sharp chisels... Sorry, Will, that was a little uncalled-for. So, what are my choices?
          I could engrave blocks of Resingrave or wood, plywood or lino, and use either oil or water-based inks, and print on a press or hand-burnish with a baren. So many choices, just the one life. All of these choices are going to be just as difficult for me, bearing in mind the previous injuries to my hands and elbows, so I have to find a way to make and print the blocks that is not going to damage my puny body. The best way I can think of, which will enable me to print on the press and cut down on the carving, is to have polymer plates made up that will replicate the 'key-block' in the coloured woodcut method, and then to cut some lino blocks for the areas of colours. Lino is softer to carve than the other types of blocks. It doesn't hold the detail as well, but that's OK because the detail will be on the polymer.  I may even be able to print some of the images by the reduction method. In my internet searches I haven't come across anyone using the polymer/lino combination, but there is a first time for everything. (Have you tried it? I'd love to hear.) The difficult bit will be getting the correct registration of the lino blocks with the polymer. Well, challenges are good. I'm still not sure about the inks but that will become clear when I start to experiment.
          I re-drew "Tormented..", scanned it in and resized it to the page size of the book, ready to send the digital file to Boxcar in Syracuse. I also decided to have a test plate made with Brioso Italic Light, to try out with the handmade Griffen Mill paper. That way I won't waste too much money if my Prince of Fonts turns out to be a toad after all. The photopolymer plate process 'etches' away the plate in the white areas of the drawing leaving the black areas raised and printable. One of the good things about polymer plates is that you can cut them apart like puzzle blocks and print the parts separately, for different colours. I would really have preferred to make this key-block in the traditional way, but I do want to finish this book before my ninetieth birthday. Here is the cleaned up and re-drawn version of "Tormented by visions of flight and falling"...I have used coloured pencils on the black and white image to

show how it might look. The actual size of this image will be 70 mm high, 55 mm wide, (about two and three quarter inches high by two and one eighth inches wide),  the same size as the book pages. The plates have been processed, I'm now waiting for the US Postal Service to do their bit.

          Here comes a shameless plug for the Fine Press Book Association, our only association of its kind in North America, and possibly in the English-speaking world. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'd love to hear of the existence of something similar in say Australia or New Zealand.) Like all great cultural things, it is in need of support in these times of economic hardship. I know, you can't eat it or put it in your tank, but...They say a nation is judged by its culture, so let's make sure we have something left to judge us by when the dust settles. New members and donations welcome.

          The President of FPBA, Bob McCamant, wrote an article for The Caxtonian which was published in June 2008, on interviews conducted with several BC Private Presses. De Walden press is pleased to be included. Fine Press is alive and well in North America. End of shameless plug, thanks for reading, and Many Happies for the coming holiday season.             

  

Finding My Prince of Fonts

Craftsman Table-top Printing Press

Now to decide on a font for 'Leonardo". Firstly, I should say that my comments are made in the context of this book and with the experience of my past mistakes and observation of what has worked well for others.

The font, or typeface used to print a work depends on a number of factors, including the method of printing, type of paper, and purpose of the piece, and is just as important as any other aspect of the book. Like the paper, the font carries a subliminal message, which can help to set the tone and add to the character of the book. It needs to be subtle, so that it doesn’t draw attention to itself and away from the meaning of the words it frames. It is part of the supporting cast for the message the text brings to the reader.

I’ll diverge here for a moment and talk about the method of printing I intend to use. I set the text on the computer, and send the digital files to a platemaker, who then makes photopolymer plates which I mount on a base. The base is then secured into the chase of the press. In my studio this is a Craftsman hand-operated iron press with a clamshell action, where pulling the handle brings the inked plate into contact with the paper. Above is a picture of the press. The words on the plate are raised, and press into the paper. Here is one of the plates I used for “The House that Jack Built” and here is an image of what the printed page looks like. (Hand coloured with watercolours.)

I chose to use this method for several reasons, one of them being that I only have the one life, as far as I know, and don’t have time to become an expert printer especially as I have probably already used up more than half of that life. Other considerations are that I tend to use a different font for each book (using that which I consider most suitable) and if I used movable metal type I would have to spend a great deal more on buying that type: with the small editions I make, the books would be prohibitively expensive. Photopolymer plates are for me, the next best thing to movable type.

There are some things to consider when using PPP. On a computer, the font is designed to be shown on a monitor, and is made to be visible in that medium. It is usually heavier in weight than the same font designed for letterpress. In addition, the physical action of printing on a press with ink, and the impression of the letters on the paper, add to the appearance of weight. This means that when choosing a computer font to use for PPP, it is better to choose one that is on the ‘anaemic’ side rather that something bold and beefy.

I wanted to find a suitable italic font, but most seemed to be either too compressed, or the letter-fit was too close, or they were too upright, or too sloping, or too formal...Having exhausted the selection on my computer, I turned to the internet to see what else I could find. On the Adobe site, I eventually found what I had been looking for. A font that is scaled (optimized for use in different sizes), and available in a ‘light’ weight, and one that is a lively italic, with movement, not too formal, not handwriting, well spaced and has quite open counters (spaces inside letters such as e) - just right in fact. The font is called Brioso, designed by Robert Slimbach of Minion fame, and I have high hopes for it. So that is what I bought. Well, of course the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and as I haven’t yet had the plates made up, I won’t rejoice too soon, but it is very promising. After kissing a lot of frogs, I was finally able to find a Prince of Fonts.