Mixed Media Printmaking Blog

Make a brown bag book

artist book, book arts, handmade books, inspiration, mark making, techniques / Linda Germain / February 5, 2024

Today, I had the urge to make a brown bag book. I share with you my process so you can make some too.

First I took the bag apart, so it was one flat sheet.
Then I ironed out the wrinkles
Painted white gesso over the store advertising
Added some bold black india ink marks
Cut into long 10″ strips (final size 6″ x 9″)

The cut the long 10″ strip into 6″ x 9″ sheets
Fold each in half and stack inside each other to make a single signature
Clip together and punch 3 holes in the spine
Follow video instructions to sew together

A couple of extra tips:

It is ok if the pages are not perfectly the same
Make sure your holes are big enough for easier sewing
You can choose how you stack your sheets so you create a blank page spread and then a painted spread. Play with how you stack the sheets together to create a book that suits your style.
Press with heavy weight to get it to lay flat

I hope you enjoy the process as much as I did. Check out the self study classes available now.

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Consider not knowing – OK

artist book, mixed media printmaking / Linda Germain / January 11, 2024

Often I like to know how things are going to play out.

How the impression will print
How the marks will work together
How the colors will combine

But this wanting to know ahead of time can stifle creative exploration. So I try to remind myself to:

“Let go and see what happens. It is only a piece of paper.”

When I can suspend the need to know and embrace the attitude of play, then new ideas often show up. It can take some time and warm up exercises to move beyond the need to know. That is one reason that I love the gelatin printmaking process. It is easy to grab:

a couple of stencils
stamping tools and
a stack of paper and start printing.

The feedback I get is immediate and I can quickly adjust my approach to change the results. I say if I get 2 out of 10 prints that I like then that is a success.

What about you? Do you allow yourself the space and time to venture into the unknown? Try it out next printing session and see what happens.

Check out the self study workshops that are available now. And jump into creating and not knowing.

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Make Marks Supplies List

book arts, drawings, handmade books, mark making, mark making tools / Linda Germain / November 27, 2023

You can make interesting marks with simple tools. Enjoy this quick video.

In this online class we will layer marks to reveal a visual story. Read all the details on the workshop page.

The suggested supplies:

Gelatin plate – FREE recipe here
Speedball water based ink
brayer
paper of your choice – I like
- 90 lb drawing paper 12″ x 18″
- Rice paper on a roll or 12″ x 18″
- Tracing paper on a roll or 12″ x 18″
- I like these sizes and papers because I am making a long landscape shaped book, but you could do the techniques at any size. So use what you have
- One large sheet of sturdy printmaking paper, watercolor paper or mixed media paper for the cover. I use Arnhem. But you can use what you have.
Cardboard
thin easy to cut craft foam sheets
set of small children’s blocks (dollar store)
water based markers
Variety of found mark making tools (see photo below)
glue
exacto knife
soft crayons

Hope to see you in class.

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Go back to your sketchbooks – reference

book arts, drawings, mark making / Linda Germain / November 9, 2023

Generally, I need a reference for drawing. I don’t do so well just drawing from memory or imagination.

Some of my favorite drawings are the ones of twigs and organic items found in the woods. They feel authentic, real, most like me.

Recently I have been looking back through my sketchbooks to find flowers, leaves and doodles to add to a new book.

In the image above, I used the sketchbook drawing of the black vines as a reference for the lower drawing in a new book in progress. The bigger book is one I am creating with the lessons from the Make Marks + Books online class. The book is layered with marks, prints and doodles. And in this one I am finishing it with leaf, vine and flower drawings.

This loose layering approach:

fosters just beginning and going with the flow
allows you experiment with different kinds of mark making
delete, cover or edit undesirable marks
discover meaning, focus or story as you go
identify your strengths and preferences

If this sound interesting to you, then read the details on the Make Marks + Books workshop page. Class starts soon.

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Layers of marks – a story

artist book, inspiration, mark making, mark making tools / Linda Germain / November 3, 2023

I like to make marks with:

stamping tools and the gelatin plate. The details can be amazing.
a pencil/crayon and my non-dominate hand. The line can be raw and authentic.
small hand made stamps. The patterns can be very stabilizing.

I combine these and a few other mark making techniques to make visual story books.

If you are curious about this approach to art making, then check out the details of the upcoming class Make Marks + Books.

This 7 lesson class is about exploring mark making and using a few simple printmaking techniques to make artist books. We will use a non-linear approach to layering and responding to the images. It is intuitive and yet guided by design principles, like variety and repetition.

Join me in the online class – Make Marks + Books. Give yourself the gift of time to explore.

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