Illustration and Book Binding
Book Binding and illustration creating a personal placement journal exploring nature, landscapes and the cultural heritage of local industrial sites. Onsite drawing in Riba-roja d'Ebre and Flix, guided by the talented illustrator Roser Gay.
Our illustration workshops with Roser Gay were educational and a pleasure. We visited three contrasting sites and drew onsite thinking about landscapes, colour, shadow, light all with a coexisting theme.
We first visited Roser’s family farm located near the d’Ebre river, here I drew distant mountainous landscapes visible from the farm which were covered in lush green trees and in contrast some loose shadows of thin, airy and elegant plants which were growing in Rosers landscape where I stood.
Second we visited forests located in the nearby village of Flix, where we were first explained the meaning of the Sempreviva plant which later became the title of our mural. I found this area very relaxing and grounding.
Thirdly we visited the abandoned industrial old factory area of Flix. We learned that this factory was previously used in the time of the Second World War here was the location where mustard gas was made. The urban village area was dotted with abandoned homes and shops and sprinkled with local residents. When walking around the area guided by Roser we were noticing the difference in architecture and natural collaboration within urban living areas we later learned the urban development of the area was German influenced.
Expanding our learning we used a negative-to-positive cyanotype ink technique. Using two liquid chemicals we mixed and painted to thick watercolour paper and white scrap cotton and left to dry. Later we used a chosen photographs which were edited to expose the negative, these were printed on acetate, which we later used to print alongside dried flowers and plants. This process used the UV light to transfer the image and is a slow-reacting process. To finalise we washed the solution in water and dried, later finding thrilling results.
When all drawing and photography was done it was time to make our covers and bind. Following instruction we templated, cut and designed our book covers drilling holes for sewing and using a Japanese book binding stitch technique we finalised our books, ready for presentation on the final Friday 27 May.
