Etsy!

I have a new Etsy shop!  I’m starting with my handmade books, and may branch out to things like giclees and handmade paper art later.  Take a look and see if there’s anything you like!

Clicky!

The Magic of the Metasketchbook

A few years ago, I realized that I was completely OCD about my sketchbooks – once I did something that looked crappy, I couldn’t work in the sketchbook anymore.  (Obsessive, huh?)  I ended up with about five unfinished sketchbooks that had some really good stuff buried in them.

So in August of 2008, I took all my sketchbooks and tore out all the used pages.  I threw out the mistakes, the scribbles, the notes I didn’t need to use anymore, and I kept the good drawings.  I had sketchbooks dating back to about 2002 or 2003, and I tore all the stuff out of them, making “brand new” sketchbooks for me to use.

I took the good drawings and bound them into a book called the “Metasketch,”  effectively making a compliation or “greatest hits” of my sketchbook.

I found some awesome 70’s upholstery for the cover

The front page – I used Letraset letters for the words.  Yes, that’s a self-portrait there.

I had sketchbooks of all different sizes.  It was difficult to bind them into one book – it took forever to sew all the pages.

Yesterday, I bound a new book, since I had finished my current sketchbook.  The tough thing was that the sketchbook, which my mom had given me several Christmases ago, was HUGE!  I didn’t have enough bookboard to bind a hardcover book like the first Metasketch.  I also wanted to use a more efficient sewing technique.  So what I did was cut some cheap paper , folded it into a signature, sewed it, and then used rubber cement to glue all the pictures in.

I used some Egyptian bark paper for the cover.  It was expensive and hard to fold, but it’s so pretty and distinct!

This page has a bunch of Persona 4 fanart.  I especially like Scary Granite Grown-Up Nanako and Adachi’s Little Girl Bike.

Thar She Blows

My friend Anne, awesome buddy and mehndi artist extraordinaire, traded me some excellent henna for a book.  She and a friend are re-reading Moby-Dick and are going to pass a journal back and forth as they do so. So, I made her a Moby-Dick book and I am going to join in on the fun. I have never actually read any Melville, except for the time I had to read Billy Budd in high school, probably at gunpoint, and thought it was unintentionally hysterical. I have high hopes for Moby, though. At the very least it will earn me some literary karma, which I desperately need after reading not one but THREE Charlaine Harris books. Also, one time I think I accidentally read a Nora Roberts book. My excuse was that I had a 104.3 degree fever at the time.

Anyway, I think this came out pretty cute for a killer albino sperm whale:

These are the endleaves. My friend Meg convinced me to buy this cute little whale hole punch for the book, because it seemed wholly inappropriate for the theme. I concurred. Also, in this picture, you can see just how bad my dermatitis is.

Remember kiddos, if you like my handmade journals, I take commissions.  Email me at fienemanna@gmail.com and we’ll talk.  Just as a reminder too, I also take commissions for art, fanart, etc. etc.  I will not, however, come to your house and play the ukelele for your amusement.

Handmade Books – Sewn-On Birds

In addition to illustration, I also make handmade books and paper.  This is a 3 signature, sewn book with homemade paper (pulped out of junk mail).  The swallows on the front are also made out of handmade paper, sewn on with dental floss.  (It’s strong and waxed!)