The last few days have been spent working obsessively on the book (which, you may recall, is the final project for my two-dimensional design class). It’s not done yet, but I’ve made a lot of progress, including designing/weaving the fabric for the covers and three pages of the interior.
Here are the first six pages:
Here’s a closeup of the first two pages:
I still need to write some mathematical formulae in the circle, dye the handwoven fabric circle on the second page bright magenta, and fix some of the bubbles, but these pages are basically done.
Here are pages 3 and 4:
Basically as soon as the figure catches the handwoven fabric circle, it falls through a whole rainbow of colored handwoven circles. It gets up and, delighted, starts running through the rainbow colors. (Please be polite enough to ignore the awful skips in the orange and yellow sections; the loom was acting up, and I need to fix them before gluing the fabric down.) Notice how the figure transforms from black and white outline to pastel colors to bright colors to bright fuchsia fabric, as the figure gets more and more interested in fiber arts stuff.
This part is pretty much compositionally done, though I need to fix the dyes and glue the figures more permanently in place. I think I will also add some gold foil around the figure’s head on page 4, in a sort of corona or crown, representing the aha! moment of realizing that hey, fiber arts is pretty cool stuff.
And here are pages 5 and 6 (only partially done):
It’s hard to make out in the photo, but the scraps of paper behind the big red octagon are scraps ripped out of a college mathematics text. (For the geeks and Techers among us, it’s Tommy 2, aka “Calculus 2” by Tom Apostol, used for sophomore mathematics at Caltech. I have fond memories of that book, which is why I still have it 20 years post-graduation…)
Anyway, page 5 basically boils down to the age-old parental mandate, “OK, kiddo, art is fun, but you have to study/do something that will make you a living!”
Anyway, in the bottom right of page 5, you see the figure quietly sneaking past the octagon to pursue fiber arts anyway. Page 6 hasn’t been created yet; it will have a fabulously dressed figure dancing atop a crazy quilt. I think I will also give the figure hair, and more rounded contours.
Pages 7 and 8 will be the super-awesome pop-up, which I have yet to design. My strategy is to get the entire rest of the book completed (but possibly not glued down), then design the popup. That way, should I totally screw up the pop-up, I can do something quick and simple for the last two pages, and still have a pretty good book to turn in.
The cover will be handwoven fabric (the pattern of circles again), dyed yellow/orange/red, with the running figure stenciled in gold leaf. Because I’ve got it, and because I can. 🙂
