Regular readers of my blog will know that when I try something new, I tend to go straight for it, often not practicing first, and sometimes not really having any clue as to how the finished project will turn out. Well, I was recently asked by one of my Studio regulars if I had tried book folding… I haven’t, despite it being all the rage at the moment.
I thought it couldn’t be that hard, so decided to fold the Studio logo (
) into a spare hardback (The Tommmyknockers, if you’re wondering). I watched a quick video on YouTube, and got on with it. Two hours later I discovered that to avoid the art piece apparently advertising a Jackie Collins book title, I’m going to have to stick in a few more pages…
What I have learnt doing this: firstly, it takes time. A lot of time. Secondly, italics and swooshes need more pages. Thirdly, too many letters makes for poor resolution and difficult to read final result. And finally, I think this may be addictive, and I’m going to work on the method more so that I can be even more ambitious with the art form. Time to hit the charity shops methinks…
If you’re wanting to design your own patterns then there are a couple of bits of software available that will work out measurements for folding points and exact pages needed etc, can be costly but if you are wanting to do a lot of folding and own designs then it’s worth it.
We seem to be in tandem at the moment Neil! Tangling and book folding. A friend suggest I had a go, I resisted, she insisted, now I’m hooked. Like you I tend to jump straight into things (who needs instructions). It has been and continues to be a steep but enjoyable learning curve. I don’t have the software, once I’m in the studio I prefer to keep the computer out of it. Yes it takes time, but there is a certain meditative quality to the actual folding if you get into the groove!
Amazing, Neil! I haven’t tried this yet but have noticed how much it is “out there” on the Internet at the moment. I’m with you on the tangling though – have just had my first commission! I have designed a ZIA piece to be published in a book coming out next year – very exciting! The design in on my blog.
Shoshi