Making a Travel Sketchbook for Paris
I love to make special travel sketchbooks for our vacations, recycling old books about the location. I found a $2.00 damaged book of Eugene Atget photographs at the Strand bookstore in New York City. By carefully clipping the old binding threads, I was able to preserve some of the folios, using two of them for my end papers and inserting two others amidst the watercolor paper.
The book is 8 1/4 x 8 1/4 inches, a perfect size for my purse or backpack. I filled it with Fabriano Artistica 140 lb soft press watercolor paper, with some irregularly-sized pages for fun.
Front Cover:
Front End Paper:
Back End Paper:
I sketched an Eiffel Tower that I will place on the title page - and then make a grid for a daily small image, a calendar for daily events, and a map showing the location of our rented apartment.
Several years ago I posted a 3 part tutorial for recycling an old or damaged book as a travel sketchbook. The book was called Italian Dreams and I made it for a trip to Venice and can be seen here.
http://www.paperandthreads.com/2012/02/watercolor_sketchbook_tutorial.php
Comments
Lovely as always, Shirley!
Posted by: Cathy Johnson (Kate) | September 4, 2014 9:38 PM
Great plan for your book.
Posted by: teri Flemal | September 5, 2014 9:10 AM
Great plan for your book.
Posted by: teri Flemal | September 5, 2014 9:10 AM
I used your tutorial a year or two ago and have used it many times since.............now I'm trying to "fill" those sketchbooks. Your blog got "something" going in me and I've been taking classes, some free, some not, ever since and I am having a ball!! My last re-vamp was an old, 1920's, Geography book that I found in an old warehouse and I am now practicing my coptic stitch for the signatures.
Love your blog and all the inspiration that you share!
Posted by: Cheryl | September 5, 2014 9:34 AM
You make me want to go to Paris too! I love this sketch book and the accordian one in the previous post, fantastic sketches and inspiring as always.
Posted by: Cathy Holtom | September 6, 2014 2:45 AM
Have a great trip to Paris! Can't wait to see your sketches and hear about your travels. Janette
Posted by: Janette Rozene | September 9, 2014 8:56 AM