The Volcano Book, Part Two

I have been in the studio every spare moment this week, working on the pages of my Volcanism book. I hope to get it done by the middle of the week so I can take pictures for an Open Studios postcard. I wanted the dinosaur book and at least one other book in the photo. The pages are still sticking together, even after putting cornstarch on them. I think I'll email the people at Golden and see if they have a suggestion. If anyone out there has an idea, I'd love to hear it.



Here you see some of the pages clamped together with spring clamps. the light colored card on top is a template for the holes. Usually I clamp the pages and front and back cover together, cut the book out and drill the holes before taking off the clamps. This time I didn't do the holes in the beginning, so now it's a little harder to manage. The holes in the template are very small because I drilled a guide hole first. I go up in three or four steps to the size I want. It is dangerous to drill a big hole in metal without guide holes. I use the same method in stacks of paper because I have more control. It's easy to place the small drill bit in the right spot, so the holes line up.



The cover is etched, and I am very happy with it. In this photo it still has the beeswax resist on it. Next I need to decide if the back cover should be masonite (stronger) or copper (looks good but can be bendy.) I also have a palm tree cut out of artist's masonite, which may stay black, or may be painted. It's dramatic, anyway.