Man Booker, painting A Fraction of the Whole.

Once the leather has been cut to size the turn ins are pared down, all by hand and with great care.



All of this is to prepare the leather for the first phase of the design work.



The base structure of the design is first drawn on to the leather then the dye is applied with a brush.



For me, this is one of the most important steps. If I get it wrong at this point then it is hours wasted working on the leather. It is a very direct way of working with the book and the design.
It has been said that I use the word as an artist would use a landscape, the way Steve Toltz uses the word to create a three way narrative, the confusion of life and death.




The first colour is sprayed on. A dull red, there is a lot of blood in in the text, kids fighting, mothers exploding and sports stars clobbered.



A touch of blue.



The final stage of this phase, a more acidic red. Remember the red sewing thread from a previous post ? well here is part of the reason, the tie in between the outer design and the inside of the book.