Mr. Bunny
Prints available here  

I know it’s art journal Wednesday for me, and this book wasn’t technically my journal, but I’m posting it anyway. It’s actually an altered book, so close enough, right? Do artists even make altered books anymore? hm..I remember when I first started getting involved with art online back in 90s, the big thing was altered books. It seems to have switched to art journals now. I hardly ever read of anyone doing an altered book these days. Maybe I’m not in the loop anymore, so let me know if I’m wrong. 

Mister and Mrs
Prints available here

The difference between an art journal and an altered book is basically this: altered books are more structured, and have a theme. Art journals are usually anything goes, each page can be very different. It’s up to the artist. Art journals tend to be more personal than altered books, and are usually based on the mood of the artist. Although, I use mine more for practice and warming up before I begin painting on canvas each day. It’s kinda like doing morning pages, but with paint instead of pen and paper. 

Altered books are made out of recycled books. Art journals usually aren’t, but several of mine are because I wanted an art journal, not a theme book at the time. Themes are hard to carry through sometimes. It’s not bad if you only have a short book to work with, but anything larger than say 10 pages tends to drag on after a while, even if you’re really into your theme at first. I remember doing the Sketchbook Project several years ago, and my theme was “A Million Little…”, which was pretty open ended. It’s better to have a theme like that, imo. Btw, my sketchbook is at the Brooklyn Art Library, if anyone is in the area. It’s number 13233. Project: SBP 2010 Catalogued — 051.3-1

Prom Date
Prints available here

If you haven’t guessed, my theme for this book was bunny rabbits. Aw!! I titled it “Girl and Her Bunny”, and it was made out of a toddler’s hardcover book. You know the ones with 8 or so pages? They make great little books, so if you see any at a tag sale, grab it up!! 

I started this book back in 2008. Then I changed studios twice, maybe three times, so it got shoved on a shelf somewhere. I just found it again, and decided to finish it up. The pages I love will be offered as prints. I’m only posting three of them today. Eventually, once I get all the photos edited, you can see the entire book under the Art Journals tab. For now, I’m just going to keep art journals and altered books together. If I start doing a lot of altered books, I’ll separate them. I must say, this one was fun, and I’m thinking up a theme to do another one. Got any ideas?