Gothic Tome

Hi there, I have neglected keeping you all up to date about my projects.

Here is one I started a little while back. It was a big project. The biggest book I have ever made to

date. There is a flip through video a the end of this blog post. I also will be doing progress videos as I add things too it. 

I call this my Gothic Tome. 

I was rewatching Penny Dreadful while I wasn't to well one week and became inspired by Vistorian Gothic Horror Stories. Many are featured in Penny Dreadful and I felt drawn to compile something unique that holds much of the theme. 

I had a clear idea of what I wanted, but the trick was achieving that finish on the cover. I started but working on some samples to get the surface finish I wanted. I had done much research on achieving the crackle finish.

Once I was satisfied with the sample effect I wanted I set out to start on the actual cover.





I will do a more detailed post on the crackle technique that I use for my cover, so stay tuned.








After finishing the cover surface, I had at it with a bit of sandpaper to distress the edges.

Next came the drilling of the holes for the signatures. There were a lot. I chose to drill the spine rather than using an awl to maintain some strength in the spine.









Folding the signatures. Wow there were a lot



Sewing in the signatures was another massive undertaking. After which I HAD A HUGE FRICKEN BOOK!!






I had this face in my stash that I wanted to put on the front cover. The idea was to paint it and then add a crackle medium to the surface. ALWAYS DO SAMPLES FIRST. I used the wrong paint on the face and the crackle medium did some fun and interesting things.



Luckily I was able to salvage the face an completed it which a LOVELY finish.



The finished BOOK.





Here is the flip through.