This past summer, after seeing my BoS a la Charmed , a friend of mine asked me to make her a similar one in blue featuring a silver Vesica Piscis on the cover. She offered to pay for it in advance (which I declined) and seemed very eager about the project. She asked about it nearly every time we saw each other. First of all, I hate doing custom work for people. I do not work well on any time table but my own. I also have difficulty working on a job that I do not feel inspired to do at that moment. I work as the spirit moves me. That ethos is not conducive to meeting client specifications or deadlines. I guess you could use the analogy that I am more of an artist than an illustrator. I put off the project for several weeks (months) until she started getting perturbed. Finally I started working on it, rather than risk any trauma to our friendship.
This is a large sketchbook. The front and back boards were thickened and given a border with chipboard. It was then covered with crinkled brown paper using the white glue and paper method and finished with the faux leather effect. It was painted black, then sponged with two different shades of blue, and finally dry brushed with silver. Silver half round upholstery tacks were used in the corners for decoration, and silver snaps hold the heavy black (bonded) leather straps that were cut from an old belt.
The front design was a little more complex than I usually do in these types of projects. Cutting intricate curves, especially tight ones, are a pain when working with chipboard. But these ones didn't turn out to be that bad. Most of the curves were gentle enough not to create much of a hassle. I had more difficulty getting the coloring right on it. I had to repaint it several times to get the antiquing just right. Too bright and it looked very flat and artificial. Too dark and it looked dingy and dirty.
The final touches were a black cloth ribbon bookmark and new gray end papers. As a gesture of good will, I decided to give it to her as a Yule gift. She picked it up today and seemed very pleased with it.
Nice work. Considering the fact that you don't like deadlines, and this is why you do not normally custom work, would you then resort to mass production instead? Or would you rather do work whenever the mood strikes? As a professional writer, I find that no matter how I feel, I must be capable of producing on deadline, whether sick or well, happy or sad. In fact, I've done some of my best work when I've been my lowest health wise. I do admit, you do nice work.
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