“Life imitates art.” (Oscar Wilde)
Today I'm doing laundry and thus stuck in the house listening to the dog bark. Not a problem- this is the first dayI have had alone and at home in ages. In a bit I will unto the studio and do the next step on the 2 pages for other people's books, maybe even make the mail-lady's stop here later this afternoon.
For sustenance I bought a bag of lychees at the farmer's market the other day and cannot stop eating them. I wish I had bought more. Wonder if they come in PECKS. I found the 'Better Call Saul' podcast so I'm giving that a tryout while I wait around. And of course, to fill up some room, here we have a Squirrel Portrait and his Photographer. Cute Cute Cute.
Probably because I've been whining about it lately, Artist's Books, I have been somehow subconsciously collecting book images to share. And I have some good ones I ned to get of the desktop, so here goes:
The RGB Colorspace Atlas by New York-based artist Tauba Auerbach is a massive tome containing digital offset prints of every variation of RGB color possible. For you designers, think of it as a three-dimensional version of a Photoshop color picker. At 8in. x 8in x 8in. the perfectly cube book was co-designed by Daniel E. Kelm and bound with assistance from Leah Hughes. What a beautiful sculptural object.
In 1692 an artist known only as “A. Boogert” sat down to write a book in Dutch about mixing watercolors. Not only would he begin the book with a bit about the use of color in painting, but would go on to explain how to create certain hues and change the tone by adding one, two, or three parts of water. The premise sounds simple enough, but the final product is almost unfathomable in its detail and scope.
Spanning nearly 800 completely handwritten (and painted) pages, Traité des couleurs servant à la peinture à l’eau, was probably the most comprehensive guide to paint and color of its time. According to Medieval book historian Erik Kwakkel who translated part of the introduction, the color book was intended as an educational guide. The irony being there was only a single copy that was probably seen by very few eyes.
It’s hard not to compare the hundreds of pages of color to its contemporary equivalent, the Pantone Color Guide, which wouldn’t be published for the first time until 1963.
1 comment :
I signed up as a book in a "human library" for two days, billing myself as quilter, writer, blogger, artist and hoping to talk to people about taking the time to see things and share things and the creative process. That daily practice you speak of is certainly an important part of that, and personally I feel that the sharing is important even if, as in my case, only a few people see it. I like to know it's out there.
I wonder about the fellow with the hand painted color book. Part of me says it was an extreme avoidance measure so he didn't have to actually paint anything. Part of me (the virgo categorizing and storing properly part) thinks it's the coolest thing ever. Guess I'll go off to the interweb and see if I can find any paintings the guy made. Thanks!
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