Craft Corner: Book Painting

Materials

Pencil

Paper

Acrylic Paint

Hardback book

Paint brushes

Step 1: Pick A Book

It helps to pick a book you feel strongly about and/or contains strong imagery. It's hard to create a design you have little connection to. For this project, I chose Winterspell by Claire Legrand because it is absolutely amazing, the entire thing is beautiful (a bit dark & gruesome at certain points, but beautiful nonetheless), and uhhh... I just really love Claire Legrand's book & think they deserve more appreciation.

Step 2: PLAN YOUR DESIGN

There is much to be said of spontaneity. Unfortunately, when it comes to book painting, those things are rarely good. Winging designs is not the way to go, especially if the naked hardback you are using is anything except for black. This includes both image & color scheme.

Step 3: Practice the Design

I usually just sketch the design a few times to get a handle on it. However, if you plan to practice painting it beforehand, make sure you do it on a paper similar to the texture of your book. Avoid practicing on canvases. The canvas will absorb the paint differently than the book & so the result will be wildly different from your practice.

Step 5: Cover the Parts You Don't Want Painted

If there are large sections you don't want painted, I suggest covering them in Washi Tape. I usually tape along the spine & edges of the cover.

Step 4: Paint the Book!

Don't be afraid, you just have to go for it! Dip that brush into some paint & then slap (or gently place) it onto the book! Accept that it won't turn out exactly how you want it; there will be mistakes & it's absolutely okay! You just have to keep practicing.