drgrlfriend

[drgrlfriend]

Apothecaria (Solo Potion Making RPG) - Blackwell Games

Bradel binding

(There's been a lot going on with this bind even though it doesn't look like it. Check the WIP posts [1], [2] and [3] for more about that.)

Materials used cover boards - 1mm binder board, cardstock, thick paper covering material - Duo book cloth (brick) and Lokta paper (dark blue, copper) spine stiffener - cardstock

inner book paper - Schleipen Fly 05 (115 gsm) endpapers - Lokta paper (bright blue, dark blue) and Ingres Bütten paper (black) endbands - linnen thread (10/3) and Lokta paper (bright blue, dark blue)

Format: ~ A5 (14,8cm - 21cm)

[drgrlfriend]

[drgrlfriend]

Fanbinding: Settle Our Bones by @motleyfam, including fics by @batmoniker & justbeyondstars

A hurt/comfort focused series where Jason never dies, but the Waynes’ weird neighbor kid gets strung along for the ride all the same. Tim joins the family early & finds a haven in Wayne Manor.

Including a cover page by @they-reap-what-we-sow

This was my bind for @after-avalon for the 2024 Renegade Exchange! I got introduced to this fic series through their fic choices, and I enjoyed it immensely. Technically, they only asked for the first fic (the 5 times & 1) but uh... I enjoyed stuff enough my completionist heart would not allow me to only do a single fic from the series. so here is the set!

Beyond the Robin color scheme, I really wanted to lean into the Wayne manor motif. During the initial design process I struck out a bit on good interior images, so I fell back on a wrought iron motif. That had also inspired me to attempt a new craft on the cover, but plan A & B both failed to hack it for my timeline, so I hand-painted the cover instead.

I made a whole bunch of different page styles for this series because it's a whole anthology.

Edges of the text were inked black, waxed, & polished. Endpapers from @renato-crepaldi, waxed & burnished. Bookcloth is cranberry colibri. Endbands sewn with Japanese size 9 silk thread.

[drgrlfriend]

fake stakeout hater i saw you thoroughly enjoying the company of another man

[drgrlfriend]

Another jayvik book!!! This is the incredible divine alchemy of the self, by r0sie_p0sies.

This fic was recommended to me by dear friend @ilgaksu and holyyyyy shit. It was written pre-s2 and yet somehow ends up in the exact same emotional place as the finale; the similarities range from larger scene beats all the way down to certain dialogue choices. Rosie just gets these characters, through and through!

As usual, process chatter under the cut!

It's fitting for a jayvik book that this first attempt was chock-full of experiments and new techniques! This is my first hardcover quarto Legal size, which I really loved doing. I also finally have a proper finishing press, so I was able to properly round and back a book for the first time! The shoulders are a little weak, so I'm hoping to improve when I make Rosie's author copy. I also used my foil pen for the first time and handwrote the little blurb on the back.

Most exciting, this was the first time I tried an inset! I used some of my favorite blue Momi marbled paper; rectangle placement is heavily inspired by one of @pleasantboatpress's gorgeous binds. Loveee me a good rectangle, heh. I thought an inset was fitting for this story; as you can probably tell from the title, the fic is all about transforming oneself--through grief, through illness, through love. I wanted this to be a book of contrasts--stark white for a kind of blank canvas (also a nod to Viktor's hexcorized dolls in s2), blue and gold for magic/hextech. Here's an abridged version of what I sent Rosie while chatting about design (please picture me as that It's Always Sunny conspiracy meme, but in DMs):

The framework of the fic being alchemy, creation, a literal step-by-step guide for how to create something divine, is something I really want to explore! I really like the idea of this kind of blank canvas casing + swirling paper inset. All the love and life and messy tendrils of illness surrounded by this...blank divinity. That divinity as a medium, a container, for the complicated human experience. But also the inverse--the blankness of the canvas drawing attention to the brilliant blue/gold of the inset. The bright light shining through the windows of their living room in the ending scene juxtaposed with the moment of their (possible? wonderfully ambiguous?) deaths; those two moments being, in many ways, the same. A window into their lives loving each other, seen from both the outside and within. *insert lots of keyboard smashing*

Interiority and vulnerability were also two themes I wanted to convey. So with that theme in mind, I tried something very, very new to me, and thought, fuck it, let's try to use fake vellum for the endpapers:

You're not really supposed to use fake vellum for endpapers because 1) it wrinkles and curls like all hell and 2) since it's translucent, it means you can see the inside of the boards and the tapes. But for this bind, I decided to lean into that effect--I scribbled the four stages of the alchemical process (the framework of the fic's chapters) onto the boards so you could see them when you opened the book (I wanted to evoke jayvik's "mad scientists" vibe lol); I cut the supporting linen tapes into points (a nod to the rune Viktor carves into his leg brace) and painted them gold so they'd stand out more (they reminded me of Vik's spine brace; I mean hell, they're literally sewn into the spine of the book for extra support. It felt criminal to not incorporate them in some way!); I tried to be more intentional with the glue brushstrokes while casing in to give the paste-down a more painted effect; and finally, probably the thing that was hardest to let go (and which I'm still a little unsure about, to be honest), I let the damn endpapers wrinkle, for more ~texture.~

The overall effect is something I'm still mulling over, even as I write this--it kind of goes against everything I've learned as a bookbinder, and almost makes me feel (or rather, the book feel lol) naked. These are the parts of the book you aren't normally supposed to see, put on display the moment you open it. But! I think that even if it's not the strongest from a design perspective, I think thematically, it works. Reading this fic made me feel like I was being carved open, so I wanted the experience of reading the book to be a little vulnerable, too. Also: beauty in imperfections, right? :3

Aaand that's all for today! A million thanks again to Rosie for letting me bind her wonderful work <3

And once more for the road: you can read divine alchemy of the self on ao3!

[drgrlfriend]

[drgrlfriend]

When I wake up, I’m afraid that somebody else will take my place

[drgrlfriend]

the sea makes bones of bodies by @swordsmans

Meanwhile I’m still working my way through my backlog of textblocks.

🌊 This one was a jaw-droppingly gorgeous typeset by the author of a fantastic luzo mermaid!AU.

🌊 I immediately knew I wanted the cover to feature scales in some way, and settled on this black faux leather (the scales are more snake than fish or shark, but they are So Texture).

🌊 The endpapers are printed on the treacherous red watercolor paper (it also has nice texture but does so love to react badly to any amount of moisture in the adhesive) printed with a Japanese wave pattern.

🌊 I painted the inlay on the cover in Procreate and printed it in 3 layers (I’m still experimenting with achieving the transparent and slightly distressed organic look of riso printing on an inkjet printer).

Very happy with the way this turned out (but also have more ideas for a different edition of this fic)!

[drgrlfriend]

The events of The Winter Soldier trial told in a series of tweets. Inspired by two amazing mixed-media fics that play with the possibility of what might happen if Bucky was put on trial after the events of CATWS:

- United States v. Barnes by fallingvoices and radialarch

- cross this river to the other side by defcontwo

This is more of a re-mix than actual fic illustration, though all credit for the idea and the tweets goes to the respective authors. Stylewise I was going for a mix between actual pictures and courtroom sketches. References used courtesy of Getty Images. And thanks to johanirae for being my art-beta.

[drgrlfriend]

I dont have much drawing time lately bur i played around with a different style and some face studied (because i cant keep drawing the same 3 expressions on everyone).

[drgrlfriend]

This anthology took me a looong time to figure out, first composition-wise, and then the textblock had to wait for some month while I figured out what I wanted to do with the cover. ⚔️👒

💚 My main idea was GREEN, because I wanted to collect my favorite Zoro/Luffy pieces (about being deeply not normal about each other and also about inappropriate use of Gear 5) and use different Japanese woodcuts for each piece. The fancy linework in the typeset was inspired by @swordsmans's style.

💚 The endbands are a random assortment of greens, and the cover is hand stitched on nice emerald green linen. The feel of the book in my hands is well worth my poor pricked all over fingers (I am very new to any kind of embroidery).

The list of works is as follows:

ouroboros by @swordsmans

without guilt by Augment

the color of want by @okayprairie

the only animal by batman

captain's quarters by batman

bone-breaker ospreys mate for life by @swordsmans

burden of proof by batman

gearshift by @starshipcaptainjojo

[drgrlfriend]

I wish I knew how to aim.

Anyways Marvel Rivals is really onto something giving Clint a manbun.

[drgrlfriend]

Black Widow (2020) | Black Widow vol. 6 (2016)

[drgrlfriend]

My mom just turned 86. When I went to visit her in her retirement community dining room, there were three walkers parked outside the doorway with anti-Trump signs attached to them from their participation in a protest earlier. :-D

tumblr leftists being surprised to see middle aged white women with signs or hats saying "deny defend depose" really reinforces for me that tumblr leftists don't actually talk to people lmao. like I did a lot of canvassing as a teenager and you know who the best most reliable political organizers are? middle aged women. you know who's bloodthirsty after watching rachel maddow every night and sharing HuffPo articles on facebook? middle aged women. maybe sheryl from iowa who's been voting religiously for democrats for the past thirty years IS more hardcore than you, tumblr user who did a write-in "protest vote." what are you going to do about that.

[drgrlfriend]

Richard Castle & Alexis Castle in Castle | 2.06 • Vampire Weekend

[drgrlfriend]

aunt may does right by her nephew. 

[drgrlfriend]

Full clothbinding with paper onlay

Materials used

Case Boards - grey board 1mm Spine stiffener - cardstock Covering material - Iris book cloth (green) Paper onlay - chiyogami paper

Inner book Text block - Schleipen fly 05 (115gsm) Endpapers - coffee paper (120gsm) Endbands - linnen core (10/3) and chiyogami paper

Format: ~ 9,8cm x 14,2cm

Btw this is what the paper originally looked like.