Introductory project: Stage 2: Observing qualities: The book

My next study was of the book cover, and as it had been printed with spot gloss on a matte cover, I decided that first I would focus on the areas of gloss only and pick these out, using a white pen on black paper to emulate the shine of the gloss varnish on the printed book cover:

I then decided to look at some of the plant and flower motifs that appear on the front and back of the book. The approach is scissor-cut collage, with a distinct Matisse influence and I like the way the absence of colour can suggest the veins of the leaves, almost as an optical illusion:

The cut shapes and the spaces in between seem to have equal value in being able to suggest form.

Here I experimented with using the erasable pen, creating the whole shape of the leaf first, then erasing away to create the white veins of the leaves:

I then experimented further with the Frixion erasable pen, creating textures and then erasing other areas to create patterns and motifs on top:

I could experiment further, using a heat source such as an iron, as it is friction or heat that erases the ink. Thoughts of invisible ink and secret messages...