Over the past five years, I've had books professionally printed using images of my art. They're surprisingly affordable and I now have a small library where I can see all my art in one place.
I'd love to encourage you to do the same so I'm sharing some information on how to do it.
First of all, though, why make books of your art?
The first, and possibly best reason, is that they are beautiful, joyful things to have and hold! Your art is immediately elevated and it’s incredibly rewarding to see it professionally printed on quality paper and bound into a book.
Secondly, they act as a reference of the techniques, colours and styles that you’ve used. Our art practices change over time so it can be inspiring to refer back to earlier works and adapt techniques or styles that you may have forgotten about to generate new work.
Thirdly, seeing the progression of your work over time not only shows how you have developed as an artist, but also helps you to clarify your unique style. For example, you may be able to see that certain colour palettes, themes or marks reoccur in your work.
And finally, they enable you to keep a hard copy of pieces of art that you may have sold or given away, and to collate works that may exist in different formats e.g. journal pages, prints, digital works.
Helpful tips for making your books
Don’t always use images of an entire piece of art or journal page; a close-up of a favourite section will look intriguing as a page in your book.
Use the best quality photos you can take, but don’t worry about needing fancy equipment. All of my work is photographed using my mobile phone.
Think about the order of your pages. When your book is printed you will have lots of double-page spreads made from two single images, so make sure they work together.
In my examples, you’ll see that I chose images with similar colours or themes to sit together.
How to create your books
I’ve used several ways to make my books. (I’m not affiliated with any of the companies I mention below, just a fan of their services!)
The easiest is using an online service that links directly to your phone’s photo library and collates all of the photos that you ‘favourite’.
Once all the pages are filled with photos, you can then edit the order and press ‘print’ and the book will arrive in the post a few days later. The service I use is called ChatBooks.
Alternatively, use an online print service where you upload your photos into a book template.
In the UK I use one called Dox Direct (thanks to Jack Ravi for the tip!), but just search online for similar ones in your own country. You can design the cover and decide how many pages you want, paper quality etc. I add handmade covers to my books to make them more bespoke.
Finally, a more DIY version is to print your images out and bind them yourself. This is a great solution if you don’t mind it taking time and you like a handmade look.
I hope this inspires you to make books of your work... let me know if you do, I'd love to see!
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