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Thinking about the last details so I can finish my book tomorrow, I researched a method or technique that can substitute the golden cut for the core pages. Something that I always wanted for the final tome is has it has to look like an illuminated manuscript, and ancient and magical book. Making the polen look older with coffee and water was not an option at first when the pages needed to pass through a printer, but now that they did I can simply stain the edges so they look like parchment.

Experimenting with an old book I have which was printed on the same paper as mine, I used a brush to paint the edges with coffee and watch it dry overnight to achieve the effect I want. There's a video I referenced in my Research File that gives a lot of tips and finishing touches to give this fantastical atmosphere to the book. I'm finding it very useful to provide me ideas so I can enhance the final outcome to most polished version of the book that I can deliver. Tomorrow is the final deadline so I can finish this and register everything to my assessment and be done with this project so every next effort goes to the display.

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Making a HEAVY Spellbook with REAL Leather!

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Next Wednesday is the assessment and when organizing my experiments, sketchbook, padlets and outcomes, I look back at the whole process of this project and how much I worked hard so it could come true until the deadline set. And since there will be a personal evaluation to be written by each student, I will reflect a little bit about it here.

What I most liked during the past three months was to gather ideas and references that are so close to my heart and apply them in my personal practice. Literature and history are topics I enjoy since I was a kid and, for example, researching about the art of book making since Europe's illuminated manuscripts and apply this knowledge into graphic design and illustration was the aspect that made Part 3 so valuable. By getting to know the methods of scribes, for example, and experimenting with them in real life was not just an immersion in different art techniques, but an emotional and historical one.

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While selecting the outcomes that will be hanged in the Exhibition, I started to think ways of communicating the event for family and friends. Putting some sort of advertisement for my project would be a great idea of a sort of easy invitation that can be easily spread through social media. What I am thinking is to book the photo studio whatever day of the hanging week and take pictures of my display alongside with the final outcome. Using my main title I did with ink would also look great if I use Photoshop to add a more magical atmosphere to the book's pedestal. I think that marketing my project is an essential part of being an artist because nowadays we need to learn how to sell our talents in the creative market and as professionals. I would like to do some sort of add if everything goes right with my schedule this week to test if I can be successful as an advertiser and communicator as I am an artist.

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The first digital illustration of my book I decided to be used on the cover. It has to be a very impacting and precise type of drawing so it can be printed with so much detail as I want. Also, using the pen like I did with the core images is no longer a safe option considering that the outcome hanging will be next week. Therefore, using my tablet with Photoshop, I scanned a sketch of an idea that I want for the front and back cover. Next, it was a matter of time so I could use the software in my benefit and create very symmetrical and fine line art that was very satisfactory to me.

The next step is to create the matrix to use it as a silk screen drawing and print my illustration over the fabric bought alongside with the display materials. Still inside the colour palette chosen previously, I decided to buy golden ink like the decorated initials and the frames to print over the ruby fabric. When that is done I can simply glue the core pages to the hard cover and everything will be over to display week.

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Today was the last day we had the studio available to our Part 3 Project and comparing to my situation yesterday, I feel much more at peace. The mistakes I made with the printing were all solved and I could deliver the book for binding just a little late, but still, with the core pages all perfectly adjusted. I had trouble with the quality of the illustrations and the size of the initials, proceeding with those mistakes for me was not an option. Therefore, I printed a lot of tests to see what was the problem, searching for each "option box" in Indesign that could possibly be the source of the error.

These mistakes are normal, but they took one whole day of my Action Plan that I could have spent thinking about the second cover and how I will silk screen it. Next time I should spend more time pondering about how to save the file, the specifications of the booklet type and other details like the margins of the page numbers to really prevent those time spending errors.

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What is achievable in the time I got left is exactly the refining of the book. Since the core is ready, what remains is only the cover and the book binding. The previous plan was to do the golden cut of the pages, but I was not prepared to finish the book in Indesign with the correct specifications for it, so sadly I can only do the sewing and the both covers. Despite of this minor setback, I can use black coffee to give the sides the appearance of an old object and it is an alternative plan to make substitute the golden cut of the Luiz's atelier.

I think my biggest achievement of this project is not an outcome itself, but the whole planning I did to create the visual identity of the whole book. There was a lot involved in this project, from the illustrations to the letters, and everything needed to be thought out and done quickly. The experimentations of the techniques I chose were all relatable to the contextual research and in the end of the day I feel I'll get an illuminated manuscript inspired book with my own story in it.

To manage my stress levels and health issues I will try to see were my problems are coming from and how I can resolve them. Knowing their sources is the key to solving them calmly and not getting overboard with the amount of time they are making me loose. I still got one week left and there is time for everything if I plan myself correctly.

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Today I went to the fabric supplier in "25 de março" that everyone assured me I would find the velour type of fabric that I am looking for my pedestal. Luckily, I got everything I needed in the first store I went in. It has seven floors of different types of fabric in all colours and textures. With my references in my mind, explained my ideas to the attendants and they were able to show be options that would suit perfectly a Middle Ages inspired display. The fabrics I found for the plinth have the same "pillow" like aspect to it, referencing the vibrant colours that were so common in medieval fashion.

I also looked for materials for the cover which I will use to silk screen my digital illustration on it. Thinking about a more texture fabric that evokes an old book atmosphere, I made my choice thinking about the colour pallet that the scribes used for painting the illuminated manuscripts. Now that the book is coming together, I can see the personality I was so strongly looking for when applying my research to my decision-making in the past weeks.

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I forgot how using the square nib for a calligraphy pen was so much fun. Creating the text for the titles was one of the most enjoyable moments I had since starting the project and it's a skill that I can further explore in my personal practice. Using Marc Drogin's book I referenced in my bibliography, I've learned how to create the "gothic textura" typography that was so commonly used in the Middle Ages. It's long shapes imitates the giant towers of the noble's castles and the huge gothic cathedrals that touched the clouds. Using the pen and ink for this type of work gave me much more freedom to use it to define the line's thickness and angles. Since I had more than a month to practice drawing with this instrument, calligraphy seems the next logical step for me.

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The most challenging bit of creating the Indesign file with my story + the illustrations + the decorated frames + the initials is that anything can come out messed up and without a coherent and uniform layout. Using the software is always a lesson by itself that every time adds knowledge to my skills, however, is it by learning without experience that we are prone to make mistakes. Because of that I caught myself checking and checking the designs over and over again so that every thing was adjusted and correct. Like my silk screen week couple days ago, this experience made me learn little details about the software that helped me make everything faster and more efficiently.

Indesign tips when book making:
-Always make sure that every file that you put in Indesign is in the correct size it will be used. If you rely on boxes and frames to adjust your content, the images will be all different from each other. The original file is what it matters.
-Check the resolution you are printing your booklet before you save the PDF file. There are hidden image quality boxes that can be easily noticed.
-Using the A master page for rulers is a great tip for when you need to create pages, for example, that have similar layouts.

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Coming down to the final two weeks of work, it has come the time to decide major factors that will define the whole appearance of the book. Having everything that will compose the end result, now is the moment of bringing all the pieces together and create an Indesign file that will be easily printed by Copy Set. Meanwhile,  when creating this digital booklet, I asked Monique for opinions about suppliers and book-binding tips. She advised me to use the polen paper and when seeing its texture again, it was a pretty easy choice. It's the closest I'll get of imitating an old illuminated manuscript and while checking with a couple of my paper suppliers, I found an option that has a very fair price.

Monique also advised me Luiz Machado's atelier which will be perfect for sewing a big book like mine and adding the marbled paper that was so much used as cover sheets for illuminated manuscripts. As the weeks pass, more and more I see how my research conducted my creative process and was so beneficial for creating such a referential project like mine.

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Today I've finished all my silk screen artworks and I am very pleased with the results. Thinking about the time I spent in the Print Studio under Marcelo's guidance, I feel much more confident now using this specific technique. It was very useful to make a lot of mistakes and learn from them so the next time I don't get overwhelmed with the big amount of stuff I need to print. I think that the most rewarding price of this experience was that now I can do pretty much everything by myself.

The major problem of relying on other people to help me with printing is that my Action Plan can be easily impaired. This is due to the amount of time I lose by asking for help, for example, to record the matrix into the screen and a lot of other miscellaneous details that prove to be very time-consuming. I am glad now that I had this whole week to practice silk screen printing and it will be an experience that will be very useful not just for this project, but to the BA's following years.

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Using the Print Studio this whole week, I've learned a lot of tips that are very useful when the subject is around silk screen. Getting to know those things made me much more efficient, the outcomes came out faster and with better results.

Washing:
-First you need to wash the screen to take out everything that belonged to past usage and there are two special soaps in the upper floor to help with this task. Then you leave it to dry for fifteen minutes to make the emulsion and record the matrix after.

Recording:
-To record the matrix you need to glue it over a prepared screen, not forgetting to tape it reflected, otherwise it will come out inverted when it's time to use the ink.
-First you need to turn on the UV light and let it heat for a couple minutes. Then, with the screen over the glass and a little piece of cord over it, turn on the vacuum and let it there until the strange noise stops. After you need to press the main button to start the recording process and after the blue light appears, you need to press the far right button of the timer to finish everything.
-The recorded screen will need to be washed very carefully so the emulsion is very clear and the artwork is completely visible on the screen.

Silk Screen:
-Every corner needs to be taped in order to the ink don't stain the rest of the table.
-When working with a material with a lot of texture, you need to do print over a soft paper after so the rest of the outcomes are not affected by the previous texture.
-Using the smaller paper you have to glue the marks is a good way of preventing disasters.
-Gluing the matrix over the paper is a good way to make the marks on the table so you have a good notion of the position you are printing on.
-When the printing starts to come out stained, is a good idea to wash the screen with a wet rug so the wholes don't become all clogged up. After whipping a lot, you need to dry it with paper and test the printing over a discardable paper to solve the problem.

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With the proper materials in hand today it was time to finish my Exhibition Proposal and start the silk screen process. As always, everything took longer than I expected but doing all the steps, from cleaning the screen to recording the matrix, was a great way of learning and remembering the technique. Next time I will be quicker because I can now do it by myself and not with someone guiding me through every step. It is decided that I need to make all the frames and letters until Friday so I can make the titles and paint the details, or else I won't have a chance to think about the cover and the whole book binding process.

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Today the task given in EBAC was to create the Exhibition Proposal for my project and thinking about what I want to convey, I really don't need that much space. Since the main attraction will be the book, which will be over a very decorated pedestal, and everything else will be glue to the wall the whole space will be relatively simple. Thinking about my medieval inspirations, is better not to mix those elements with big screens and virtual gadgets.

A part from making the Proposal, I went to a supplier in Vila Mariana to browse for golden ink and old papers. What I found there was much better than I expected and my job now is to make all my silk screen prints this next days, the main and chapter titles so next week I can focus on the cover and the mounting of the final book. I look not to stray away from my Action Plan anymore, the days are running out and the deadline for the project submission is 20 days ahead.

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Having the letters ready for the silk screen, the illuminated inspired frames was the next step. When drawing them with ink, I remembered the procedure of painting the previous step by hand and since I'll be using the Print Studio for the initials, I think the frames will fall under the same technique. Still using Illustrator to transform them in vectors, I tested out digitalizing one flower pattern and the result was very satisfactory.

Feeling very confident with the way I'll be carrying the letters and the frames, I feel free to think about the materials I need to get the effect I want with the silk screen technique. Much more than just using blue over a simple paper, I want the texture and the magnificence of the illuminated manuscripts, so thinking about gold details and an old papers is the next step I need to solve quickly in order to continue with my Action Plan.

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When finishing the letter's drawings I could start thinking how I would insert them into the book itself. Using Adobe Illustrator to transform them in vectors was a good way of preserving their silhouettes and making them digital, however, the hand drawn texture was lost. The idea I had to preserve this trace of technique is making silk screen molds so I have at least an ink type method that combines with my contextual research. Next week I'll be using the Print Studio to text out this method and see if I can make beautiful outcomes for the chapter pages, trying to remember of the monk scribes that passed their hours painting illuminated manuscripts.

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Giving a break of the illustrations provided new motivation to continue with the project. Having researched medieval calligraphy and typography since I was writing the project brief, I used the references I love and created my own decorated initials ornamented with art nouveau and tapestries elements.

My mind seams much more efficient now to reflect and experiment with new stuff and I can focus on making everything else for the book. Surely I will finish the drawings later, but I cannot delay my Action Plan any longer. Now that the time is running out, I will need to check and recheck my schedule and make the adjustments so everything goes as I planned.

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Since there is only one month left to the final deadline, things started to get a little more rushed. I wasn't able to finish all my illustrations in consequence of tiredness, so going back to EBAC I decided to move on with the next steps so the rest of the project is under its way. The 2 and 1/2 drawings that remain to be inked will have to be done in my free time.

Therefore, moving on, I started to experiment with typography and the references I got. Starting to sketch their format and shape, I researched about medieval calligraphy and the different types that were found in Europe's illuminated manuscripts. The "gothic textura quadrata" and "fraktur" are just two of the different repercussions that the monks created with their pens, and imitating them will be a part of my project that I will enjoy.

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It's funny how everything takes longer than we think. When the project started I had created a very detailed Action Plan but as I am going through each step of the project, I need to adapt it every time I proceed into something new. The illustrations are my main concern, but each element of the book takes at least an extra day to finish. Nothing that I plan for my day can be finished until 4 pm and I get myself working a lot a home. This is not a problem, but it takes more discipline to accomplish and to organize myself every weekend. My main concern, however, is not if I can finish everything on time for the project deadline, but if the supplier I'll need ahead can do their job with no delays. Printing, for example, takes a lot of time not because it's a complicated task, but because my supplier of choice has a tendency of taking a lot of time. These are things I'll have to pay close attention next month so I can negotiate between my schedule and the time I'll let my book in hands of others.

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Looking at real illuminated manuscripts reminded me what Leopoldo told me about setting a time and place for our research. I feel that putting focus on elements like architecture and old books is what is making my mind clearer about what I want as a final outcome. Seeing the religious paintings, the colours that they use, how they present new chapters, separate book sessions and organize the page layout, is what is making me want to create an illuminated piece of art myself.

These aspects are what started editorial design back in the Middle Ages and they provide a lot of insights on how  western culture started to create the habit of reading. What I am loving most about my project until this moment is how I can take those techniques of painting, design and illustration and twist them to my own purpose. Creating the drawings with pen and ink and planning the rest of this book is making me feel like a modern scribe, connecting references I love to my personal practice.

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While creating the illustrations I percieved that they would take much longer than I thought and therefore, I reserved more of my free time to finish those that remains. Meanwhile, I had to continue with the others aspects of the book so they wouldn't suffer with a lack of time and effort. Since all the drawings are black and white, the personality of the book needs to go beyond this monochromathic pallete and because of that, I started my research on colours that would be appropriate for a illuminated book.

During the Middle Ages, scribes used a limited amount of colours to paint their manuscripts, so looking at those ancient references, I had a lot to get inspiration from. The main colours that got my attention were the famous blue tone of lapis lazuli, the golden saffron and the ruby red. Choosing those specific tones can contributte to create the book's personality and stray from a colourful mess that has nothing to do with my references.

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Because I'm focusing much of my attention on creating the illustrations and the problems I encounter are the ones I named previously, it's been harder to reflect about my personal practice. The issues I found are related to stuff like careless ink stains, the angle I'm using the pen's nibs and the time I'm taking in each of the drawings.

Since this step of the project is taking longer than I thought, I gave myself another week to finish them and I'll be separating all the drawings that are missing to be finished until sunday. They can't take longer because there are a bunch of aspects of the book that I want to focus on like the decorated initials and the chapter drolleries. If I don't be disciplined about my schedule, the other steps of the project can be negatively affected and the time to plan out my display will be filled with the anxiety of previous chores I didn't accomplished.

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The illustrations are taking much more than I expected and because of this issue, I had to restructure my entire Action Plan. Each drawing is occupying 1/2 to a whole day to ink, adding also my willingness to work all day. The process is proving to occupy much more of my schedule then I thought initially, but thinking through this problem I also feel good because the illustrations are a vital part of the book. They are very fun to make and it feels nice to go deep inside the world I created myself, mixing my writing with the Foundation Course. It's taking a little time to get comfortable with the pen and the different nibs, but experimenting with this technique is what made me choose it on the first place.

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Visiting the book-binding studio with Monique broadened my horizon in the sense that it provided me lots and lots of ideas and opportunities to make my project even richer. For example, there is this "hot stamp" technique that would create a beautiful golden effect for the cover, being just one of many paths I could access when giving the finishing touches to the book. It's been very good to get to know this different artistic methods and understating new stuff rather then just sticking to the things I already know.

This visit also gave me a better sense of the personality that I want to the final outcome. When walking around, I saw this beautiful "Dom Quixote" book and it's exactly what I pictured in my mind: big, old, with black and white etched illustrations and a graceful golden ornaments to the cover. Even though I'am enjoying doing the pen and ink drawings, I'am looking forward to this next step when I'll get to decide the colour scheme, the chapter drolleries, the image for the front cover and everything else that is inside the artistry of book-making. This will be the part that I can experiment much more with fabrics, typography and the research I made previously.

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My suspicions were right and there were already accidents on my first drawing. The inking process proved to be much more fun and enjoyable then I thought and I feel happy that the technique that's being used suits my contextual research. However, the black ink is still very unpredictable and for me is very hard not to make some missteps.

Things I've learned:
-It's very nice to give little breaks when drawing so the ink can dry.
-The direction the pen is being hold is very important and when trying to reflect things and duplicate them, the line art can get a little thinner.
-It's good to ink things from left to right because since I'm right-handed, the process is like reading a book and things can dry without my hand messing the lines.
-The lines for the frames can be made with markers because using the pen together with a ruler can be disastrous.

Even though I've made already a good number of errors, I will try not to worry about them because these illustrations won't be the final outcome. So the book can be united together, all of the drawings will have to get through Photoshop and Indesign and that's when I'll have the opportunity to fix thing I don't like and have no control because of my lack of experience.

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Since I am no inking professional, I took extra steps of caution to preserve my drawings. After finishing all ten sketches, I took them to the printing shop, so they could be scanned and kept in my computer. Then I printed all of them on vegetable paper so in case there are accidents in the future, the illustrations can be easily passed into a fresh A3 paper. I experimented with the materials and nibs for the pen, but the ink is one of the trickiest materials I've worked with because it spills easily and is impossible to clean.

This step of caution is necessary not just for registering my outcomes for the future assessment, but is vital if I want to experiment more and more with the things I'll be creating. For example, if I scan an inked drawing, I can make markers with these illustrations, use different techniques of printing or even play with them with Photoshop. The possibilities are endless.

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With the sensation I've bitten more than I could chew, I started to feel very tired of drawing and the mistakes I made in previous steps bothered me even more. Deciding that I should spend more times in the illustrations, I focused on what and why I didn't enjoy some elements of these sketches. An advice that Michael gave me is to make a personal page in the sketchbook for those things I don't like, eyes, mouth, hair, clothing, for example, and play more around the possibilities of experimenting. This provided me a feeling of a fresh start because what I ended up spending more time on looking the references and trying new things were the drawings that improved.

The importance of making reference boards appeared in this step of the project because it helps to build up confidence to go into the drawing itself, the illustrations take less time and appear to be more natural. If I do this every time, I won't spend much only thinking about things I don't enjoy and the time I separated in my Action Plan won't be wasted.

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Sketching the illustrations is taking longer than I thought. Even though there were previous drawings with more or less the composition of the whole image, there are some problems that I've encountered that demand more of my time. For example, it's a tendency of mine to make things very small and when that happens and I don't even notice, the impact of the illustration diminishes. Because of that, the background takes over and the message get's lost with so many details.

In consequence of that process, there were several times that I caught myself looking and analyzing the drawing. That's no good for this sensation requires some adjustments. Next time, I should spend more time making the first basic shapes of the anatomy, looking where the character should be positioned inside the other elements of the drawing. Other steps I could take is to draw the shapes over the photos I took for reference because they should be the starting point of each person I try to illustrate.

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As I'm making my 10 illustrations, the photo references proved to be of great help when drawing people. This was the hardest part of sketching and when there is a picture to look at, the process proved to be much more fun and fast. My task of making this first pencil layers is going as planned and I hope I can continue with my mission of taking care of two artworks a day throughout the course of this next weeks.

And because there is no mystery to pencil sketching, I started my research for the future processes. Inking the illustrations will be the hardest step of these drawings, but since I'll have the Research Week soon, I can use this time to really spend it on making satisfactory line arts. I'm looking forward to this bit of the project and beyond just doing things that I know, I can focus on learning new techniques such as using quills and nibs. Practicing with pen and ink is something I've been wishing for a long time and next week it will be the time to get deep into this type of process.

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Having the idea, more or less, of what I wanted for each illustration, the time for starting the pencil sketches began and for me, that was a big challenge. There is much more than just drawing involved and sometimes the illustrations can seem a little stiff and with no movement. Therefore, using the camera, I took reference pictures of my friends to use as models for dimensions and anatomy. This helped me very much because everything comes out more naturally and with accurate proportions.

Another challenge that comes with drawing is that any mistake that makes itself permanent can be terrifying and result in a waste of time. To this project end up as I want, the Action Plan need to be followed religiously and as a consequence of this schedule determinations, I will be very careful with my illustrations as I were when mounting my portfolio. I need to avoid ink stains, finger prints and stupid mistakes that can compromise, at least, this first part of the project.

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Feeling very confused about what to illustrate yesterday, I had the idea of exploring more the narrative before jumping directly to the drawings. Separating  the book into chapters, I firstly took notes of passages and scenes that would be interesting to choose, then I highlighted strong points of the story so I could see if my options were related to climaxes of the book. This type of planning provided me a lot of confidence to continue with my creative process and selecting which chapters really feel are strong enough to become a desirable outcome.

One other thing to think about is my Action Plan. Fearing that the illustrations will take more time than I want, I will make a complete one and see how much it will take. Separating two weeks for them and the couple next for the illuminated pages, the problem will surge if there isn't enough time to proceed with the quantity I want. Therefore, making experimentations for all the steps of my project  is a good idea to come up with a more realistic Action Plan.

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What I discovered today while doing my first sketches is that is very helpful to use real photos when drawing. More than just image references for drawing people, observing textures of trees, animal faces and buildings is really useful to give a more realistic vibe to the illustrations I'm creating. Getting inspiration from the real world is very contributing if comparing with ideas that are just in my mind, the drawings come off more naturally and believable.

Reviewing previous strategies and Action Plan was useful in the sense that I can focus on doing my project step by step. For example, if setting achievable goals every day, the next task will be a consequence, or a requirement, of the previous one. Analyzing the book specifications like page numbers, initials and chapters yesterday gave me the knowledge that I needed to start my illustration sketches today.

One small thing that I can do to enhance my productivity is to change activities once in a while. After spending the whole morning drawing, by lunchtime my head couldn't even picture the scenes of my own book. Therefore, I focused on researching a little bit of calligraphy in the afternoon and this change of tasks was very refreshing. Not forcing myself every time is sometimes the key of getting things well done.

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Writing the Project Brief was very good in the sense that I got the opportunity of reuniting a lot of references and artists that I love for just one proposal. I could expand the horizon of my own references and discover more and more of how people that inspire me manage to use different techniques to achieve storytelling. Going deep in bookmaking and illustration makes me eager to use my literary repertoire to my benefit in Graphic Design and the pathway I chose.

However, the most challenging part of writing the proposal was to make the schedule. I still don't know for sure if I'll proceed with my first ideas and insights for the book, but the requirement of time management makes afraid of not having enough time to do what I want. I guess that one thing to make sure of for this Part 3 part of the course, since is independent study, is to always follow my Action Plan or, otherwise, my hopes for this project will go down the drain.

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Now that I had some good insights for the project, it was time to start the brief. Thinking about this two last weeks of research, there were more than enough opportunities to discover what I want for my own exhibition. Uniting a lot of the references that are connected to my book, I could establish some key elements that will decide further research and the path that my outcomes will follow. Always thinking about time and place, like Leopoldo suggested, was one of the most productive advice to anchor focus on things that will make my project unique and with its own personality.

Having the Project Brief now on its way, I guess that the next weeks the research will be around techniques and artistic methods. Now that the part where I had to come up with a lot of insights is finishing, perhaps I should start to look for books that offer good advises on drawing and printing skills. Having spent so much time with the previous step of idea generation, I feel more comfortable and confident to proceed to the next step of the project: experimenting.

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Visiting some exhibitions around town gave me really good material to my Part 3 project. Going to Bienal and the Afro Museum, I went with a free mind, looking for nothing in particular, but when I got there, a lot of things started to inspire. I realized that just because it's not related to my theme, that it wouldn't help me as research in general. For example, I had a lot of inspiration from the brazilian slavery when writing about the elves in my book, and the Afro Museum provided me a lot of material such as clothing, masks, decorations and art to get influence from and apply to my illustrations when thinking about my approach to this magic race I invented.

More than that, I think art is subjective and observing artists talk about different themes in Bienal's selection was like a breath of fresh air. The impact of the message meters a lot to me and even if the reader don't know the story of my book, I would like to change people's feelings with my designs and illustrations. Having a clear concept and references is proving more and more necessary to me, making my mind focused on what I want.

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Looking for more and more references for my Project Brief I realize how artists search for inspiration and apply their references to their work. For example, Howard Pyle loved the etching techniques from the birth of printing books and he carried that in his heart when making his own illustrations. Eyvind Earle mixed illuminated manuscripts and north american animation when creating Sleeping Beauty and I think that my path will go down on a similar road.

I gather that the inspirations already exists, but the job of the artist is recreating and mixing meaning, transforming their influences in something unique and fresh. I already know the things that make my skin tickle, but my job over this future months is to tell my story using my visual communication skills of transmitting a message. It will be my in-depth research that will give me flexibility of experimenting with different materials and techniques, seeing what does and doesn't work for me, for this step is fundamental so I can have the chance of executing everything on time. If I don't organize my intentions for this project, later my schedule will be ruined by the hours I would have to spend again with research.

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Visiting second-hand bookstores today was a good way to start my field research. I went with my mind set to look for visual references, covers and illustrations that would further become inspiration to my own work, however, what I found more useful was the content inside the books. There was little material concerning Medieval Europe or fantasy in all the shops I went, since the storage of those places is reserved to brazilian culture. All the "pretty" books were of part of South American classics and because of that, the ornaments, illustrations and decorations of these pieces had very strong latin influences.

In spite of that, of course the journey was not lost. I found a lot of religious material that had gothic inspiration, historical pieces that talked a lot about illuminated manuscripts, medieval art and book making. I bought "The History of Illustrated Books" by John Hartman and this will enhance my research beyond measure not providing just visual references, but authors and names that can only upgrade my repertoire. Even more, being around these shops and seeing this ancient books so close reminded me why I love reading so much and why this will motivate me until Part 3 is finished.

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My research is growing in size and while I am searching for things that inspired me and have connections with my story, I feel more and more comfortable to write my project brief. The importance of a careful selection of ideas and references still proves to be very useful in my personal practice as an artist. Because of this effort and the time spent looking for things I want for my Foundation Project, insights planning come more naturally.

Observing my friends trying to write their proposals before having solid research proves that these factors are not independent and are very connected. They are having difficulty while focusing on "getting a task done", writing their briefs, while their padlets aren't full and the idea is not matured. I think that I should focus on strengthening my concept through research before sitting on front of the computer so then I can feel secure with what I want to the Part 3 as a whole.

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Today, during my research process, I discovered that there are a lot of places that can be visited to find inspiration in São Paulo. Libraries and book shops will only benefit my research because they can provide a lot of visual materials that I can get ideas from. I should look for covers and illustrations, old manuscripts  and gothy religious architecture for this elements perhaps are the closest I can get to Medieval Europe here in Brazil.

What motivated me in the last few days is the Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty because it is a beautifully done movie that gathered a lot of talented artists and designers. Even so, it managed to gather a lot of references from medieval art and fantasy literature, putting everything in only one masterpiece. This is exactly what I want for my project: unique outcomes that unite everything I love.

What I plan to accomplish during next week visits is to gather references of book designs in second-hand stores and libraries. During this research, I plan to get inspired by the personality of those books, observing the cover, illustrations and the ornaments that enhance the reader experience. I hope, because of that, to learn more about pages layout and how to organize these elements throughout the whole story.

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Talking with Leopoldo this afternoon was very useful in the sense that he gave me a great tip concerning research. He said that setting time and place can be really helpful when looking for stuff like typography or architecture, creating certain focus of references. For example, art nouveau is different in France from England and its not wise to mix things that will not mix together in my project.

Thinking about that, maybe my project will have a very strong personality with a restriction that won’t diminish my research, but make it wider and with an intended focus. This will give exactly the right elements that I am looking for, making the book historically accurate and understandable even if it is a fantasy setting and an imaginary world.

For example: typography -> celtic calligraphy and medieval England.

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What I've been thinking about for my Part 3 project is to use my visual communication skills that I learned throughout the Foundation Year to transform text into images. "The Two Kingdoms"is a book that I spent four years writing and is a union of my interests in mythology, fairy tales and medieval culture. It would be very nice to use printing techniques such as silk screen or woodcut and mix it with illustration to come up with a book that can perfectly communicate my narrative.

I used my previous repertoire such as book illustrators and designers to inspire my further research. Literature is something I enjoy since I was a child and is a massive universe that can always contribute to a project such as this. Not only reading, but visiting second-hand bookshops and collectors can be a good way to extend my research much further than just the internet. Even so, artists such as Goya and Brueguel have a lot of imaginative drawings of the bizarre that can serve as material of inspiration.

The way I can extend my research is to explore how artists transform stories into visual content. The book industry is also very broad and can offer great physical objects that can contribute with illustrators and designers names. My field research can be based on famous artists and theirs exhibitions, stores and collectors.