Altering books is a debatable topic in many circles because it is considered desecrating something best left untouched and as it is. However, despite these opinions, mixed-media artists are altering books nonetheless. These artists are novice, advanced, and career professionals. Where are good places to find books to alter, though?
Here are some suggestions:
- Library book sales: even though the majority of these books are excellent reading, there are some that have seen better days. Choose books that are not appealing to you or anyone in your family at all. Choose books that are damaged, have loose bindings, and have missing pages.
- Yard sales: these events are gold mines for children’s books that are, more often than not, damaged in one-way or another. This damage includes missing pages, pages with crayon (or other writing) on them, damaged covers, and so on. Damaged children’s books are an excellent option for novice book artists because there are few pages, and the process is less daunting.
- Thrift stores: like libraries, these sales do contain many good reads. However, like libraries, there are also a number of damaged or unusual titles found here. Choose books that appear to have lived their life (well read books) and need to start a new journey as a piece of art. This will be obvious to some, but may take some digging for others.
- Book stores: bookstores have to throw away a lot of books that are considered unable to be sold. Rather than throwing these books away, ask that they be donated to you (not all of them, of course, but one or two would be nice) for art pieces. To add further options for them to consider, contact your local school’s art department to see if they would like any and ask the bookstore to make a bulk donation.
When it comes to finding the perfect book to alter, don’t worry if this doesn’t happen right away. There are many options to choose from factoring in size, pages, weight, hard cover, soft cover, and so much more. Avoid choosing a book that is very thick (like a damaged dictionary, for example) because the project will likely be forgotten before it comes close to being finished.
Be sure not to choose a book that is falling apart in numerous areas of the book. While many of these books can be reassembled, some are difficult to get to stay together if they’re too far-gone. Also be sure to choose a book without any mold, as well as without brittle pages. Otherwise, trouble with altering will ensue. Not only will brittle pages fall apart quickly (and they do not take media well), but also the mold is an allergen to many.
Join the Conversation