My atelier is the real world

My current notebook together with the last one.

One of the great points of keeping a notebook is the portability. I don't need a wardrobe full of writing tools, big easel or a studio. I can write in a terrace, in a mountain, in the bed and in the train. But nor under the rain.

My atelier is the real world.

New constellation identified: Fishorgon

Universe is full of magic. Therefore there is an invitation to scientific and cultural interpretations. We know almost nothing but we can have fun with that little part.

Stellarium (excellent free software) helped me to go back in time and see how was the sky in my birthday, initial condition, t=0. After joining dots and training my eyes I could see a new constellation which looks like a fish, scorpion and dragon. Let's name it as Fishorgon.

Since it includes also planets, that configuration was seen during certain time only, that's worth because I can say the sky drew a Fishorgon to say welcome to me. Then it vanished.

Now, decades later, it comes to my notebook and exists again. Welcome Fishorgon!

The importance of making your own notebook

I've imagined many times my dream notebook. Too much thinking but doing nothing. However I had clear each detail in my mind: Size, thickness, leather cover, verge paper, full flat when open, etc.

Some reasons to encourage you to do your own notebook:

1. It's the only way to have it as you want. It's almost impossible to find your perfect notebook in a shop. Fortunately nowadays stores shows plenty of books with a number of brands never seen before. Most of them contain paper with non acceptable quality. If you like the paper but maybe not the cover, you get it and time later you realize it's not your perfect jewel because you see only the mistakes.

2. It's made with love. No industrial process. Everything takes energy and it's not the same if it was been created by a salaryman without any care than done with your own hands with passion. See how bookbinding is done here: http://josenaranja.blogspot.com.es/2015/07/about-bookbinding.html

3. A strong link is created with your notebook. This is the key. A mystical relation which will boost the creativity and will appear in each letter and drawing. Fountain pens note these details, you know, right?

The result can only be a beauty because it's in touch with reality.

Notebooks breathing

So many memories kept inside.
Notebooks are time machine and experiences vaults.
They are alive therefore they need to breath.

The wheel center

Big coincidence here. 

My last notebook is a mandala. Pages are connected in different ways. Some links are visible and some hidden but all of them contribute to create a new being.

The centre of the notebook is the centre of the wheel, The Wheel of Fortune. I had no idea what to draw in this singular point, too much thinking blocked me and I left this special page for the end.

The solution came in a mystical way: The universe sent me the proper information. First I drew just a circle, then I modified it into a egg shape (the egg of the creation). Suddenly it changed into a brain. Inside the brain I thought to set a big eye or a big vagina. Or a man in lotto position. 7 chakras was next natural association. Then I visited Mr. Google to check the right colors and I read "chakras" means "wheel". 

Everything goes to the same point!

Why worry too much about perfection?

An old topic. Trying to reach a level of perfection is not a good approach. Doing things fast and with a minimum of care if a disaster or, better I could say, it's random: Sometimes the result is amazing and most of the times it's not. What's the solution? There is not solution but experience helps. It will say if something works or not. To improve that superpower experiments are needed.

Perfection is not possible and not recommended. Excellence is the right way.

Here the test page, one of the last pages on every notebook I keep there to try inks and effects without any care. Now I realize it's so great and it has a touch of freedom. And it's much better than other pages.

Teapots

Teapots are good teachers. Herman Hesse wrote a nice tale where a couch could be a teacher for eyes which are ready to learn. It shows the light, perspective and colors.

Teapots can do that too. In top of that they can talk.

Not forget to mention the power of a pencil plus empty paper. They ensure fun and a door to creativity. Accessible to everyone and everywhere. This in an important point.

Treasure box. ALERT: Do NOT use these boxes for archival conditions

I was happy to include the last notebook together with his parents, grandparents and more. The family grows. I used to keep then inside a fireproof and waterproof box since they are treasures. I always remember the fire in Peter Beard's house and the lost of many years of notebooks. Tragedy.

However while trying to protect my notebooks I was putting them into a high risk. I know now these kind of fireproof boxes are not recommendable for humidity reasons. Indeed, I did some tests tracking the moisture inside and... surprise! The humidity increases even when it's empty and filled with room air (to discard the possibility of humidity caused by the items). It comes from the wall box, materials which contain water or something similar. Fortunately I keep a silica gel bag inside and the damage was not so bad, I hope.

It looks like keeping the notebooks safe from fire will have to wait until I discover a solution.

Eau de Donau, black version

I got this by surprise. Definitely it adds another point of view of this well known spread. Blackboard style.

Last notebook completed

Written during the last one and a half year: From Summer 2014 to end of 2015.

I see the notebook as the final artwork and I'm exploring challenges beyond its usual behavior. All pages together are part of a whole element, a mandala. They have secret connections and links which make richer the information, much more than they do separately.

10 years of Moleskine

10 years using Moleskine exactly now. Here my very first Moleskine notebook together with one of the last pages created now. Huge evolution. 

Happy birthday to me!

Close up

Going close to the detail shows a new perspective. The beauty of ink on paper.

The Poet Photocopy

Encryption experts needed! In an unprecedented gesture of defiance the photocopier located in third floor decided to disobey orders and it transformed cold technical reports into an explosion of creativity that exceeds the capacity of any human for the following reasons: 1. Increased number of characters, then huge number of possibilities. 2. Random nature. A product of a mind can never achieve what is generated in a random field. Here I put the result as a poem compared with a human generated poem (La tempranica, 1900).

About typewriters

The typewriter is an amazing invention. I could stop saying here because it´s more than enough. However I will add some more letters, just to highlight its magic.

Imagine a device which you can use to write, one of the most important things for an human being, in a simple, elegant and fast way. Well, that device is not being produced anymore. Factories are using a huge amount of resources to manufacture weapons, ice cream machines or all imaginable stuff for prepare cakes and even a pool ball which predicts the future. No machines for writing. Of course there are computers and printers, but that´s another story. Also people don´t look very interested on use them nowadays. Fortunately the typewriters were produced and used in mass during the last decades. There were several in each office in the world and in most of the houses. Those machines didn´t disappear from one day to another, there are still in somewhere, maybe inside a drawer, in a penthouse, etc. Due to the lack of interest today and the high number of produced machines the price of a typewriter is almost ridiculous, I could say almost zero (or negative in some cases).

When using a typewriter the fingers touch physically the keys and you produce the letters with your own energy. This is a golden feeling. The speed of writing is directly linked to the speed of thinking, creating an unique dance where ideas are transforming into words with harmony. Sound and smell help to create that great atmosphere. Real letters appear in front of you, with real ink. Ink on paper means it´s forever (or at least one or several lifetimes, depends on you). You get nothing of these when using a computer which creates just fake illusions and temporally ones and zeros somewhere inside a digital support. For touching screens better don´t talk. No batteries, no updates, no unexpected errors, no corrupted files, no hackers and no vanish information. Of course a computer has many other advantages, but far away for the pleasure of writing.

Look the beauty of the mechanism. Simple, design based on endurance, full of quality. Times before programmed obsolescence entered into industrial design.

I used typewriters during my childhood. However I stop using them until quite recently, when I rediscover their potential. Suddenly I saw clear the power of typewriters and I went into them in a flicker. While living in Germany I found the keyword : “Schreibmaschine“. As easy as write that in eBay and hundreds of all machines are shown. Germany has been one of the best producer and there are a lot of top brands. The prices now are worthless. I realized that when I visited a flea market in Munich and a man kept a typewriter between a certain quantity of jewel-rubbish items. I just asked the price for curiosity and he replied “5€”. 5€ even before bargain! He insisted and took it with his hands offering it to me. I had the feeling he just wanted to throw it away or even pay to someone for take it. Well, I didn´t take that, but I started to buy some other models.

Smith Corona from 1936. It came with a church smell. What a design! Classic piano style with round crystal keys. Almost 80 years and it´s like new. I like to play the game to imagine its past or its former owners. I guess it´s not weird this machine were used by nazis in the WWII or maybe later someone wrote a love letter using it.

The case was not in best condition, but with a little of patience I got this amazing result. Magic!

 
 

Olympia SM-3

I bought this for 1€ in eBay (plus 5,95€ shipping). ONE EURO! One of the best deals I´ve ever done. Tank design, unbreakable. A similar model is used by Woody Allen, who says he is using the same machine during decades. He mentions some worth words here.

It was just dirty, but after a typewriter jacuzzy and some lubricant its bright came. Full and perfect working.

Being too curious about the mechanism forced me to practice full disassembly part by part. I could say I almost got it. A great learning lesson and enjoyable time.

Then I got this Erika 5, which came with additional gifts. All you see in the photo for 10€.

In that case I used a chemical product from the supermarket to avoid corrosion. Surprisingly that product caused a lot of corrosion suddenly! What a paradox... Don´t see the next photo if you are typewriter sensitive. Disaster. After many hours and days dedicated to clean I managed to reach this result. Thanks, WD-40! See before and after:

  
  
I have to say the touch of Erika 5 is superb. Fine design.

Olivetti Lettera 32. Big expectations created by opinions I read about it and a little disappointed when I had it in my hands. Its supposed design was not anything shocked to my eyes and I miss check the typo before buying it, a kindergarden mistake. Techno typography is not my favorite. At least it has Spanish keyboard. However, after start using it I was invaded by its magic. Great fine touch! So fast and a pleasure to use. Now I love it and I guess it could be perfect if the typo is a classic one.

It also had a relaxing bath and it became full cleaning and working.

I decided stop buying more German typewriters since flying with them is difficult. I already flew with four of them, with a peak flight where I carried with me two at the same time (19,5 kg of the total weight).

The perfect studio

Here while work in progress. Now I just need to do it in reality. Some day.

About bookbinding: Additional information about sewing

In a previous post I explained how to do you own notebook. Detail about the way of sewing was missing there and it's shown here:

Bound pages after sewing.

Remember that practicing and singing improve the result.

About the notebook evolution

When I started to write on board of Transiberian Train the handwriting became horrible because of the train moves. I decided to stop. I was naive and my mistakes were the typical from a beginner. The evolution in the art of notebooking was teaching me step by step and at the right time every small detail which does a notebook worth. In those days missed the not straight lines kept the train essence itself and also I didn´t know the reality was the key to transfer the feeling of Transiberian experiences, in live and with fresh emotions. Since my first explorations abroad I was doing travel journals. A huge change happened when I got a book from the public library named “Travel Notebooks”. Among the authors in that book one of them kept my eye: Peter Beard. His aesthetic and obsession about notebooks showed me the way to another level and I understood the art of notebooking was an entire area to be mastered. One month later, in Summer 2007, I started a round the world trip for 9 months, my first travel using Moleskine. I had already used a couple of them in the previous months as private notes and agenda.  One thing was clear for me: It was the perfect container to store information and document a travel. Another mistake: Keeping different notebooks. I learnt later the notebook should be only one, wider than just a commonplatebook and it should be able to eat everything. A life notebook, a total notebook.

All was growing very fast and each notebook was much better than the previous one. That encouraged me to push ahead. I also learnt to improve every tiny detail from the calligraphy of letter “r”  to the final shape in the block of pages. I discovered new inks and verge paper, a milestone. Unlimited hours in my studio located in Donauwörth during Winter helped to the obsessive develop in the first Moleskine bound by myself with high quality paper. Since then I used Moleskine only for the covers. Ten years after the first Moleskine I did my own leather covers too and the notebook was 100% homemade, mandatory in order to establish a direct connection with them. The notebooks became more and more personal and also mystical. The possibilities were multiplied. Sometimes I felt admiration by Leonardo work, also about Codex Seraphinianus. If I tried to get some ideas from them, suddenly that new stuff was diluted into the aesthetic of my pages like a drop in a river. I had create my own style. Notebooks had been my teachers and they guided my along a new way. I was following that way filling the pages with extreme care and passion, more or less one notebook per year.

The pages accumulate ideas, experiences, hilarious inventions and any kind of notes. However one day someone asked me while holding one of my notebooks in his hands: “But, what´s the utility of this?”  I was not able to reply. Time later I thought if people use to buy cooking books because of their utility and among my pages there is a recipe to prepare beans, I could conclude my notebooks are useful, no doubt about it.

Filled notebooks

It uses to take me about one year to fill each notebook. Now I feel the need to find a good name for them.

About bookbinding

You don’t need to be a professional in bookbinding to make a great quality notebook.

Maybe the first test doesn’t reach a perfect result but you will be surprised how easy the improvement goes and how fast the mistakes are solved. After two or three notebooks done there is not room for bad quality. Excellence is the goal, not perfection. Perfection is impossible and it’s not welcome in a handmade artwork.

The  notebook made by yourself offers a higher level of satisfaction than any other. You add the passion and love for it, your favorite paper and details. You add a part of yourself in it. Unfortunately it’s not possible get that from the shops, where an industrial notebook is done by a bored worker, probably Chinese or robot, who is paid per hours and produces hundreds of them every day. Your dear and loved notebook is just one more. On top of that the quality standards in the notebooks paper used to be poor nowadays. Endless variety of brands and styles, more than ever, with poor quality. And expensive. Only about 15 sheets of paper are needed to fill a pocket notebook, which is less than 1 EUR even for high quality paper.

Bookbinding is an old technique and there are many methods. I’m showing here how to fill a Moleskine notebook with your favorite paper, that’s what I use in my last notebooks and was a clear milestone in my journals evolution. You can also make the cover in real leather, which is even easier. I will show that in a separated post.

Bookbinding is a relaxing task. Bookbinding is perfect for meditation.

1.) Materials:

-Moleskine cover.

-Good quality paper.

-Scissors.

-Cutter.

-Ruler.

-Thread and needle.

-Adhesive for bookbinding (elastic, neutral PH if possible)

-Cotton fabric for bookbinding (used over the spine)

-Papersand

2.) Folding the sheets. Cut the A4 sheets in A5 size. Only 15 sheets A4 from 100g/m2 paper are enough for a Moleskine pocket. Fold them and make groups of 3 sheets each. Press them properly.

3.) Binding. Perform 5 holes with a needle and a template. Sew applying the method you like.

The easy method I apply will be explained in a next post.

 

 4.) Paste the stack. Press the sheets in order to apply glue only on the edges. Set the cotton fabric and apply more glue. Release the stack and paste the wings of the fabrics to the paper. This will avoid tiny clearances between the sewn sheets.

Keep the stack under weight for a time while become dry to keep the paper full flat.

 

5.) Cutting the paper. Cut the edge of the stack to fix into Moleskine dimensions. Use the sandpaper to shape the corners.

6.) Remove the paper. Kill the Moleskine. Do not suffer or produce too much tears. Cut the paper from the second pasted pages (front and rear part of the notebook). Reuse the register tape and glue it in the new paper.

 

7.) Insert the new paper. Paste the stack made with the new paper into the cover. Apply glue only on a small area of the external sheets, not in the edge.

Voilá! New notebook is ready for all kind of inks.

8.) Extra. When the notebook is complete is good idea to add a few more details like a stylish paper in the first pages or an acid-free tissue paper pocket for better conservation when being stored.