Big masks, little masks…I’m going to be living in mask-land for the next several months as I take LOTS of pictures of mini-masks I’ve collected over the last ten years of Internet swaps and use Adobe Photoshop and its clipping mask and layer masks in order to get all the pics ready for placement (using Adobe Indesign) in the upcoming book from PolyMarket Press titled “A Collection Of Polymer Clay Masks”. Over the last two years, many artists have also submitted images of full size (wearable size) masks also made using polymer clay, and now that I have a computer with enough memory and the programs to put it together, I’m ready to pull all the details together and lay out this book. The goal is to have it all done by the end of summer, so I have a LOT to do, but I’ve already begun! I haven’t done a final count yet, but I know there are at least 400 of the miniature masks, and I’m thinking of how to divide them up into chapters as I don’t want to do them chronologically. So far I’ve come up with “animal, vegetable, mineral, traditional and fantasy” and I’m starting there—if I do all the photos and there are some that don’t fit in those catagories, I will have to change or add, but I think that covers a lot!
My classes in school in digital photography, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are all a vital part of learning how to self-publish beautiful and informative books, and yesterday’s InDesign class covered how to build an Index–vital info for this new book, and I’ve begun to build one with the artists’ names who’s work appears in the book–there’ll be more than a hundred for sure, probably more.
I think its very important for an an artist who is writing a book to have their work at its best on the cover, but in thinking about it over the last several months I’ve realized that this one is NOT a book about my work so much as it is about this fabulous collection and the medium of polymer clay. The book itself is my featured work this time, and I want it to look its best. Once I knew that, it was obvious to me that the image of Katherine Dewey’s Noh Maiden mask (full size) was needed on the front cover. There are hundreds of beautiful mask images in my files already, and more to shoot—but this image is a fave. I moved my Time Mask from its previous spot on the front to the back, and added some of Melanie West’s mini masks as well. The pics shown here are not quite finalized…but as a Work In Progress, they are ALMOST there, and I’ll be sure to show of the final versions next summer when all is done. For now, here’s a peek at the front and back so far! (editors note–I just put up the revised versions 11-14)
