Deconstructing Books
In my course launching December 1st, one of the first skills I teach is how to deconstruct books for collage materials. This is foundational work. Once you know what to look for and how to take books apart efficiently, you'll never look at a thrift store book section the same way.
Below is an actual lesson from the course, which I’m sharing as a preview of my teaching style.
What You'll See in This Video:
- How to remove the cover while keeping it intact (if you want to use it as one piece)
- What papers to save and what to discard
- Different types of book construction and how they come apart
- What makes certain papers better for collage
- How I organize materials as I work
- The tools I use
Why This Matters:
Understanding how books are constructed changes how you source materials. You'll start to recognize which books will yield the papers you want. You'll work more efficiently. And you'll build a collection that actually serves your creative work.
This lesson is from Chapter 1 of my course. The course covers everything from sourcing (like this) to printing on vintage papers to creating finished, sealed collages.
This course teaches you non-traditional letterpress printing and abstract collage from the ground up. You'll learn to source vintage materials, create typography-inspired prints with gelli plates and stencils, and scale your work from small studies to finished pieces on prepared panels. Everything is designed to be accessible—no expensive press required.
Questions about the course? Please email me: sarahzshort@driftwaystudio.com