There are many depictions of the iconic fight about Troja in artworks though history. One of the best in my opinion is a unique vase of the Berlin painter (505 to 460 BC) you can find in the British Museum today. It was painted in the early classical Attic red-figure style (the one we automatically associate with greek vase paintings today). He depicted the epic climax of the Trojan War, the battle between Achilles and Hector. Both heroes are supported by their patrons, Athena and Apollo.
I tried to use every element you can find on this vase and include it in my fore-edge painting. So, this fore-edge painting is my attempt to change my favourite vase into book form.
Whenever I read the Iliad (honestly, it's so good!!! You have to give it a try and just open it at any page and read it out loud) I just love the thought, that humans have read the same words as I do for thousands of years.
I finally committed to painting my phase 1 box set.
I had to put Starlight Beacon on there and the Vessel is similarly iconic. I tried to match the background to the cover art as much as possible. My airbrush is officially dead so I used a sponge instead but I think it came out pretty good. I think there’s still something to this I haven’t quite worked out because I still had issues with some of the paint cracking off and I had to go back and fix it but I think it looks okay, just a little faded. The paint’s probably on too thick but I forget how much is already on there.
Honestly, these are some of my favourite books (not that I read much else). I am perhaps a little obsessed.
Introducing #WordyWednesday, a series from our online rare book glossary! This week’s word: Fore-edge painting. The fore-edge of a book is the outermost edge of its leaves when it is closed. Sometimes, artists would paint a design on this surface, which is visible only when the book is closed and its leaves slightly fanned out. It was mainly practiced in the 17th and 18th centuries but is still done as an artistic flourish today. (Technically the top of a book is called the “top” and the bottom the “tail,” but fore-edge painting can be done on any of these surfaces.)
(via Facsimile — Gloss · Rare Books: A Glossary · Special Collections and Archives)
Some book edge painting of Howl’s Moving Castle I did for a friend’s birthday. This was the first trilogy I’ve done, and the first paperbacks, so I did end up crushing the spines thinking they could take the stress from the clamps. They could not.
I’ve also yet to figure out how to stop the paint cracking off when I open the book back up, but this mostly held up.