Old Books Recycling

Do you have no idea how to utilize old worn-out books and don't have the heart to get rid of them? In this article, Jana Svobodová from Atelier Radost will advise you on how to utilize them creatively and breathe into them new life!

Some of us certainly have some old books in the attic, which are damaged, with loose pages, or books we got as unwanted gifts. And right now, it's their time to shine! In the following tutorial, we'll get down to their recycling, or more precisely, the recycling of their individual pages, and we'll create original illustrations.

Of course, before we start with the utilization of the chosen book for artistic purposes, we recommend checking out whether it's not, for example, the first edition of The Grandmother by Božena Němcová, something we could regret in the future. :)

In addition to pages from an old book, prepare pencils, watercolors, acrylic paints, colored pencils, water, and brushes.

Let's start by sketching your selected illustration on the chosen page with a pencil.

Then prepare watercolors, a cup of water, and brushes and create the first layer of the painting. When working, it's advisable to do more illustrations simultaneously and use your time during the drying of individual layers.

Let the painting dry and continue with the second layer. This way, we can create various blots, lines, or other shapes to enliven the illustration. To finish the details, use richer acrylic paints or colored pencils.

Finally, get back to a pencil and draw shadows and fine details.

You can immediately put the finished illustration on display, or it can be further used, for example, to create an original greeting card and such.

Our tip: You can reach an interesting result with yellowish paper. Enjoy!