Instructors: Cat Bennett & Bari Zaki

This Bookful workshop, and its eleven Bookful brethren, was originally presented to a Zoom audience of students from far & wide. We’ve decided to make our full-length live recordings of each of these workshops available for purchase this summer. (The themes of the twelve workshops will never be repeated or reprised, as Cat Bennett & Bari Zaki will keep thinking of new subjects.)

Every recording (12-ish hours-ful) comes with the same kit of sumptuous materials as the original workshop, barring the occasional palette refreshment or replacement. Also included is my sincere invitation to contact me if you have questions or anxious moments whilst watching and making. Enticement: a 15% discount ($44.25!) on your second Bookful purchase, likewise on your third, and so on & so fourth.

This four-session workshop was the twelfth Bookful collaboration between Cat Bennett and Bari Zaki. Our inspiration for this series was depicting people in fun and imaginative ways. 

What you’ll make: A portfolder with a soft fabric spine, hardcovers, and an interior 3-flap envelopment with gusset folds to provide depth. It measures 9" x 11" x ⅝" and closes with a single tie of vintage Japanese cording. We will glue Japanese bookcloth & Cambridge Imprint papers to binders board, making a decorative folder that will enclose & protect your loose artworks. 

Workshop #1 (3-ish hours) – You will measure, score, and fold a single piece of Stonehenge paper to make a 3-flap envelopment. Then you will glue your bookcloth & Cambridge Imprint papers to your front & back exterior hardcovers. Next, you’ll punch a single hole in both the front and back covers to attach the Japanese cording. In the process, you will learn to ‘hide’ the thickness of the cording within the board before glueing in your CI paper & 3-flap piece. Then you will press your portfolder for two-ish hours until flat and voilà!

Workshops #2, #3 & #4 (each is 3-ish hours) – Cat begins each workshop with exercises in the basics of drawing faces. She will also guide you through ways to create images that are fanciful and free. You will want to have a few magazine photos of faces for the first week, when you’ll explore drawing real people. Then you’ll branch out to making faces in more fanciful ways. As always, Cat leads the class in painting & drawing exercises using a variety of mediums including coloured pencils + watercolour, pen & ink, and collage. You’ll also explore painting with gouache, which is opaque, and wondrous for the layering of colours. It can be delightful as a wash or as flat colour. You can use acrylic paints as well, if you have them at hand. 

Workshop fee includes all materials (but not the tools) you’ll need to make one portfolder with an interior 3-flap envelopment tied with a vintage Japanese cord. This structure is a wonderful unbound way to store ephemera or correspondence, or to make a “set” of something for a gift presentation, whether it is birthday cards or children’s drawings or photos from a trip.

32 sheets of pre-cut Stonehenge (8 are 2" x 4" // 4 are 5" x 6" // 8 are 5" x 7" // 4 are 6" x 9" // 8 are 8" x 10") 

2 pieces of binders board (9" x 11")

2 pieces of Japanese bookcloth for your spine (4½" x 13"; 4½" x 10¾") 

3 pieces of Cambridge Imprint papers (2 are 8½" x 13"; 1 is 10¾" x 8¾") 

1 piece of Stonehenge for your interior 3-flap envelopment (13" x 18")

1 length of Japanese cording for your tie

Tools needed: bonefolder as well as a teflon bonefolder (highly recommended), triangle ruler, metal ruler, Xacto knife, glue brush, and PVA glue. You will receive a 20% discount on all tools ordered for the workshop (via refund after your workshop purchase). You can purchase these tools individually here.

Ancillary tools needed: cutting mat, a small cup for your glue, scrap paper for glueing on, a small cloth to keep your fingers glue-free, a heavy weight (or book) for pressing your cover, and, optionally, a small wastebasket for your gluey scrap papers. You will also need a ⅛ hole punch. Once you register for the workshop, I will e you a couple of options for where to purchase this.

Nota bene: If you have the necessary tools but are in need of the glue & glue brush, you’ll find them in a separate shop listing here.

I will select the Cambridge Imprint papers and a complementary Japanese bookcloth and cording for each kit. If you fancy a particular pattern or colour range, please e me and I will do my best to accommodate.

If you’d like to purchase an additional set of materials, you certainly can. However, you cannot accomplish this in the dropdown menu (because one set of materials is included with the workshop fee). It’s $165 per additional set, with no shipping fee if you order at the same time as your workshop purchase. To order, please e me and I will be in touch extremely promptly. And I will be sure that you don’t receive duplicate sets for making your portfolder (unless you want to).

Cat and I look forward to sharing our love of portfolio-making, drawing, painting, and collage with you in this four-session (12-ish hours-ful) live-recorded workshop! 

About Cat: In her former life, she was a commercial illustrator for 25 years. All three of her wonderful books are available in our shop & online: The Confident Creative, Making Art a Practice, and The Drawing Club of Improbable Dreams. 

“I believe that drawing and painting create happiness. I love teaching because I get to see people discover their own creative genius!” – Cat Bennett