5 SKETCHES by ED BAKER

[Related Post: THE FIRST STONE GIRL by Ed Baker] 

One of SitWithMoi's most popular posts is the one I did on Ed Baker's THE FIRST STONE GIRL, so do click on the above link if you missed it.  Meanwhile, I'm pleased to have a second mini-book by Ed -- well, actually, it's one I "edited" on his behalf: 5 SKETCHES by Ed Baker.  It all began when Ed emailed me a page with five sketches:

Looking at the size of the sketches, I had the idea of creating a mini-sketch book.  So I did!  And for its cover, I printed out a black-and-white version of one of Ed's drawings:

I did black-and-white to evoke the sketching process as drafting process, not a finished product.  I cut up the black-and-white print-out to create the cover:

Here's the cover below, and then what you see when you first open the 2" x 2.75" sketchbook...and, yes, I was quite pleased at being able to integrate the original signature onto the title page as the author's byline:

I decided to use turquoise ink to write the title as I didn't want to stick to pure black-and-white as so much of Ed's work is colorful.  Anyway, you then would turn the pages to see Ed's five sketches:

A lotta fun to unfold.  Thanks, Ed!  Ed says he often makes sketches like these, probably every day.  And I believe it because I received a new mini-book by him (BETWEEN TWO HOUSES which shall be the subject of a future post) and here's what he drew on the envelope:

It must be how the work infiltrates your mind if you're an obsessive artist (and most artists and poets are obsessive) so that, for Ed, he just keeps sketching/doodling. Coz that's what he does: makes visual art!  It's like, as I sit here writing up this post, my eyes keep straying to the box of kleenex on the left corner of my desk

and I keep thinking, Ya know -- that Kleenex box would create a good mini-book cover ...

Chuckle ...

Anyway, so where shall we "shelve" Ed's mini sketchbook?  But of course on the sidetable that came with Mary Scheller's chaise lounge, because the chaise lounge features Ed's other publication, THE STONE GIRL!

You can now relax with both publications in hand!  As you look about for who'd serve you a salt-rimmed margarita, that is ...