Kit Seaton, Illustration

Based on The Marvelous Malady of Harlequin, which is a fictional scenario by a 17th Century Dutch engraver found in “The Italian Comedy” by Pierre Louis Duchartre. The illustrations were done for a handmade book for an artist’s books class. Copyright Kit Seaton 2009. All rights reserved.

 I can certainly say that I have gathered an unwarranted share of character-building perspective this summer.  Most of these warm summer days have been spent vigorously trying to get my bachelor’s degree, or begrudgingly spending a mind-numbing amount of hours working retail.  One happy deviation from my time spent pushing service warranties on unsuspecting folks; is a class on bookmaking I signed up for on a lark.  What I decided to showcase today was a couple of artist’s books I have made over the course of time spent in this class.  

The Harlequin Book

I have a ridiculous obsession with Commedia dell’Arte, I was on cloud nine when I found this diamond printed paper.  The assignment wasn’t anything too ambitious, mainly we were learning about different things one could do with concertina bindings.  I’m rather pleased with this little pop-up book even though it is probably more of a maquette.   

Pop ups

A fold out that can be manipulated by the reader.

Flags

The closed book

The Gentleman’s Corpse

An exquisite corpse with a concertina binding.  The book contains illustrations of fellows dressed to the height of fashion based on their respective periods.  I was harkening back to my days studying costume design a little bit.  I like to think all of that time spent in theatre has given me a unique perspective, albeit a tad perverse.  

The closed book

The Georgian Gentleman

The Cavalier Gentleman

The Tudor Gentleman

The Gothic Gentleman

The Overhead View

The Close Up

Scansion

A simple little book with a simple binding.  Primarily designed to be used as an educational tool for the proper scansion of Shakespeare.  A limited edition set of three.

Scansion 1

Scansion 2