How to Use Altered Books as Painting Canvases

Jul 20, 2011
Alina Bradford

A Book Used as a Canvas - Alina Bradford

Altered books aren't just for crafters. Fine artists can modify books to make them into interesting canvases.

Altered books are old book usually used as foundations for collage and crafting projects. In the fine art world, old books can be an exciting new canvas for artists looking to recycle and produce new creations beyond the basics.

What is Altered Art?

Altered art is the act of taking trash, like old books, rags, paper, cans or dolls, and transforming it into art. Pablo Picasso was perhaps the originator of the altered art movement. He began using fragments of trash, like paper scraps, into his art in the early 20th century. (Taylor, 2004)

How to Create an Altered Book Canvas

The first step to creating a book canvas is choosing the book. Pick a hardback that is older and made from solid materials. Also, make sure that the spine is in good shape.

If you are wary of using a readable book, pick a subject that is outdated. For example, the "1988 Zip Code Directory" isn't relevant anymore because a lot of boundaries have changed over the past two decades.

Other supplies you will need are:

Craft glue
Paper cup
1 Old paintbrush
2 paper weights or rocks
Watercolor paper or un-stretched canvas
Wooden picture frame

Once your book and supplies are gathered, follow these steps (you can follow along with the photos at the bottom of this article):

Squirt a large dollop of glue into the paper cup.
Dip the brush into the glue and "paint" over the first page and adhere it to the inside of the cover. Repeat this step with the back page and let the pages dry before moving on to the next step. Don't forget to wash out your brush in-between steps.
Open the book to the middle pages so that it lays flat on your work surface. If the book won't stay open, hold the book open and bend it backwards until the front and back covers touch. You should hear the spine snap.
Lay the book on your work surface with the pages turned to the middle page.
Dip the brush into the glue and run it around the sides of all of the pages. This will create a film that will stick all of the pages together and keep them from turning. Set paper weights or rock on the pages to hold them together. You can also clip the pages together using alligator clips. Let the pages dry for a few hours.
Cut the canvas or watercolor paper to the same size as the pages in the book. Glue the canvas or watercolor paper to the two open pages.
Glue the book to a wooden picture frame that is slightly larger than the book to finish the project.

Once the glue is dry, you can paint on the canvas or watercolor paper in the book just like any other painting support.

This new type of support can fire up your creative juices and may even lead you to a new painting series. Give it a try and you may find your new best painting buddy.

Works Cited:

(2004). In T. Taylor, Altered Art (p. 10). Lark Books.