Progress to the Final

Okay, so it's been a little while since I made a progress report but I've been super busy doing the illustrations (which take forever, by the way). I'm doing pretty well so far and have about six fully completed (just need to add appropriate backgrounds) at this point and four more pending completion. I think they're turning out well so far. Here are some of the completed spreads.

Just as a side note the little spot illustration guy is a rough not a final so he's lighter.

This is the same spread as the one above but I added a border around the image in this one. I actually think the border might help soften the contrast between the two pages and also gives it less of a modern look which I think the top one is giving off a bit with the full bleed.

Okay, so those are the ones that are mostly finished spreads (still have to adjust the backgrounds on a couple of them).

Alright, so that's the main progress on the illustrations and spread. As far as the binding of the book goes, I've experimented a bit with the sewing and have decided a few things. I will most likely go with the simpler binding (to spare myself many hours of agony) and also that I will most likely not have the red thread for the binding. This last thing is mainly because I realized that while I love the idea of red thread binding showing it's actually so thin it won't have much, if any, impact. I may still use an exposed spine but it will depend on how my stitching looks and whether it still feels appropriate without the red thread. More on this later (once I've reached a definitive decision). I still have to look into whether I can get plates made for debossing/embossing. If not I will have to think of an alternative for the cover (most likely print-based on nice paper - maybe textured to feel a bit like leather).Will keep you posted when decisions are made and when I've got further progress!