FAKE BOOKS

Il Trittico | Scottish Opera (2023) | Designed by Charles Edwards

For the final show of this triple bill, Gianni Schicchi, we created over 300 fake books to decorate large shelves. We cut polysterene to varying thicknesses and heights. The blocks were then scrimmed and the page texture was created by brushing on Idenden. The page sides were then aged by spraying them with an ochre/grey wash to varying degrees. The covers were then made using thick card and metres of canvas we had pre-painted various colours. For the book spines we added printed designs that had been photoshopped to size and colourmatched to the covers. Other spines were left plain or decorated with gold detail from various stencils. The books were then distressed with a sander and a series of washes.