how to make a collage 4 free collage techniques presented by cloth ®

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collage to order: objects of my desire: 1 create with words 3 making sewn paper susan black collage collections jenny cochran lee the elements of collage: 2 putting it all together reverse collage : nicole paisley martensen 4 a bright spot on a winter day holly christine moody In “Objects of My Desire: Making Sewn Paper Collage Collections,” Jenny Cochran Lee explores how to How to Make a Collage: turn paper scraps into collage 4 Free Mixed Media treasures. Collage Techniques presented by Finally, Holly Christine Moody Cloth Paper Scissors® offers an easy collage project that online editor Cate Prato will help you whittle down your decorative paper stash in a fun creative services way. In “Reverse Collage Painting,” division Art Director Larissa Davis Photographer Larry Stein you make a paper collage on a , apply gel medium, Projects and information are for inspiration and ­personal use only. Interweave Press is not ­responsible hat is collage art? A and then over it. The magic for any liability arising from errors, ­omissions, or whole lot of fun! At happens when you away mistakes contained in this eBook, and readers should proceed cautiously, especially with respect to technical the most basic level, some of the paint to reveal the information. wyou can make a collage with paper, collage designs below. © F+W Media, Inc. All rights reserved. F+W Media glue, and a substrate like a grants permission for any or all pages in this eBook to With How to Make a Collage: 4 Free or watercolor paper. But once you be copied for personal use. Mixed-Media Collage Techniques, expand your supplies to include you’ll learn how to use a variety of other media like paint, stitching, materials and approaches you can photos, and marking tools—the use to make similar collage projects sky’s the limit. or mix and match to create your Where mixed -media In How to Make a Collage: 4 Free own. Mixed-Media Collage Techniques, artists come to play Warmly, you’ll discover four different approaches to collage from expert mixed-media artists. In “Collage to Order: Create with Words,” Susan Black shows how Cate Prato to play with paper and typography Online Editor, to make a collage that captures Cloth Paper Scissors Today a favorite sentiment or a special name. Nicole Paisley Martensen uses a variety of mixed-media collage techniques and transparent fabric layers to blend spontaneity and technical construction in “The Elements of Collage: Putting it All Together.” clothpaperscissors.com

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 2 Adapted from Cloth Paper Scissors® September/October 2012

collage to order create with words

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 3 m at e r i a l s • Watercolor paper (I prefer hot-press, bright white watercolor paper.) by susan black • • Eraser s a former graphic designer, I’ve always had a big love for typography • aand for using words to communicate visually and creatively. Add to • Tape that love a big pile of vintage books, a few old atlases, a stack of decorative • Decorative : sheet , patterned, colored, etc. paper, a shoebox of in vivid colors, scraps of wrapping paper, • Watercolors postage stamps, some paint and pens, , scissors, glue, a passion • Paintbrushes, detail for collage, and “poof” my own typographic mixed-media style began to • knife emerge. • Cutting • Scissors I love combining typography with works perfectly to capture a favorite • Glue (I like to use Zig® glue pens and paper and then drawing and/ inspirational sentiment, a line from a and gel medium.) or painting on top. This piece “Call for poem, a child’s name for easy wall art, a • Drawing pen, fine Art” was commissioned for Cloth Paper special date, and just about anything else • Gouache or acrylic ink, black Scissors magazine, but this technique you can think of. optional • Light box commission notes: If you’ve ever • Scanner/copier considered working on commission pieces, follow along to get a few tips on the process. directions note: I use a small, tabletop light box and have found it to be an indispensable tool. If you don’t have a light box you can use a window and lightly trace your final design onto the top layer of watercolor paper so you’ll have an indication for positioning the letters. commission notes: Once a client contacts you about the commission, meet with them or exchange emails to get a sense of the final piece.

1. Roughly sketch or trace a few ideas in pencil on paper, refining the design as you go. (Figure 1) Add patterns to the letters, like the leaves in the top row “L” and the rose pattern in the letter Figure 1 “A.”

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 4 commission notes: Now’s the time to get some client feedback. You may have to tweak one or two elements. If you do, make sure to run the final piece with the changes by the client.

2. Once you have a design you’re all happy with, redraw the design to size or use your scanner and (or photocopier) to enlarge the design and then print it out in the size you want the final art to be.

3. Redraw your design on a piece of tracing paper. This will allow you to audition the decorative papers beneath the tracing paper, and make Figure 2 it much easier to the letters out.

4. Tape the tracing paper drawing to the back of the watercolor paper along the top edge, like a hinge, so you can flip the watercolor paper out of the way as needed. You’ll see the design quite clearly through the paper. tip: Try different bold-colored or patterned papers for your background. A solid sheet of vintage or looks fantastic, too. Figure 3

5. Decide on your color palette and indicate these color choices on the drawing. (Figure 2) I like to keep my palette simple and prefer the pale cream of vintage book pages with kraft and black papers for my neutrals, and then I add one predominant color—in this case red. commission notes: Share your color options with the client and let them choose their favorite palette of colors.

Figure 4

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 5 6. Once you’ve chosen your palette, paint the areas of color in any pattern you’ve drawn into the design. (Figure 3)

tip: I find simplifying a palette makes for a stronger design. Too many different colors can distract from the words, letters, and the meaning of the piece.

7. Tape the tracing paper onto a window or the light box and place your first paper choice over the design. Flip the watercolor paper up and tape it out of the way, if necessary. Trace the outline of the letter onto the paper with pencil. I used sheet music. Figure 5 Cut the letter out, erase any pencil marks, and put the letter aside. Repeat for the rest of the letters. (Figure 4)

tip: When working with dark paper that’s difficult to see through, use a small piece of tracing paper to draw the outline of the letter. Place the tracing paper over the dark patterned paper, deciding what part of the pattern you want the letter to contain, and then cut out the letter from the tracing paper and paper while holding the tracing Figure 6 paper in position. You could also use a bit of repositionable glue to hold the tracing paper in place. (Figure 5)

8. I like to cut out all of the letters first and position them on the watercolor paper before gluing to make sure I’m pleased with the final composition and the mix of patterns and colors. Once you’re absolutely sure of the layout, glue the letters in place and let dry. (Figure 6)

Figure 7

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 6 9. Use the drawing pen to add the line details in any of the painted pattern areas. (Figure 7)

10. Using a fairly small paintbrush (or brush pen) and the black gouache or acrylic ink, loosely outline all the letters. The addition of this black line really pulls the whole design together. (Figures 8 and 9) a note on tip: Imperfections add character when papers drawing or painting the details and choosing the paper outlines—the looser the better. Don’t try Figure 8 I used hot-press bright white to follow the edges exactly. Let the brushstrokes be fluid with thick and thin watercolor paper because it has the areas. smoothest surface, and I wanted to add painted elements. If you’re just 11. Trace, cut out, and embellish collaging elements, use any type any top layer or overlapping of background material: cardstock, shapes. I created a banner that I canvas, , , etc. edged with watered-down black Experiment with different materials.

gouache and embellished with gathering your paper stash cut letters before adhering it to • Decorative papers, especially the collage. (Figure 10) those with small prints or commission notes: Now it’s neutrals are a staple in my paper time to wrap up the piece and stash. deliver it to your sure-to-be- • Find vintage paper. Search yard delighted client. sales, vintage stores, and Etsy susanblackdesign.blogspot.ca Figure 9 sellers for old books, maps, ledger paper, handwritten notes, and letters.

• Bits of packaging, wrapping paper, inexpensive and brightly colored tissue paper are another staple. I love tissue for its translucent qualities, and it’s available in an amazing variety of vivid colors. Once you’ve been bitten by the collage paper bug you’ll begin looking at every scrap of paper with a different eye. Let all your friends and family know that you’re collecting paper and before you know it you’ll have your own great paper stash. Figure 10

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 7 “Émigré” • 46" × 31"

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 8 Adapted from Cloth Paper Scissors® May/June 2011 m at e r i a l s • Silk habotai, white or ivory, at least 24" × 36" the • Freezer paper • Iron • Ironing surface, large (See “Make elements putting your own ironing surface.”) • Masking tape of • Liquid acrylic and/or it all watered-down latex house paint (Golden Artist Colors® liquid acrylics collage together in Titan Buff and Payne’s Gray are some of my staples.) • Paintbrushes: 11/2" and 3" y art making often begins with a morning dog walk. The hills behind housepainter’s brushes, 1/2" and 1" my home are crisscrossed with trails through oak woodland, alongside flat artist’s brushes, and a thin liner m brush for details seasonal creeks and wildflower meadows, and this is often the most contemplative part of my day. While walking, I feel my way through my next piece of art, assembling • Computer, scanner, and inkjet printer layers in my mind, choosing and discarding images and textures that are back home in • Photographs and paper ephemera • Photo for inkjet my studio. I think it’s this formative time, this simmering and mental sorting, that allows printers for my ultimate goal of thinking about nothing and working intrinsically when I’m • Photocopier, toner-based making the actual piece of art. • Fabric scraps: silk organza, silk dupioni, kimono fabric, vintage Collage by its very nature can be viewed The panels shown in this article linens (no synthetics) as anti-Zen. First, there is clutter. My are free‑hanging silk panels that I • Fusible web (I used Pellon® 805 studio is a veritable whirlwind of bits layered with transferred images, paint, WonderUnder®.) and scraps. Second, there are many ways transparent organza, and other fabrics. • Digital camera to collage. It’s an art form that presents The large scale of my work helps to • endless and overwhelming possibilities, provide space for the energy and rawness • Blender pen (I use a Chartpak® sometimes with the nullifying I try to impart in each piece. colorless blender pen.) (terrifying) question of how do I choose? Movement and expressiveness are • Rubber gloves And third, there are the multiple media. extremely important in my art. I use big • Bone folder In my own work I use a number of sweeping strokes while painting and let • Spray bottle with different media, often all in one piece. paint drip down the length of the panel, • Paint palette What I look for in making collage is often spraying the paint with water, • Spray paint how to pull these elements together smudging and spattering it. I enjoy the • markers (black and white), oil to tell a story or evoke an atmosphere contrast of the delicate nature of the pastels, and/or an ebony pencil or or emotion, to create coherence out of silk fabric with the gritty treatment of soft graphite pencil dissonance. I’m trying to replicate how distressing the surface. • Krylon® workable fixative the mind works when we latch onto Using the following steps, think of how • Hanging hardware a thought and bounce around in that to translate a sensory experience into a optional moment, when the process becomes visual one, and how to find spontaneity • Gesso, transparent (I use Winsor & more important than the subject. in technical construction. Newton™ brand.) • machine or needle and by nicole paisley martensen

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 9 optional: Brush transparent gesso over the silk for a smooth texture similar to parchment paper. This provides a toothy surface for acrylic paint to drip and glide. If you prefer a more diaphanous, watery look (see “Émigré”), skip this step.

3. Using the 3" paintbrush, paint your panel with liquid acrylics or watered- down latex house paint. Using a large brush helps keep things loose and abstract at this stage. I often use light colors to start. Let the paint dry completely. assembling collage elements Take a few moments to prepare and collect the elements for your collage. Using a mixture of inkjet photo transfers and solvent transfers (see “Solvent Image Transfers” on the last ) adds to the textural quality and depth of your piece.

1. Scan and make inkjet photo transfers of the photos and/or paper ephemera you plan to use. Don’t forget to use the mirror image setting on your printer as necessary.

favorite “Buildanark” • 51" × 29" sources for directions collage preparing materials your canvas • Flea markets and antique stores

1. Iron sheets of freezer paper • Vintage goods sold on etsy.com (shiny-side down) onto the silk habotai until you’ve covered one • Urban streets and sidewalks side completely. • My own photos. I always walk with a camera to photograph 2. Tape the corners of the silk, paper-side down, to the ironing textures in nature or peeling surface with masking tape. This paint in the city. creates a temporary substrate for • The bottom of my purse working on your panel. (receipts, ticket stubs, etc.)

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 10 great opportunities for adding pattern and texture. creating the composition

1. Lay your panel on your work surface. Begin laying out your transfers and fabric scraps. Overlap and obscure some layers, and let some of the transfers and fabrics run off the edges of the panel. Use the entire space, or leave large areas of negative space. This is often an energetic process for me as I tend to move pieces around a lot and try new compositional “You are My Death Camas” • 45" × 31" schemes.

2. Leave your layout and don’t peek at it tip: Enlarged natural textures, like photos the photocopier so that the original for a few hours—or a few days. Come of tree bark or water, make great photo context becomes indecipherable. transfers and can be painted over later. back to your piece with fresh eyes and 3. Cut the fabric scraps larger than determine if anything needs to change. 2. Make mirror-image photocopies of you intend to use them and iron Is there an area that is too dominant? any black-and-white line , fusible web to the back of each Too weak? Climb a ladder to get a botanical , or text you’d piece, following the manufacturer’s different perspective. like to incorporate to use as solvent instructions. Allow the fabrics 3. When you are pleased with your transfers. Use a toner-based photocopier to cool and then cut them to the overall composition, take digital for this as inkjet copies won’t work as desired sizes. Vintage kimono fabric, photos so you have a visual record of solvent transfers. Play with the scale of silk organza, silk dupioni, and how to re-create your piece once you these elements, enlarging them on embroidered tablecloths provide begin assembling it.

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 11 making your

own ironing it will surface dry quickly. • Masonite® board, size of choice Burnish each section • Fabric, enough to wrap the board with the (I used cotton with an aluminized bone folder coating for a smooth, heat- as you go. This resistant cover.) technique works ® • Small nails or Duct tape best on smooth, bring your canvas outside, tightly woven fabrics. directions experiment with spray painting CAUTION: Blender pens are solvent- certain blank areas, or spray paint to 1. Cover the Masonite board with based pens, so it is important to use them obscure other areas that have become the fabric, wrapping the fabric to in a well-ventilated area. too precious or overworked. the back of the board. 4. Add abstract marks with the black and 2. the fabric in place or use fabric scraps Duct tape to secure it. white China markers, ebony and/or Remove the paper backing from the fusible graphite , and oil pastels. note: I like a hard surface to press web on the backs of the fabric scraps. the iron onto. I think it makes for I mist the fusible with water before 5. In a well-ventilated area, spray clearer image transfers. It’s also ironing it. I find it makes a stronger workable fixative over any areas where easier to use the board to draw bond. Cover the fabric with parchment you used pencil or oil pastels. Let and paint on later, using the board paper, and iron the fabric in place. Repeat the panel dry completely, and then upright. Some artists prefer a softer, carefully remove the padded surface. For that, add a for each of the fabric scraps. freezer-paper backing from layer of batting under the fabric. note: Refer back to the digital photos of your panel. your layout for placement. optional: If you have any other fabric assembly scraps you’d like to include, them on more painting now with a or by hand. inkjet photo transfers 1. Prop the canvas upright and prepare 6. Create a means of hanging the Following the manufacturer’s directions, your paint palette. I’m heavily panel. I usually finish off the tops of iron the inkjet photo transfers onto your influenced by street art and fashion my panels by either sewing a narrow panel. Use parchment paper between design, so I tend to use a lot of bright sleeve to house a hollow metal rod, the transfer and your iron to protect the colors as accents in my work. painted surface. or I fasten in the upper 2. Brush on color, using different corners. solvent image transfers brush widths and paint viscosities. When we engage in the moment where Encourage paint to drip by spraying Position the black-and-white images, colors, and patterns reference areas of your canvas with water. photocopies onto the panel where you’d and relate to each other, our art itself like to transfer the images. Wearing 3. Carve scribbles or words into the becomes a meditative process. gloves, apply blender pen to the back thicker areas of paint with the nicolepaisley.com of the photocopy, one section at a time. wooden end of your paintbrush. If Because the blender pen is solvent based, you live in a region where you can

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 12 objects of my desire MAKING SEWN PAPER COLLAGE COLLECTIONS

by jenny cochran lee

ven as a child, I was a collector. For years I kept rocks, feathers, and Flea markets and antique shops are Cracker Jack® prizes safely hoarded in a potato chip can. That can is filled with these items. But instead of e spending money and causing clutter now gone, but the urge to hang onto treasures is not. I’m still a collector. But with the real objects, I decided to nowadays my treasures are the people in my life and the little things that bring create my own treasure collections me joy every day: eyeglasses, scissors, and silverware. Eyeglasses are a new using sewn paper collage. This object- making technique is straightforward and treasure for me, as I now need them in order to read, apply mascara, and see requires supplies that you will probably my children’s faces when we hug. To me, eyeglasses are a reminder to seek already have on hand. So, what are you clarity and look at things in different ways. Scissors remind me of my mom, waiting for? up your paper scraps who spent countless hours cutting and sewing the majority of my childhood and take a trip into the flea market of your memory and imagination. What wardrobe. I use scissors in all my art making and I love the way they bridge my treasures will you uncover? past with my current creative life. And silverware holds memories of fellowship with family and friends. It reminds me to be grateful for the treasure of food, from decadent cherry cheesecake to a simple and sustaining bowl of rice. Adapted from Cloth Paper Scissors® September/October 2012

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 13 Figure 1 m at e r i a l s directions • Stretched canvas, canvas board, preparing the or board (cut to desired size) background • Paper scraps, a variety of colors and 1. Select papers that will provide a patterns subtle, yet interesting background. • Paintbrushes, small and medium The objects will be the focus. • Gel medium, matte (I use Liquitex®.) 2. Cut or tear the papers into strips. • Pencil and scrap paper 3. Using a medium-sized paintbrush, • Paper, 100-lb. paper (I use apply gel medium to the back of the Bristol paper.) paper strips and then layer them over • Scissors the entire surface of the substrate. • Sewing machine with black Allow some pieces of paper to hang thread off the edges. These can be trimmed • Acrylic paint, black when dry. Set aside to dry for at least • Paper towels an hour. Overnight is best. • Plastic bag or plastic wrap approximately the same size creating the objects as your finished piece • Clear finish spray (I used Krylon® 1. Draw a basic outline of the object Low Odor Finish.) you have chosen. Remember to keep optional it simple. The goal is representation, • Scanner and printer not exact replica! (Figure 1) • Acrylic paints, assorted colors 2. Cut out your drawing and trace at • : , metal least 3–5 copies of the image onto fasteners, etc. the 100-lb. paper. You can also use a • Awl scanner and printer for this process. (Figure 1)

3. Cut out the copies. Don’t worry too much about precision. You will be covering the entire surface of each piece.

4. Tear some paper scraps into small 1 pieces about ⁄2" in diameter. (Figure 2)

Figure 2

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 14 note: As you tear, keep the pieces sorted tips for by pattern and color. I use a muffin tin to keep my pieces organized. sewing 5. Using a small paintbrush and gel paper medium, randomly layer the paper pieces over the entire surface of each • You don’t need to use a special cut object. Allow the paper pieces to needle for this project, but you hang over all edges of the objects. Set will need to replace the needle aside to dry for at least 15 minutes. in your machine when you are done. Stitching through multiple 6. the overlapping papers from the layers of paper and glue will edges of the object. (Figure 3) Figure 3 make the needle dull. 7. Using a standard , • Practice sewing on scrap pieces machine stitch an outline around to establish a comfortable speed each object. Carefully trim (Figure 4) and to learn how to maneuver any loose threads and dot the ends of tight spaces. the threads with gel medium to prevent unraveling. • Skinny or curvy pieces can be tricky to stitch. Keep your 8. Add embellishments or fasteners fingertips at least 1" back from as desired. the needle as you feed the object note: I added small metal brads to my under the scissors so that I could adjust the scissor of the machine. blades on each pair. • Go slowly. In particularly tight

9. Using your fingertip or a small spots, use the hand wheel to paintbrush, rub the acrylic paint move the needle.

along the edges of each piece. Figure 4

choosing papers

• Choose a variety of shades and patterns within each color choice. As the papers are layered, this diversity creates rich texture.

• Great paper sources include scrapbook papers, magazine pages, discarded textbooks, junk mail, and art mistakes. (Never throw away those mishaps!)

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 15 assembly 2. Using a small paintbrush, apply a on top of the plastic. This will help generous amount of gel medium to flatten out the bulkier parts of the 1. Once the paint is dry, play around the back of the first object in your piece. After a few hours, carefully with object arrangement. arrangement. Place the object on remove the plastic. the substrate. Put a clean paper note: I like to use a digital camera to 4. With your fingertip or a small towel over the object, place your document my favorite arrangement. I use paintbrush, rub acrylic paint along hand over the object, and hold the this photograph as a reference when I glue the edge of the substrate. Allow the everything down. object in place for at least 2 minutes. paint to dry. This will help the object stick to the background. Continue this 5. Add paint splatters and other accents, process with each object in your as desired. Allow the paint to dry.

arrangement. 6. Finish with a coat of the clear other ideas 3. Place a plastic bag or plastic wrap on spray. top of the piece. Place heavy books texterial.blogspot.com • Create a mix of objects related to a specific theme, such as sewing supplies, sports equipment, or kitchen utensils.

• Spell out a word or a loved one’s name using sewn paper letters.

• Change the scale. Use a large canvas and giant paper objects.

• Go abstract. Choose bold colors to create sewn paper doodles, concentric circles, and squiggles.

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 16 Adapted from Cloth Paper Scissors® November/December 2011

Left: “Let it Snow” • 12" × 12" canvas Right: “Winter Tree” • 51/2" × 11" wood block

m at e r i a l s • Substrate: canvas, wood, or a picture frame (I chose a 12" × 12" gallery-wrapped canvas.) • Decorative papers (I like to use reverse brightly colored scrapbook paper with bold patterns like Cosmo Cricket™ brand.) • Scissors collage • Paintbrush, 3/4" flat • Acrylic gel medium (I use Golden Artist Colors® Regular Gel Gloss.) painting • Heavy-body acrylic paint (I used Golden Artist Colors burnt umber and cobalt.) a bright spot • Cotton swabs on a winter day • Paper towels • Gel pen, white (I use Sakura® Gelly Roll®.)

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 17 inter is the perfect time to For this project, I chose to combine tip: Papers with raised designs brightly colored papers with dark paint and/or glitter are more difficult to work cozy up in your studio with w to create a dramatic and unique look with because the paint fills the cracks, making it tough to remove the paint in a cup of cocoa and unleash your that will brighten even the darkest later steps. creativity. When the weather outside winter days. is frightful, I find that is the best time to grab my bucket full of cheerful papers and get to work. Come along with me to create a winter-themed piece that celebrates the season while adding a bright spot to your home.

by holly christine moody

Figure 1

2. Paint a generous layer of acrylic directions gel medium onto the surface of the substrate and add papers to create a create the colorful collage. Don’t overthink this background part too much. Just be sure that the papers overlap so that you will end 1. Cut the decorative papers into varying up with a textured background. Add sizes of squares and rectangles. Blues more gel medium where the papers and greens go beautifully together, overlap. but other color combinations work just as well. tip: I often use the end of my paintbrush to smooth down any paper that has a bubble of gel medium under it.

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 18 notes

• It takes practice to determine the perfect amount of paint to use. Use a generous coat of paint, or you will find that the paint dries before you are able to complete your design.

• You may have to go over the design several times to remove all of the paint. You’ll notice that some of the paint stays in the crevices of your brushstrokes, giving the piece a bit of a distressed look.

• You can remove as much or as little paint as you like depending on how bright you want the final painting to be.

Figure 2

Figure 4

Figure 3

3. When you have covered the entire add the paint surface with paper, add another generous coat of gel medium to the 1. Add a generous coat of the burnt entire piece and let it dry completely. umber paint to a small section of (Figure 1) your collage. It is best to start on the outside, working in towards the tip: Take care to make sure the paper is middle. pressed flat and that your brushstrokes all go in one direction. This will make it easier 2. Using a cotton swab or your finger to lift off the paint in the next steps. wrapped in a , draw your design into the paint. Continue this

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 19 Right: This is the reverse side of “Be Merry.” Consider making a piece that you can turn over and use when the holidays are over.

process until you have “painted” the entire surface with your design. Let it dry completely. (Figure 2)

3. Add details with the gel pen. Simply outlining your shapes helps to bring more definition to the painting. I also enjoy using polka dots whenever possible. (Figure 3)

4. Paint the outer edge of your painting with a bright, complementary color. I used the cobalt paint for this step. (Figure 4) Isn’t it amazing that the simple combination of colorful paper and dark paint results in such a bright and cheerful­ piece of art? Now pour yourself another cup of cocoa, curl up, and admire your handiwork. hollychristine.net

How to Make a Collage: 4 Free Mixed Media Collage Techniques clothpaperscissors.com ©F+W Media, Inc. 20