Collage Ideas Workshop Photos (Victoria)

by Barbra Sundquist on April 2, 2012

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Everyone working like crazy!

Recently I travelled to Victoria to give a collage ideas workshop to a group of seven women. My friend Dawn Olson organized the workshop, which was held in her Victoria Art Therapy studio.

Workshop participants ranged from complete newcomers (one woman had never taken an art workshop before) to those with art school training. That’s the thing I love most about collage: it’s a way of making art that anyone can do.

We covered a lot of techniques in the four hour workshop: making “shmooshy paper” (my technical term for handpainted papers); drawing into a paint blotch like I demonstrate here; designing with magazine cutouts; assembling an abstract grid pattern with personal symbols; and making a childhood self-portrait using photocopied images on a mixed media background.

We had such fun! I really put participants through their paces but judging from the feedback, everyone enjoyed the fast pace and the way the techniques built upon each other towards the final project.

The workshop’s main objective was to learn as many techniques as possible, so that participants can continue their  exploration of mixed media collage at a more leisurely pace at home. I admired each woman’s willingness to experiment with techniques that are not necessarily “pretty”; not everyone is brave enough to do that.

Below are more photos of the workshop and the final project of the day – a childhood self-portrait using various sizes of the same photocopied photo, arranged on a textured mixed media background.

Would you like to participate in a workshop like this? I have one planned in late April – just contact me for details.

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Me giving feedback on collage design.

 

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Sylvie looking shyly pleased with her creation!

 

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Jean's collage featured both herself and her mother as children.

 

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Stephanie telling us about her collage, which has an interesting diagonal composition.

 

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Dawn is an Art Therapist and kindly lent us her studio for the day.

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Jean also looks pretty happy with her creation! Or maybe it was just the process of creating?

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Hanny says that her collage turned out much sweeter than she is! We beg to differ.

)

 

 

 

 

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Vi's first art workshop: pretty amazing work for a first-timer!

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Mixed Media Workshop – Collage Book Review

by Barbra Sundquist on February 21, 2012

Mixed Media Workshopcollage ideas collage for kids collage books collage artists is a new collage ideas book from the Walter Foster publishing giant. I must admit that when I saw it was Walter Foster I almost didn’t order it, because I associate Walter Foster with those old-fashioned “how to draw” books. But I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this book.

This book features six different mixed media artists, all of whom use collage as a major element in their work. The artists each have a unique style and method, which is good because that means you get variety in the examples and tutorials demonstrated.

What I like best about Mixed Media Workshop is the size of the photos and the detail of the collage demonstrations. As you can see, the photos are really big and the demos are truly step-by-step. This is a big improvement on other art instruction books where you have to squint to figure out what’s going on in the illustrations.

Ironically, it’s the very thing that I like best about this book that is also one of its biggest drawbacks. Because the photos are so big, they take up a lot of room on each page and that means that fewer projects can be shown. Even so, there are 20 projects covered and that’s pretty decent.

With any art instruction book, your degree of satisfaction will depend on how inspired you are by the artwork demonstrated. For me, I really only learned something new from two or three of the six artists presented. The remaining showed techniques I’m already familiar with. However, if you are new to collage you may be inspired by all the artists featured.

This book would be best for a beginning mixed media collage artist. Beginners will love the large illustrations and the excellent step-by-step demonstrations. If you are a more advanced collage artist, I’d advise you to look carefully at the illustrations to see if there are any new collage ideas that you haven’t seen before. If there isn’t, you might want to save your money.

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Collage Ideas: How to Make Packing Tape Image Transfer

by Barbra Sundquist on February 1, 2012

Renee asks:

Would a hardware store have Acrylic Gel Medium or something like it? The nearest art store and crafts stores are VERY out of the way from where I am, and I need Gel Medium to do an image transfer for a mixed media collage I’m working on. Would the hardware store have Acrylic Gel Medium or an alternative that would work for what I’m trying to do?

A hardware store won’t have gel medium. The closest thing would be PVA glue (white glue, aka carpenter’s glue) and it will work. You might want to dilute the glue a bit with water.

Another option is to do a transparent tape transfer. What you do is stick strips of clear packing tape on the right side of your image. Then you dampen the back of the image and rub the paper off. The ink from the image remains on the packing tape and you affix it to your collage. It’s basically the same process as using the gel medium, except instead of applying gel medium to your image and waiting for it to dry, you put the clear tape on.

If your image is wider than the tape, you will need to do several strips side by side, but it still looks good. Or you can go to the hardware store and buy some of that clear plastic film that is sticky on one side (the stuff people use for lining their drawers, I think it is called “MacTac”).

 

 

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Cut It, Paste It, Sew It: A Mixed-Media Collage Sourcebook – Book Review

by Barbra Sundquist on January 20, 2012

This is a quick look at the book Cut It, Paste It, Sew It: A Mixed-Media Collage Sourcebookcollage books , edited by Chisa Itou. This book of collage ideas came out in Japan in 2009, and then was translated and published for an English-speaking audience in 2010. So it’s a fairly recent publication.

This collage ideas book is exactly what it says it is: a sourcebook. In other words, it is a book of samples of various collage artists’ work, not a book about techniques. For that reason, I wouldn’t recommend it for the beginning collage artist looking for information about you how to make a collage. But for a collage fanatic like me, who has to have every collage book ever published, this is a really inspiring book.

Cut It, Paste It, Sew It: A Mixed Media Collage Sourcebook is simple and spare, as are the collages illustrated in it. The book design is beautiful, with many full page illustrations. This book features the work of 11 Japanese collage artists, along with an interview with each artist. There’s also a few photos of the artists working in their studios; it’s always fun to see other artists’ workspaces.

This book is only $12.99 at Amazoncollage books , and while it’s not the technique book I would recommend for beginning collage artists, it would be a nice addition to the true collage fanatic’s library. Also, this is a good book for anyone who is intrigued by contemporary Japanese design.

 

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Ideas for Mixed Media Collage: “Stepping Out”

by Barbra Sundquist on January 17, 2012

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"Stepping Out" mixed media collage on paper by Barbra Sundquist

This is the first in my “Stepping Out” series of collages on the theme of fashion and body image.

I so enjoyed making this collage! It started in a serendipitous way: I noticed the two pieces of painted paper (what is now the background) sitting on my table, and I thought “wow, I really like how that looks!”

I want to mention that those painted papers are nothing special: they are literally the leftover papers that I had used to protect my tabletop while doing a different project.

All I did was glue the black splotchy paper onto the lighter colored paper, and then thought about what I wanted to do next.

I’ll write a step-by-step photo demo and post it soon.

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Mixed Media Collage Painting: Blossom Flowerpot in Her Garden

by Barbra Sundquist on January 13, 2012

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"Blossom Flowerpot in Her Garden" mixed media collage on canvas by Mika, age 8

Here’s a great example of the fun kids can have with mixed media collage. This artwork was created by my eight year-old niece Mika working alongside me in my studio.

I love the happy exuberance of my niece’s artwork. She’s still at that age where she paints entirely without inhibition. No fuss for her – she just takes the paintbrush and draws what she sees or imagines.

This was Mika’s first time doing mixed media collage on canvas. She selected a 12″x12″ stretched canvas from my stash and decided she wanted to paint her current love: her Lalaloopsy doll named Blossom Flowerpot.

At my suggestion, Mika began by painting an abstract background using acrylic paint (note to self: next time put painting shirt on child before she starts painting with acrylics, especially if she’s wearing her brand new Gap hoodie!) She used three colors: pale blue, white and yellow. The green that you see in her painting is simply the blue and yellow mixed.

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The red arrows show areas that are collage

 

Next Mika cut some flower images out of a gardening magazine and glued those onto her painting with acrylic matte medium (it doesn’t have to be matte medium; good old white glue or Modge Podge would work just as well). I showed her how to smooth out the air holes so that her collaged papers dried flat.

Now for her subject: Mika propped Blossom Flowerpot on the table in front of her, and while I hovered worrying that the doll was going to get paint on it, Mika casually drew the Blossom’s outline with black paint. I love the freedom with which she did this! Mika also included Blossom’s pet butterfly.

As you can see at point 1 in the illustration, Mika also outlined her collage flowers with black. I have no idea where that idea came from; I think it just seemed like a fun thing to do at the time!

One of Mika’s most interesting choices was to make Blossom’s dress, legs and shoes out of collage. If you look at point 2 in the illustration, you’ll see that the doll’s dress is actually a flower picture, painted over with a thin glaze of white paint, and then outlined in black.

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Lalaloopsy doll "Blossom Flowerpot"

Mika also over-painted her other collage elements. At point 3 in the illustration you can see that some of the white paint has overlapped onto the collage flowers. Similarly, at point 1 it’s hard to tell if the yellow flowers are collaged or painted. In my view, that’s one of the indications of a successful mixed media collage: the various elements of collage, paint, drawing, printmaking or whatever else you include, should be so integrated that it’s hard to tell where one medium ends and another begins.

Satisfied with her painting, Mika finished off by adding her clouds and sun, and then signed her artwork with a prominent “by Mika” flourish.

Is there anything in the world more enjoyable and rewarding than making art with children?

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The Dressmaker: Collage by Conrad Marca-Relli

by Barbra Sundquist on January 10, 2012

collage ideas collage artists Conrad Marca Relli the dressmaker collage on canvas 300x245I came across this collage called The Dressmaker (28 x 34 inch mixed media collage on canvas) while browsing online. According to Hollis Taggart Galleriesit was made circa 1982 by Conrad Marca Relli (1913 – 2000).

The collage elements appear to include a photograph, found papers, and fabric. I’m guessing that the red line and the black stand of the dressmaker’s dummy are done with paint. Notice the red sewing basket on the right; it’s the only thing besides the woman’s head that is a photographic element. What intrigues me most about this collage is the fact that I actually like it.

Let me explain: I usually don’t like collages that use a photograph of a person (particularly a disembodied head) in a collage without alteration. Because figures catch our attention so strongly in any artwork, I normally think figurative photographs need some kind of alteration to integrate into a collage.

But when I look at this collage, my feeling is that it “works”, even though the disembodied head is so different from the rest of the materials used. The more I look at it the more I think it works because of the dressmaker’s dummy. It’s a body without a head. The woman is a head without a body (at least, not a body in the same sense as her head). So there is an unexpected conceptual symmetry.

What do you think? Does this collage “work” for you?

DallasArtsRevue photo by J R Compton

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Free Painting Workshop – Total Alignment by Connie Hozvicka

by Barbra Sundquist on January 10, 2012

My find today is a terrific online creativity workshop that is absolutely free. The course is called Total Alignment and is presented by Connie Hozvicka of Dirty Footprints Studio.  The free online course is a summary of Connie’s process that she calls FEARLESS™ Painting.

It’s a really generous free course: seven videos ranging from 16 – 25 minutes each. That’s a lot of learning! You don’t have to sign up for anything – the videos are all available on this webpage.

 

 

 

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Sunday in My Studio

by Barbra Sundquist on January 8, 2012

collage materials collage ideas collage ideas messy studio desk 300x205This is what faced me when I stepped into my studio this afternoon: a typically messy work surface. My intention was to tidy up first, and then make a collage.

Naturally, I did something else entirely! (why tidy when you get play with paint, right?)  I’m fortunate in that I have several work surfaces in my studio.

Ignoring the messy desk, I moved over to one of my folding tables, which was relatively free of stuff.

collage materials collage ideas collage ideas roller table 300x225I had some discarded paintings sitting there, so just to warm up I started applying paint with my trusty foam roller. Time got away on me and before I knew where the afternoon had gone, it was time to make dinner.

I didn’t get my desk tidied, and I didn’t make a collage, but I did have a lovely relaxing afternoon. I really enjoy making painted papers.

The result may not be something you could show off as a finished artwork, but I do love to use the painted papers as starting points for collage ideas. Here’s my favorite one from today.

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Collage Ideas Demonstration: The Red Bird

by Barbra Sundquist on January 5, 2012

make a collage collage samples collage materials collage artists IMG 3571 480x640 225x300 This mixed media collage on paper is called The Red Bird. It’s a simple collage that I made in my sketchbook. I took photos of the process as I went along; you can see the collage develop step-by-step in the images below.

I started this collage by making an abstract print in my sketchbook. I often start like this because it jump-starts my imagination.

It’s easy to make these abstract prints: all you do is slap some wet paint on a piece of paper and then press it face down in your sketchbook. Pull the wet paper off and you have a beautiful abstract print to use as a starting point for a painting or collage.

 

 

make a collage collage samples collage materials collage artists collageideas redbird1 What I like to do to get started is look at the print to what I can see in it. It’s sort of like looking at clouds. In this case, the first thing that jumped out at me was that there was a white shape in the middle that looked like a bird of some sort. And there were also some shapes that looked like branches.

 

 

make a collage collage samples collage materials collage artists collageideas redbird3So I started out with a fine-tip black felt pen and just traced the bird and branch shapes. Then I started to see the outline of a person behind the bird, so I traced around that with a thicker felt pen.

The large shape behind the person came about simply by doing a “connect the dots” line around the outside of the print. I literally just connected the little paint dots without thinking about what the shape might turn out like.

At this step I’ve also started filling in some of the negative shapes with solid black in order to provide some form to the red figure.

make a collage collage samples collage materials collage artists collageideas redbird5Next I decided to work on the large white shape on the left. I took my original printing paper (the cast-off piece) and cut out a shape that approximated the white shape on my page.

After placing it down, I found that I didn’t like the way it looked, so I tore it into a few pieces and then experimented with those pieces to find a placement that I liked.

 

I ended up using make a collage collage samples collage materials collage artists collageideas redbird7the top part of the collage material and turning it on a bit of an angle. The shape looked like an eagle or some kind of vulture to me, and I liked the way the way the red shape repeated the shape of the black line above it.

After being pleased with the placement of the red shape, I glued it down and then went to town doing more drawing on top of it. At a certain point it started to look way too busy: I felt the patterning of the line drawing (top left in image) competed with my intended focal point of the person and little bird.

make a collage collage samples collage materials collage artists collageideas redbird8There’s always a point in any collage where I think “oh no, I’ve wrecked it!” I’ve learned not to panic when that happens, because usually the “mistake” turns out to be one of the most interesting parts of the image.

That’s exactly what happened here. I wanted to get rid of that “wrecked” area, so I peeled the collage bits off and then tried to obliterate the black lines by covering them with white oil pastel. The oil pastel didn’t completely cover the black lines, but it did tone them down.

make a collage collage samples collage materials collage artists collageideas redbird10After applying white oil pastel to the black lines, I decided to fill in some of the negative shape with black ink. You can see that in the image at left. By placing a black shape behind and around the main shape, I defined the shape and made it pop.

When I stood back and looked at the image I realized that my “mistake” had actually turned out to be one of the most intriguing parts of the entire collage.

 

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