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Collage Art - Art with Gena!
Gena Destri McGill
www.GenaDestri.com
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E-mail: genadestri@gmail.com
Art Classes @ www.inspiredminds.art
I hope you have fun trying out collage art - there’s no wrong way to go about doing art - unless you stop having fun, then try a different method to make it fun! Be forgiving and patient with yourself, and I hope you enjoy exercising your brain in a creative way!
Art Intention Setting:
Will you make something Non-representational (no recognizable images - simply color and shapes playing together) or Representational (recognizable images playing together)?
Attain: Start by gathering & preparing supplies!
- Make paper to cut into shapes: Paint, scribble, stamp, tear or crumple blank paper to make interesting textures/colors - set aside to dry if necessary
- Copy an image into a black & white Xerox - you can color these yourself with colored pencils or markers for more artistic license! Also, making multiple copies of the same image can be fun to make patterns, a story in your image, or allow for re-doing the piece.
- Cut out pictures, shapes & images
- Make stencils if desired (Using tracing paper or the light through the window trick - outline a shape. Color the back of your traced image heavily with pencil. Place your image over your collage and follow your traced lines - you made a “carbon copy”!)
- Find what you have: stamps, sewing/embroidery, crayons/oil pastels, colored pencils, buttons, glitter, stickers, cardboard, cardstock, wrapping paper, tissue paper, old magazines, old photographs, ribbon, glue, stapler, tape, etc.
Arrange: Get an idea for what can go where; find a composition that works for your ideas and creates visual pleasure.
- Pleasing compositions usually have:
- Main items or directional lines at 1/3s on the paper - “rule of 1/3s”
- Odd numbers of multiple items/groupings
- Clusters or randomly/organically placed things instead of evenly spaced apart or lined up like little soldiers or a parking lot full of cars
- Negative Space! Sometimes leaving background space alone, or filled in with a solid color gives the eyes a needed break! (A light wash of watercolor paint works really well for this)
- Think about what affect you like - are you communicating a mood, an idea, a focus on one image, a color theme?
- You can achieve ideas by creating a Focal Point, considering Simple vs. Complex (what do you like better?); Balance; Symmetry vs. Asymmetry
Adhere: Glue, Stitch, Staple, Tape, Paint (acrylic paint acts like a glue!), ModPodge, etc.
Adjust: Not everything will turn out exactly like you imagined or intended - this is your time to rework or adjust.
- Think about painting over something to obliterate it or give it a “white wash” to make it fade away a bit if it’s competing with your focal point or clashing with your idea.
- Trace an object or give it more of an outline to emphasize or embellish
- Draw on your collage, give it some playful lines or directional lines to pull your eyes toward your focus. (think spirals, diagonals or arrows!)