Class 2 ~ Collage ... Let's get started!

It's time to dig out your collage materials and get creative. The point of journalling is more about discovering who you are than proving you're an amazing artist. The only person who's going to be seeing your book is you, so let the perfectionism go and learn to play. Really. Don't panic, I've got some helpful information to get you started.

First of all, you don't need expensive materials. The basic list is: a journal to collage into, some magazines with colours and images you like, scissors, a gluestick and a pen to write with. To that, you can later add: washi tape and felt pens (and other ways to add colour).

It's easy to find magazines to work from. One of the magazines I like to use is Oprah. The pages are oversized and colourful, there are often positive articles and quotes to use, and the ads are full of interesting images and textures. As I mentioned in my earlier post, everything I've done in my journal so far comes from a single issue of Oprah. But if you can't get your hands on an Oprah magazine (or she's not to your taste), there are plenty of alternatives. If you're looking for FREE materials to work with, try almost any community center or library. Meditation magazine also has lots of great images, for example, and there's a huge pile of these outside the library downstairs at Hillcrest Community Centre where we meet. I'm sure if you ask your friends, they'd be more than willing to give you some magazines destined for the recycling that you could use as well. Now ~ on to the tips!

Image Selection: 

Start with images and colours you love. You’ll be happier working with them and probably like the final result more. But you’d be surprised how many really great images are hidden in unlikely sources. The quality of the paper matters, too. You can work with anything, but some papers are designed to degrade (like newsprint), so use them accordingly. Turn your found images upside down if you want to “forget” what they are and focus on their colour and texture.

Cutting:

For straight edges, use an x-acto knife and a ruler. I like quilting rulers ~ you can see through them and you can square things up. Scissors (obviously). When if you want to cut something in a circle, hold the scissors still and turn the paper instead.

Tearing:

Perfect for rough edges. Because of how paper is made, there’ll be a white edge when you tear. If you want the torn edge to be obvious, tear the part you want AWAY from you. If you want to the torn edge to blend with what it’s on top of, tear the part you want TOWARD you.

Glue: 

The best gluesticks I’ve found are UHU glue. Some collage artists use gel medium and paint brushes. I don’t have patience with the sogginess, wrinkles or drying time, but it will last longer than gluesticks. You can smooth down pieces glued with gel medium using an old coffee card.

Double-sided Tape: 

The best tape I’ve found is Sookwang Brand, but it’s expensive and permanent. Unlike gluesticks, where you have a minute or two to wiggle things into place, using double-sided tape is a “put it where you want it the first time” material.

Here’s a summary of how I sometimes do my layers:

Layer 1: Background: scraped or sponged paint, gesso or large magazine image.

Layer 2: Borders & edges: more magazine images ~ work around outside edges and toward the center. Don’t over-analyze: think colour and texture.

Layer 3: Lay in the big shapes of the collage, add more colour to background.

Layer 3: Add small collage details, washi tape, draw around shapes, fill in areas.

Layer 4: Fine details added with pens, pencils, markers, etc. Add glued-on words, perhaps create lined areas for writing.

Layer 5: Write in lined areas. Add more colour in some areas to create contrast, shadows and depth. Add pops of colour or white for interest.

Here are some pages I created using this kind of layering:

I really didn't know where this page was going as I "built" it. Some of the little details may look like they were well-planned, but they weren't. Collage is a "make it up as you go along" kind of art.

These two facing pages are a good example of how I unite across a 2-page spread. The first image I chose was an ad with a crystal giraffe. I liked it because of the blue/orange combination. Blue and orange are across from each other on the colour wheel, in other words: excellent contrast. After deciding on that image, I looked for an ad with lots of bright orange to balance the darkness of it. After I'd glued down my main images, I started gluing in quotes from the handouts and colouring them with blue, orange and yellow to tie everything together. 

In my next post, I'll be showing you step by step how I created my self-portrait collage in my journal. I'll go into the layers in more detail. I'll show you what the bits and pieces I started with and where it finished up. The important thing is to PLAY! Be alive to the potential in the images, in the words that you find bubbling to the surface as you work. Trust your intuition! The more you do this, the more confident, and alive, you'll feel ...