CollageClass

SAMPLES: Beautiful Sample!

SUPPLIES:
- 1 Surface - heavy card stock or mat board or watercolor paper - something glue won't warp
- 1 Paint Brush - small for applying glue
- 1 Rubber Stamp - around 2" in size, a single image works best (i.e butterfly, design element, pear, column)
- Glue - any white glue or acrylic medium you may have
- 1 sheet white or cream matte card stock large enough to stamp image on
- embossing gun
I am going to ask you to limit your color palette this time around, so choose colors that you like and will coordinate with the image you have chosen, no more than two or three (I.e blue/green/yellow, purple/lime, red/orange). All the following materials should be chosen with these colors in mind. Feel free to choose variations of a color (i.e Green - light green, dark green, forest, etc.).
- 2 or 3 colors dye inks, waterproof
- 2 or 3 pigment ink color
- 1 embossing powder
- 2 or 3 small pieces of tissue paper, vellum, napkin - any paper with a bit of a transparent quality to it
- 2 or 3 small pieces of other paper
- 2 or 3 embellishments, feathers, beads, fibers, charms etc.

INSTRUCTIONS:
I am expanding from my normal classes a little bit and assuming that you might not have much familiarity with collage already. I think there are 2 approaches to take to doing collage. Each is up to the individual, but it does make a big difference in choosing the appropriate materials. When you start collaging, each person needs to decide how long term do you want this project to be. If this is a card that might end up in a scrap book, or a little box that you don't mind if it falls apart in a couple years, or if you are just beginning and don't know if you will like it at all, then any materials are OK. On the other hand, if you are doing a wedding collage for a gift, or doing the front of your scrap book or making an anniversary piece for your spouse, then you will want to consider more long lasting materials. This can involve everything from the board you use as a base to the final coat of varnish you use on the top. Canvas, watercolor paper and masonite make great collage supports. They are strong, heavy and usually archival. Some lighter weight watercolor papers may need to be stretched before using as a support. You can also use heavy card stock, especially in card making. We have already discussed adhesives a bit and I will just say one more thing about my personal preference of gel medium. I like it because it is sort of all purpose. I can use it on anything from tissue to brass charms and it adheres equally well. It is my favorite for flat collage work. For the materials you actually use in the collage you should probably avoid newsprint and magazine. Most of these are highly acidic and will rot over time. I recommend xeroxing this type of material before using it. If you just don't think a xerox will do however, there are measures you can take however to slow down this process. Coat the material in acrylic medium - or any white glue - and it will create a shell so the acids don't leak onto other materials. Also, you can finish the piece with a light resistance varnish to protect it. Don't be intimidated by these material suggestions. If you are just starting out any surface and any glue will do. Start to think about these things when you take it beyond play and experimentation. Maybe when you start to say to yourself, "my best friend would love this for her birthday" or "wouldn't this be nice framed over the fireplace", then it is time to think of more permanent materials. Also, if you think you might sell the work, as you don't want a paying customer to come back and say something fell off, yellowed or faded out. Also, don't be afraid to experiment and play, you will like collage better if you don't judge yourself too harshly. Remember, when you first started stamping and you couldn't make a great impression or the colors weren't like you planned. Collage is the same, the more you do it, the better you will get. Don't hesitate to save all kinds of materials. I use napkins, fibers, watch parts, beads, charms, embossing powder and many other items in my collage work. Anything can potentially be put into your art. Something with an interesting shape like a leaf or a twig can be painted and suddenly have a whole new appearance. Of course, if you are like me, you save everything anyway. LOL! I am the worst pack rat. :) We are going to begin our project by making a background. A background can be as simple as a nice coat of acrylic paint. It can also be many of the techniques you normally use in card making to create backgrounds. Tonight we are going to use the stamp you chose. Take you lightest color of dye pad and ink up your stamp. Stamp randomly over the background. Do this again with the other dye pads you have chosen. See my sample. Next, on a separate piece of paper, I want you to take your pigment pads and make a direct to paper swatch, on your white or cream paper, large enough to fit your stamped image on. Use your embossing gun too heat set the inks. (note:so the background completely dries and no embossing powder sticks to it in the next step, it is best to let it sit overnight). Now ink up your stamp, stamp over the direct to paper area and emboss. Set this aside. I want to point out that my background I am using tonight was a reject from a background swap. I accidentally set it down on my Ancient Page pads and it became stained. You can see the two dark spots in the instruction 1, later you won't be able to see them at all. We may have joked about this, but never throw away a bad project. often impressions that didn't come out so good, end up in my collages cut in half. Anything can be salvaged for collage. I personally like getting those tiny (about 5 x 7) expandable plastic folders to store all my bits and pieces in. In step two, I want you to arrange you transparent materials in a way that is pleasing to you. I really like using these types of materials as I think they add layering,depth and interest to a collage. Don't glue anything down yet. You can see my sample of what I did in Instruction 2 in the shared files. I added some mesh, tissue and rice paper. The mesh was also a failed experiment for my new collage packs and just happened to be laying on the desk, it was the right color, so I used it. Never overlook the happy accident. Next I want you to lay down a couple of the other papers you brought. Again, put them where it pleases you. After that, position your embossed stamped image on your collage. At this point start thinking about your embellishments. and begin placing them. This is also the point you may say to yourself, hmm... I'd really like to add another image or some seashells or any other item you may not have brought to the table, but seems to fit with your final composition. Once everything is where you want it, you can pull off your layers and begin the gluing process. If you plan on doing a lot of collage, you may want to get a Polaroid to photograph your final work before taking it off. I generally find on small pieces this is not necessary. There is also a glueless process that does not require removing pieces, if you are interested in this I will give you a resource for more information. Also as you become more confident in your work you may feel confident gluing down layers as you place them. Initially I had centered my image and had the fibers radiating from the center. I decided that was too static and moved them to the current position.You can also look at a sample called Washed Ashore. It is the same background and much of the same materials as tonight's, but with much different finished product.