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How to begin your Magical Journey of Collage Creation
- by emme_lily
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- June 10, 2009
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- 2 discussions
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- 8 comments
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Making a collage is an incredibly satisfying artistic process that can be as simple or as complex as you decide. Time to leave the inhibitions elsewhere and start thinking of yourself as an artist. Let's get crafty.
This collage combines ancient people fearing for their lives, an elderly (I believe D &G) model and a sea creature. by emme lily.
Let the creative juices flow!
Here you have a collage that utilized a vintage nature book and national geographic and vogue magazines. The accessories are laminated and raised from the background. by emme lily.
Collage Artists of America
Don’t be intimidated. You’re a beginner; we’re not expecting your to bring a masterpiece into the world although I’m sure you’ll create something unique and lovely. Explore the site to view professional collage artists and their work.
Locate your friendly neighborhod Value Village
Endless materials and inspiration!
Artistic? Me? You've got the wrong gal.
Not true! Be confident in your ability to make something with your own hands and enjoy yourself. If your first collage doesn’t turn out how you would like, at least you had fun and learned something new!
The First Leg of Your Magical Journey of Collage Creation: Foraging and Nurturing
1) Foraging (preparation, research, data collection): Keep an open mind because you just became a detective, an explorer and, it seems, a squirrel. Time to sleuth around for treasures to add to your collage. Just grab your materials: books, magazines, whatever ya got. Maybe hug them a little because you just took the most difficult step an artist ever takes—starting. You did it. Now it’s time to get all crazy creative with your bad self. Stomp the doubts because come on, it’s paper and glue, not presidential portrait painting. And at this point, it is impossible to mess up.
Explore your materials and understand what you’re working with. I suggest initially going through each book or magazine once, marking or tearing out anything of interest. You shouldn’t have a plan—simply survey and take note of your options. You won’t use everything you set aside, but if you like it, save it, disregarding its relevance to any idea of the collage you will be making. The artistic process is about experimentation—you aren’t a collage machine. It is helpful to jot down ideas as they occur; you’ll be thankful when you have them for the next step. Don’t let yourself bend to frustration if brilliance isn’t bursting out your ears right away. That will happen, and soon.
2) Reflection (incubation, percolation, nurturing): Immerse yourself in your project. You’ve got a big ol’ stack of awesomely unique pieces to play with. Don’t settle on the first idea you have—or the second, third or fourth. You should end up going over not only the items you foraged in Step One, but also referring back to the original books/magazines to search for even more inspiration. See, these magical steps aren’t set in stone. Take time to question your choices and revise your ideas even if they seem perfect. You’re doing something delightfully foreign, like visiting Amsterdam. Let loose! Get crazy! And do it over and over! These ideas are for you. Your boss, partner, friends and the dog have no power over your creativity! This is the quality time you so frequently wish you had. Like anything you might raise and nurture, expect your ideas to change and adapt. At some point, your brain will get fed up with taking direction from you. Let it nurture your ideas by itself for a while. Step slowly away from the crafts and relinquish all collage related thoughts to your subconscious. It’s like putting the ingredients in the at-home ice cream maker. Put ‘em in, leave it alone, find something even more delicious when you return. Just remember to come back to the awesome baby you have so lovingly nurtured up to this point.
Go ahead. Meet you at “The Second Leg of Your Magical Journey of Collage Creation: Illumination and Implementation”.
What you'll need
Mod Podge. The absolute best goo I’ve ever encountered. Mod Podge would have your back in a dark-alley knife fight. That’s how much I trust it. Mod Podge makes things stiff, works as a glue and a finish and dries incredibly fast. It is thicker than regular glue so it is easier to work with. It comes in several different levels of glossy, so it depends on your preference between shiny and matte. Look! We’re already making artistically minded decisions. You could get some generic white glue or glue sticks, but come on, Mod Podge is practically a leftover from Eden. Why mess around?
Scissors. Make sure they can cut. That’s basically it. You can get fancy and buy expensive craft scissors, but I’ve never been all that satisfied with them. I find that large scissors can be a bit of a hindrance for precision cutting, but if all you have is big scissors, don’t fret.
Something to spread the Mod Podge. I like the spongy brushes but any brush works. Hell, channel your inner 4-year-old and dig into the jar. Experiment with different “spreaders” when you’re ready to achieve various textures.
Something to glue onto. Maybe it’s backing, maybe it’s a base, but for our first collage lets make it cardboard. I save pizza and cereal boxes. You can buy firmer, heartier board, but we’re just starting, so save that for later.
Various materials. Kind of vague, but the possibilities are endless. Anything you can glue to your piece of cardboard can be used in your collage. As a beginner, stick with magazines, old books, ads, newspapers, etc. Oh gosh, more artistic choices—what if you don’t get anything worth using in a collage? Impossible as long as there are pictures. Look around the house for old magazines and other interesting paper bits. If you don’t find what you’re looking for or want a little more, head to Value Village or Goodwill’s book section. It’s amazing what wacky and unique materials you can find. For under $10 you can leave with more than enough to start your project. Look at the booty you’ve accumulated!
Booze. Ok so not mandatory for the creative process, but I’ve had some of my best ideas and came out with some awesome work after a few glasses of wine. We use alcohol to loose our inhibitions, open our minds and get silly—all necessary for crafting!
Pacific Fabrics & Crafts Outlet Page
One of many Seattle area craft stores, and my personal favorite. Have fun collecting your materials and tools with the help of the friendly, infinitely wise staff.
Ready? Set?
It may seem absurd to consider yourself a creative person. Maybe you’ve doubted yourself and its taken its toll on your self-esteem. If you feel more comfortable with a support group, invite a few friends over and enjoy the different dynamics. On the flip side, you can collage away all by your lovely little self if you’re feeling insecure and would prefer to work alone. Get to your happy place for your first collage making experience, wherever that may be.
And guess what? The fundamental processes involved in all creative endeavors are virtually the same. That makes things easy for us, doesn’t it? Whether a professional in a creative field, or a beginner like yourself, it is valuable to understand the basic elements of the creative process. I found that combining collage making with the basics of the creative process would be the most straightforward and approachable way to offer advice to anyone newly interested in collages. Do not fear that you are now positioned in a rigid set of rules. Its simply an attempt to understand how the human mind works through artistic creation. We’re renaming “The Creative Process” “The Magical Journey of Collage Creation”. Now kick those pesky inhibitions out the window, because its time.
The Second Leg of Your Magical Journey of Collage Creation: Illumination and Implementation
3) Illumination (adoption, discovery): Well what do you know, there it is. This is the unexpected moment of truth, the, “Ah ha!” and the, “light bulb” sensation. You didn’t think you’d see it, did you? Go ahead and get emotional. The work you put into critically thinking and experimenting has paid off. Did you just have your first artistic epiphany? Pretty neat. Now if you found your, “Ah ha!” a bit lacking, it’s time to nurture a bit more. No, of course you won’t be penalized. This is way cooler than a board game. Sometimes the “Ah ha!” just turns out to be a false positive. Sulking is not a respected behavior in most crafting circles so don’t even start. Be proud of yourself because you just decided to spend more time getting to know the new, creative you.
4) Implementation (Verification, elaboration): Are you ready to be a self-sufficient crafter? I think you are. I’m not going to tell you how to cut and glue. You can close your eyes and head back to kindergarten if you need a refresher course. You feel ready for commitment but before you find yourself at the point of no return, take your marvelous, “Ah Ha!” and turn it into a mockup of your collage. Maybe you sketch out how you want the pieces to lay. Try to anticipate any potential glitches that may interfere with the logistics of placement, final cutting or gluing. As with each step we have taken thus far, just slow you’re roll. It can be hard to tame your excitement. You are so close to turning your, “Ah Ha!” into a reality (now you understand that they really were magical steps). A mistake at this point would be disheartening to say the least, so whip up a plan of attack and begin gluing and cutting and whatever else you want to do to your collage in this moment of victory. Just know this: you are an artist, you are a creator! Nothing can ever be the same again.
Until We Cross Crafting Paths Once More
You may have noticed the lack of artistic advice I offered. If you need help with your design after finishing all four Magical Journey of Collage Creation Steps, you obviously cheated. Yes, you did—you didn’t nurture. You had plenty of time. Collage creation isn’t about emulating anything else. It’s about taking something with a preset value and shredding any notion of what that was and, relying on your ridiculously radical inherent talent as a creative human, create with awe a collage that makes you beam.
After completing the both legs of the Magical Journey of Collage Creation, you too will be prepared for any creative projects that dare to challenge you.
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.jpg "Karey Ann")
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Great guide! Nice tip, mswen, as I am now addicted to that site!
.jpg "mswen")
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Awesome awesome awesome! I used to make collages constantly, and I loved it. Your guide has inspired me! Have you seen this blog? I just came across it last week and went crazy…
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