I have loved all of the posts about your collage but the detail of your process in this one is very beneficial. As a high school teacher of drawing and painting I also incorporate collage into my courses however it is not a strong point of my practice. While I have figured out some things like hole punches and compasses for circles, getting beyond the glue stick or double-sided tape rollers was an issue. And maybe most importantly how you translate your drawing of shapes into the final work is incredibly valuable. I will be sharing this post with my students this year. Thanks so much for taking the time to share this Brian!
Thanks for the mention Brian. exacto knife is for precision cutting especially for use with a ruler or for very tight cuts or intricate cuts, scissors are for more casual cutting. Then there is tearing. A lot of artists like torn irregular edges instead of cutting or in combination with cutting. I use all of these techniques.
On the subject of acrylic medium, I usually use Golden brand liquid matt medium but there is also gel medium. Both can be thinned with water. The gel medium is good to use with heavier papers because it has more tack but even thinned down it is still more tacky that regular matt medium. BUT if you are using a lot of blacks or dark colors you might want to use gloss medium because matt medium has talc in it which makes it flat and not glossy and that talc can alter the dark colors and obscure the vibrancy of intense colors.
I also keep a spray bottle to dampen certain papers before gluing them. This lets the paper absorb moisture and then the paper expands a little bit. Then when you glue it down it won't get bubbles but will shrink tight. Certain papers have a varnish coat on them and if you just put glue and then glue them down the paper expands a little after you already glued it and that makes possible bubbles in the glued surface.
As someone who is intrigued by collage but has never really ventured into it, I found this walkthrough super interesting! Also, just looking at all those piles of papers and trying to think of the best way to organize them is just making me give up and implode. It must be incredibly freeing to realize that the best way to organize them is to just - not! :)
I have loved all of the posts about your collage but the detail of your process in this one is very beneficial. As a high school teacher of drawing and painting I also incorporate collage into my courses however it is not a strong point of my practice. While I have figured out some things like hole punches and compasses for circles, getting beyond the glue stick or double-sided tape rollers was an issue. And maybe most importantly how you translate your drawing of shapes into the final work is incredibly valuable. I will be sharing this post with my students this year. Thanks so much for taking the time to share this Brian!
Thanks for the mention Brian. exacto knife is for precision cutting especially for use with a ruler or for very tight cuts or intricate cuts, scissors are for more casual cutting. Then there is tearing. A lot of artists like torn irregular edges instead of cutting or in combination with cutting. I use all of these techniques.
On the subject of acrylic medium, I usually use Golden brand liquid matt medium but there is also gel medium. Both can be thinned with water. The gel medium is good to use with heavier papers because it has more tack but even thinned down it is still more tacky that regular matt medium. BUT if you are using a lot of blacks or dark colors you might want to use gloss medium because matt medium has talc in it which makes it flat and not glossy and that talc can alter the dark colors and obscure the vibrancy of intense colors.
I also keep a spray bottle to dampen certain papers before gluing them. This lets the paper absorb moisture and then the paper expands a little bit. Then when you glue it down it won't get bubbles but will shrink tight. Certain papers have a varnish coat on them and if you just put glue and then glue them down the paper expands a little after you already glued it and that makes possible bubbles in the glued surface.
Just a few tricks.
Cecil you’re 100% right about the glossy paper! I never made that connection. I’ll start spraying.
And yes gloss is better for dark areas. I have found that.
Thanks for the masterclass. 😀
As someone who is intrigued by collage but has never really ventured into it, I found this walkthrough super interesting! Also, just looking at all those piles of papers and trying to think of the best way to organize them is just making me give up and implode. It must be incredibly freeing to realize that the best way to organize them is to just - not! :)
Hey Kelsey
Haha it’s like instead of giving the wrong answer, just change the question!
Also loved your frog & toad post.
Haha exactly. Just embrace lawless collage. And thank you so much! I really appreciate that.