The Fine Art of Collage... A How-To

This week, when I posted an article with photos about how I collaged my kitchen cabinets (you can find that article here), a couple of you indicated that you might be interested in making some collages of your own. I was asked if I might divulge a bit about how I go about making collages, so, I thought I'd post this article and tell you about some of my techniques. I hope you'll find them of use and build upon them in creating your own works of art! And, if you do, be sure to take some photos and post them here on Gather for the rest of us to enjoy, okay? :o)

For me, the greatest things about collage as an artistic medium are:

1. It's not expensive.

2. You don't have to be able to draw or paint in order to create it.

and

3. You can create things in the "world" of your collage that you would never actually find in real life.

Keeping a File of Pictures

"Where do you get all those cool pictures you use in your collages?"

I've been asked this many times over the (over 42) years that I've been doing collages and the answer is simple: "EVERYWHERE!"

Before I throw any magazines, greeting cards, catalogs, calendars (or any printed matter) with pictures in it away, I go through it and tear out all of the pages that have anything on them that I think might work in a future collage and keep them in one of those giant plastic bins (of the kind with the "Tupperware-like" lids) to save for later use.

The types of graphics that I typically look for are colorful subjects, photos depicting skies with clouds (for backgrounds), floral and garden subjects, classic paintings, landscapes, buildings and bridges, graphics from the 60s and 70s and the Victorian era (because I happen to like those things); however, I also save pictures of fruits and vegetables (for those "kitchen collages") and pets/animals, Native American and East Indian subjects and a variety of other types of pictures because, occasionally, I'm called upon to do a "special" collage for someone who wants a certain theme and I want to have at least SOME material on-hand before I begin.

In general, I don't save a lot of pictures of "people" unless the graphics are artistic on another level such as having bright colors or certain facial expressions. I think many beginner collage artists use WAY too many pictures of people in their first efforts... (Don't get me wrong, pictures of people are nice -- it's just that, as a general rule, it's difficult to make a collage "cohesive" with too many "faces" in it. There are, of course, exceptions to that rule just as there are exceptions to every "subjective" artistic endeavor's "rules".)

In my opinion beginners also use too many "words" in their collages... A well placed word, short poem or even a picture of a protest button -- cut out and placed strategically in a collage -- can be a stroke of genius but, too many words (again, in my strictly subjective opinion) produce "chaos" rather than "cohesiveness" and I like to create a collage that's easy to look at and can be viewed day after day without "jarring the senses"...

Themes:

Before I begin a collage, I usually have a very general "theme" for it in mind already. For instance, "gardening" or "spring/harvest", "cats" or, perhaps, even a specific geographical area (one of my kitchen cabinet door collages has mostly pictures of things that you'll find around here in Cloverdale (vineyards, oak trees, etc.) so, the first thing I do before I start is go through my "file" of pictures and cull out an assortment of pictures I think might possibly "tie-in" to the theme I've chosen.

This is because I have a VERY LARGE "file" of pictures and I find that it saves a lot of time not to be  digging through a HUGE stack of pictures for each piece you're going to use.

Here's a VERY quick, simple example of a collage with a theme. Can you guess what the "theme" is?

If you guessed "modes of transportation", "trips", "journeys", "vacation", or something like that, YOU'RE RIGHT!

Backgrounds vs. Subjects:

You'll remember I said that I particularly look for pictures of appealing landscapes and skies with clouds... This is because I use "backgrounds" a lot in my collages to point up the subject matter that I want to "draw the eye" to. Also, you'll find that when a subject -- say, a flower, a "tool", an animal or a person -- is placed against (especially) a "blue sky" (or any solid color or nearly solid color) background, it stands out more giving it more of a "3-D" appearance...

I'm especially fond -- in my own work -- of placing objects upon backgrounds where you wouldn't normally expect them to be in real life... For example, I might cut-out a sailing ship and place it on a blue sky background with some clouds in it (or as in the previous example, in the sand in front of the Pyramids) -- making it look like it's "sailing" someplace that's not water.

Cutting:

In my opinion no single other factor impacts a collage more negatively than poorly cut out components. I keep two pairs of (sharp) scissors that I use ONLY for cutting out collage pieces... One is a short-bladed, thin-bladed pair of regular scissors and the other is a (VERY sharp) pair of "manicure" scissors (for those cut-outs with a lot of small, curved edges). You'll find that the more detail there is in the cuts around the edges of the "foreground" pieces, the more sense of "depth" it has.

Using a lot of care to precisely cut out your pieces will pay off in your finished work a thousandfold.

Here's an example of an image that would be very intricate to cut out:

In order to place this image over a different background, you'd have to cut OUT all of the stark white -- not only from AROUND it but, also, all those little "triangles" in between the riggings and the sails -- leaving only those tiny "strips" of "riggings" intact.

Too Many "Squares":

Which brings me to another mistake (in my opinion) that amatuer/beginner collage artists make frequently: Using too many "square" or "rectangular" pictures in their work.

Graphics in general come in a "square" or "rectangular" format because magazines, calendars, greeting cards, etc. are (for the most part) square or rectangular... But, if you are just gluing a rectangle beside another rectangle beside 5 more rectangles, the finished collage will look just like what it is: A bunch of magazine pictures that you stuck together with some glue on a flat surface. If I find that I have more than a few "straight lines" between pictures in a collage that I'm making, I usually cut out some detailed pieces to stick OVER those lines to ease the eye's transition from one to other...

Perspectives:

Another technique I like to use in doing collages has to do with "perspective"... I like to find a graphic with a window, gateway, doorway, opening to a cave or some other opening and then place another graphic INSIDE of it that makes the completed image look like it's opening into a completely different reality.

Here's an example where I've put a garden scene inside the opening of an old-fashioned covered bridge that makes it look as though the garden is INSIDE the structure:

I find the more "depth" or "perspective planes" a collage has, the more interesting it is... What do you think?

Choice of Glue and Application:

A collage is made out of paper and, for that reason, you won't find a better glue to use for one than plain, old, white "Elmer's type" glue for gluing the pieces down. Even "glue-sticks" tend to come off in tiny "chunks" that will cause the pieces to be "bumpy".

The cardinal rule of gluing down paper pieces in a collage is: DON'T USE TOO MUCH GLUE!!!

Put it on with a TOOTHPICK if you have to in order to get a very, very, VERY thin line. Always get the line of glue AS CLOSE TO THE EDGES of the picture as possible (including all those little, teeny parts that stick out) and, I find, applying the glue to the rest of the reverse of the picture in a "spiral" toward the middle works best.

The second rule of gluing down paper pieces in a collage is: FLATTEN, FLATTEN, FLATTEN!

As soon as you have the picture where you want it, flatten it down A LOT. I use one of those little plastic rollers over the top over and over to get it as flat as possible... If "edges" are sticking up (especially with something like cabinet doors), they will "catch" and tear.

Finish:

By far, the most superior "finish" that I know of to put over the top of a collage is a product called "Flecto Varathane" (R). It is the type of coating that they use on wooden roller skating rinks and, believe me, it is TOUGH (and "washable"!).

(As I told you in the article about collaging my kitchen cabinet doors, there is a collage that I made in 1969 and Varathaned on the wall of a garage of a duplex that my mother and I rented that's STILL THERE! I saw it just a few months ago for myself!)

You must put SEVERAL COATS over the top of the finished collage and you must ALLOW EACH COAT TO DRY THOROUGHLY in between.

I have also had some success with clear "Contac" (R) paper (clear plastic with an adhesive backing) -- although it is difficult to lay around curves and you have to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL when applying it because, if it sticks to the paper and then you have to pull it back up for any reason, it can ruin the paper below by pulling the top layer right off of it!

Well... I hope this has been of some help to those of you who are contemplating making your first collage, so, just go DO IT and, remember, HAVE FUN!!!

luv,

jean