BASIC COLLAGE METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

 More How-To Steps for Collage

Coat both sides of the foundation background with Acrylic varnish or Gesso.

           

Plan for a mat, or space around the image or for less detailed border areas at the edges (2to 4”)  Cut edges of images or paper with scissors, Exacto Knife, decorative scissors, or tear the edges.

Arrange the pieces of paper where they look good to you over the ground. Adhere the main composition or collage. When you have your main layout planned, then begin from the edges (leaving a border area if you want one.) Glue toward the center, leaving gaps or overlapping pieces, according to your preference. Some people start at the center and work out, or lay down a few pieces at a time working out the composition as a whole while in progress.

My Past Life, a Long De Nile, Scan of Layout in Progress. © by Ruth Zachary

Acrylic medium or varnish is excellent for adhering materials to the ground. Elmer’s glue can also be used to adhere images to the ground. Dilute a small quantity of glue or medium with water- as much as 25% to 50%. You will learn which works best for you, or for different papers, etc.

           

Use a soft bristle or flat brush for acrylic, also good for applying medium or glue. A small paint pad also works well. Keep the brush in water when not gluing- (while cutting out and laying out the design.)

Do not presoak tissue papers. Some will disintegrate. Lay the tissue papers on waxed paper or butcher paper if you have it. News papers will work, too.

Apply medium or glue to the background, then to the back of the tissue shape if it is strong enough, and place the shape on the background, either flat or with wrinkles. When fully placed, apply more medium or glue to the front side of the tissue if you choose. The acrylic medium saturates the tissue creating variations of color, where the tissue overlaps colors underneath. If the surface of the tissue is not saturated, it will be more opaque, and the finished piece will require framing under glass.

           

If the image is on heavier paper, such as magazine images, dip the image to be collaged in water, and lay on paper towels briefly. This presoaking keeps it             from curling, and also keeps it from wrinkling as it dries on the background, as it shrinks, pulling the paper taut.

           

Then coat the back of the paper to be applied to the ground, with glue or medium.

Place the paper just as you want it for your composition.

If you have a soft rubber brayer or small roller, this can be used to work any air pockets toward the edges of the paper.

           

If bubbles do form between the ground and the paper, us a needle to make a small hole in the paper, and gently work the air out of the bubble.

           

Acrylic pigments can be used to modify the image colors and values if desired.

Clean the brush with dish detergent. Leave detergent in the brush, shaping it, to keep any acrylic residue from hardening around the bristles.

           

Some papers or fabrics will be more dramatic if not varnished on the top. If so, display under glass. Plan for a mat on top around the composition.

           

Let the finished collage dry overnight. Once dried, add more materials if desired.

           

Coat the collage with two coats of Acrylic medium or varnish. Matte finish avoids a shine on the surface. A collage on primed Masonite panel that has been varnished can be framed without glass. If the image is not varnished, the finished collage should be covered with glass before framing, with a mat to separate the art from the glass.

My Own Project
 

One of my own Collage Ideas was to be worked out on a Canvas panel sized 16x20” in an Egyptian theme. I found Egyptian imagery from an old printmaking project. I had once collected newsprint papers that were used for cleaning my inking rollers, which had transferred the Egyptian imagery to the papers.

Because newsprint is not permanent, I had scanned these papers into my computer, and printed out the images on good Epson paper, to be used now in this collage effort. This is one method I use to have colorfast pigments and good reliable paper. The light weight photo quality image paper is 13 x 19”,  can be saturated with water, and dries on a panel without excessive wrinkling.

One problem with these ink jet images is that the acrylic medium tends to darken them slightly. You may lighten the image before printing, prior to using it for collage.

I found other Egyptian images from an old Life advertisement for a book series, and adhered these to the canvas panel. At some point of development, I scanned the work done up until then. (above)

Although excited to be working hands on, I hurried too much, so some choices were not satisfying.

I also spent several hours moving different image shapes around on the computer, to help me decide what I wanted to do to the collage in the next phase. (See below) I am still not satisfied with the result.

 Now the challenge is to rectify the aspects I want to change and improve.At this point the collage  is too dark, I would like to add more images, and I would like to straighten out some of the lines already established. 

My Past Life, a Long De Nile, Unfinished Computer image. © by Ruth Zachary

Writing and Images are the © of Ruth Zachary.