Transcripts
1. Introduction: My name is Lee City CLO and I live on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. I'm a graphic designer, a little straighter and mixed media artist. College is the perfect blend of graphic design and art, and I love combining bold shapes with interesting papers and a little vintage element here and there. And to get that the classic modernist feel to it. I use a lot of collage in my artwork sometimes is just start of a painting. Sometimes I added, on top of my paintings, sometimes it's just a warm up exercise I do in the morning, sometimes just that I'm avoiding doing something else and I'm procrastinating, So I'm just doing a little collage with whatever papers around my desk. So in this class we're gonna learn how to draw with scissors and play with negative shapes and texture and lying and mark making and color, and I will show you how to alter your papers to make him a little bit more interesting. I will also show you how to gather and organize all your papers, because if you're collector of papers like I am, you will pretty soon be buried in all your stuff. in your class project. You can pick a theme to create your own collage, or you can use a little exercise using only circles to get all practice with the technique . You can use your own paper or download my sample texture. Kid collages so accessible and portable you do it on a road trip. He could do it on a plane and the train. You can do it in the rain. What that really in the rain? Because it's paper where you can. It's a good project for a rainy day, and all you need is paper, glue and scissors and you're ready to go. So join me and let's collage and go Teoh.
2. Materials: So we're gonna go over the materials that you will need for this project for the collage. So first, we're gonna need some card stock. I like to use, like, a fixed ash off if I got that at Staples. But you can get any card stock anywhere. Um, it's just to glue your papers on. But this one is Ah, £65 ondas, a pack of 250 sheets. You don't need that much. But I for me personally, when I buy when I have a big stash of it, I feel like I don't have to worry about I don't have to be pressures because I can just make a ton of, you know, collage like one after the other another have to worry about paper and wasting paper. I just feel like I get less precious with my work when I when I do a lot of it and work in Siris and the other thing you'll need is a glue stick. Any kind of glue stick will work then. Uh, scissors, off course. Uh, Posca paint markers. These are great. You only need This one is medium. I think on and you only need the white. But of course, you know, I got the whole box because I can't resist art supplies, but you really only need the white. But if you want to play around with, um, other colors go for it. I also need, like a shell pen. A white kelp in This is a good brand. Then you'll need ah, drawing pen. So this one is a 10.5 by Marv E. And I also like to use a little the brush one which really helps to do some nice line work . I love using this. This is like white out that you can make some really cool lines with that. And you can even draw on top of him through the awesome You can use, uh, washy capes so or you can use masking tape or anything that you want. This is really good to do. Like little detail. You need collage paper. So old maps are great. I told you earlier, and in my eyes my previous video is that my mom collects everything and she doesn't throw away anything. And this is a map from 1972. Very often them then tissue paper is great. This is a rice paper time. It's pretty good. Ah, you'll need some Kraft paper. You could just get no, he's no paper bags, office paper, any kind different textures is really good for texture again, and you can even like right on it, and create your own pattern. Stuff and security at blokes are really good for textures again. So they come in all kinds of patterns, and you get too many of those usually sheet music. This is really awesome. Teoh to use like the texture is great. You can use some of the lettering at the top, Um, and you know, they're always super easy to find at thrift stores and garage sales dictionaries, all dictionaries, they're everywhere, nobody's getting rid of them. And they have cool illustration sometimes. But the type of grace this is, Ah, piece of our kids book. I use a lot of that sometime. Part of the illustrations really beautiful on you can just use. It's almost like abstract again. Anything you can find that an old book that has illustrations and it is this is, like, great. And then I'm not a lot of nice headlines and stuff that you can use as words in your collage, uh, sandpaper that I use. I use a sandpaper mostly for the magazine pages, because I don't my comments a lot. I want to add a little more texture to have Maybe not the width texture, but, you know, something like that. You know all that. I'll add some lines and stuff. I like to use the 1 20 grit for a drywall. It works really well, but you can use any kind of paper sending people and again magazines I love to collect, like, different textures. This really cool. You can use a lot of that stuff. And finally, you can get this amazing book by Jane Davies In is all collage papers, and they're just gorgeous. They're all gorgeous. Just 81 pages in there, and they're all good. So this is a really good resource tohave because sometimes you just need like, Oh, I need pink paper. I would need just one little touch of this to finish my my piece to, like, make it pop, and you'll find it in there. So, um, but, you know, you don't need that and you can make your own kalash paper too, but this is sick with source to So let's get started. Oh, and make sure to download my free texture kid in the projects section.
3. Inspiration: so there's a few books that already inspiring to me. One of them is called naive. It's a collection of work by artists and designers inspired by 20th century artists like So Bas, who created a lot of classic movie posters in the fifties, and Alexander Girard, who was a textile designer but also an architect and a furniture designer. The books about they're in a sauce of classic modernism to the forties and sixties in contemporary graphic design. So a lot to great inspiration in that book on the use of bold shapes and negative space and how sometimes just a few basic shapes can tell the whole story. My favorite favorite favorite collage artist is Rex Ray. Of course, Rex Ray was a San Francisco artists who designed a lot of album covers and movie posters, and his work definitely has a mid century modern feel to it. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago, but there's a short video on YouTube where he describes this process, and it's really worth watching. I have the link in the in the notes of this video and also in the resource section at the end of the class description So I really loved the idea of doing a collage every day and can be super simple. But when you put them all together on a wall, the effect is absolutely stunning. The one who really is known for his paper cut up is off the Metis. Uh, when I get when he got sick later in life and couldn't paint at an easel anymore, he decided to cut right into color instead. So, basically drawing with scissors, he found that the paper cut off technique was a simplest and most direct way of expressing himself. So with this technique, he designed tapestries, massive ceramic tiles, murals and stained glass windows. So I created a Pinterest board from his class for you to get inspired. So check it out in their resource section and in the notes of this video.
4. Gathering and Sorting: show you how to, uh, collect, gather and organize all your collage papers because it could be overwhelming. When you start Teoh collect all these little bits and pieces. So I have a system that I really like to use. And I've printed these labels for you guys to put on your Either you can do use hanging files are folders, or I like to use basically the large freezer bags. Does it pluck freezer bags? Because I can grab him and just take him anywhere collage as I go. But it was so you can use all of these categories or you can also just like you're wrong. You're wrong. So basically, I cut my sticker sheet and I just basically stick it in the corner here on. You can also use a stable if you want that, and then I do categories. So for this one, I put on my music stuff that different, um, sizes of of music, paper, like old books in their tissue paper. I do. My images are all in the same bag patterns like to do patterns and texture, which are different, usually there from magazines and stuff like that, just using like small texture and with texture, too. And maps. Maps are great. Nautical maps, regular maps. And you can you can find all my words, my pages of magazine pages. If I find big words or anything like that, I put it there and paper colored paper like solid colors craft. I usually do a different section for that because I like to adultery in all the office paper can be a security adults, any kind of paper that you use in the office. I also will add something like Okay, I went to Italy and I whose sliding I went to Italy and I collected all these little bits and pieces and I want to do a collage with it so I could have done it when I was there, But I didn't that I brought it back, and then I'm gonna do it. Actually, a little bit later, I'm gonna show you what I'm gonna do with that. The other thing I like to do is just grab and go back when I'm cleaning up my desk or, you know, we don't think that don't really belong to when categories or another order just laying around, and I just put it in the bag, and then I grabbed his bag and just do a collective and that's it. You just have to use all the items are in here. So that's actually a good way to go. And also to take with you if you going somewhere on the train, right, or just grab and go and you're ready to collage.
5. Altering your collage papers: in this video, I'm going to show you how to alter your kalash papers to make it more interesting and to give him mention So going to start with the magazine pages that we found so have a range here of actual, interesting stuff A, um, like something like that. For example, I don't know that I need to do much because all idea what's going on. I might want to take the shine off with some sandpaper. And what I like to use is this paper. It's coal, drywall and plaster sanding paper because it's very rough. Got a rough mesh and it works really well. So it seems trying this piece of paper. Okay, Yeah, that's kind of cool. So you have Yeah, some texture of you. And especially if you're on a piece phones that certain darker, you can already see the lines. That's interesting. I had something underneath here, so I realized that if you have, you could put something underneath and actually get kind of some bumps in their that section. An accident but a happy one. How fun. So that's drives again. So as you this and then I have a little bump here look at that. So there you do that. I was using a plastic just back this paper back for something else. But that works. So So you can do that. And another thing you could do. Actually, it's a this piece here, but I really wanted to be, And there were more interesting. So I would use, um my last herpes. Right. You can use any kind of paint markers. I like this brand. And or you can use also jelly Rome that, um, are But sometimes it doesn't work well on magazine Kind of works. Yes. Well, so I'm going to do I'm gonna do the task of paints and see what we can get with that. Oh, that looks better. I'm gonna create this texture here, Teoh. We get a little more interesting and make it more like my own design. And you can also do some strikes, even bring it, is back, and then create some stripes. No, I'm gonna have to let you know if when it dries. If it works when it dries and it doesn't rub off, so let you know. So Kraft paper is made is refund to do white texture on top and then looks really beautiful . When you do that, you just get any bag you get. You know, go to the liquor stork at Apollo one and then use the back. You know, that's what I do. You know, that's why I go to the store. So on brown paper back like that White always looks really stunning, I think. And, uh, so do it all the way. Could do whatever you want here. I don't. And then this is the smaller one. The general that works with you Well, too. So you can create a little pattern if you want. You can just do some lines because those will be really great to use in your art later. And if you want Teoh, you can also just do a little plaid that would actually look also really good. So I would say, Just try a bunch of different things and with thicker one and lighter 10 here's nothing you can do. Forgot to show you white out. This is super fun because he can just really fun lines with that straight line so that oops didn't really work. I'm not sure why that now, So there's a lot that well, on, um, on Kraft paper, but I'm gonna try it here on my magazine. Okay. Someone to show you something. Let's say I do a bunch of lines. Doesn't matter. You don't have to be perfect collage, you know? So all right, actually, you know, like, even like robbing, rubbing the sand from what I sand sand. It just kind of gives it really more interesting texture. All right. And what you can do with that? It's something I really like to use in my art. Thank you. Do those thin bands? Um, those look great. You can just say they really stunning when you put it on your your collage. So there's a few things you can do with that. I'm sure you can think of a 1,000,000 more. So just go out and experiment and have fun.
6. Drawing with scissors: So now we're gonna do some exercise on playing with negative and positive space. Negative shapes are basically just area around the shape. Basically, if I cut the circle on this, if I cut a circle here and basically this is my shape and this is the negative shape, So negative shape is the space around the shape. And it's as interesting, in my opinion, sometimes more interesting than the actual shape and actually give some gives some context to the shape because now you know, if you put them together Oh, this would come came from So this little story going on there they were doing a lot of that kind of illustrations in the in the fifties, you know, especially in cookbooks. I have a lot of old cookbooks brochure here, and they used to use a lot of that technique in kind of illustration. That's really cool, And he skin see part of it is a negative space, and part of it is positive, doesn't really. It's great technique to use in collage, so that's the basic of it. And, uh, another exercise that you can do is take a shape and then pull dick this rectangle in pull shapes out of it. And basically drawing what? Your scissors that cut right into the color. So here, I'm gonna just go do whatever. I'm not really thinking what I'm doing, Caesar. The curve that he turned your paper like this. Okay, I'm gonna cut shapes, like, all the way around it, some for and here who? And then, uh, just a simple one here, and they give you an idea of what you get kind of stuff that you get. So if I put these back together, you get these kind of patterns. So of course you can just, um but like that, if you want, which would be the opposite, Or you can put it right like this. So right here, it's a very interesting shape. And then you can also do it like that. And I guess you're totally different shapes. So that's actually really funnel exercise to do. And just take a rectangle and, uh, pull a shape on each side and see what you get with it. So that's a good way to get some ideas. Another thing you could do, which shapes is to take a shape could be anything. And then you can cut. Um, just cut it and split it. Split your shape and as many pieces as you want, and and then put it back together. So already you have a completely different shape. You can this down. So all of that with a circle. So right there you have your circle on. It becomes something else completely. Another thing you could do with the shape just to, um, take your shape and then cut it in half. The right there you have. You know, I know you have a different shape, so you can use it like this, or you can cut this in half again. And then it was completely different shapes that you can, um, you know, place whichever way you want to do so that this Well, you can do something like that. Yeah, like that. So you take the flat part, and then you just go with it. This like that. So all of this with a simple circle shape. So there's a lot you can do with just one shape and turn it into a lot of different things . Another thing you do is Teoh. This one is already cut. But for that time. What I do is that I'll cut a circle in the color and off, never circle in another color, and all I do is switch the two sides. It's like that, and already you have something that's pretty interesting to look at and I can use. You can use that and one of your collage. Use this one another one. So these are all like exercise and things you can do and play with simple shapes and get comfortable with it. Before you start your your collage, enjoy an experiment.
7. Making a collage: All right, So now that we have collected all our kalash papers, we're going to start to do a lot. So for this one, I'm gonna Who's this book? Because I think the papers air so beautiful that you will make your collage looks good. And I think I'm gonna go in a blue cover bluish palette for this one. Greens probably. I'm just gonna cut out some some papers that interesting out of this. So you can He's 10 this is good. So this is a great book by Jane Babies and all these papers air so pretty that, you know, you collage. It's like using, like, quality ingredients in the recipe. It's just gonna It's just all right, So maybe a little bit of green. And you can also, if you don't want to cut into your books, what you can do is just make copies of the pages and use them over and over again. Oh, just and that's okay. Actually. Ask Dean if it was OK for people to copy and use it. It's totally fine. Oh, and strikes. This is always good. Okay. All right. Have a good range here of colors and I'm just gonna goal right in and start something. So I'm going to start with kind of a bold shape here in the middle and again think about negative space. So I usually when I do a collage, a lot of time I blew as I go. But you don't have to do that. Some people like to, but all their pieces and then the glue it after I like to just kind of improvise and just do it. Otherwise, I get Teoh too fussy with it, and I reworked too many times, so I just just just go for it. So, um, I don't know why, but I like to use thes coffee filters to reply my my blue with my glue stick Just because I think because I always know that that this is the piece that I use because it's around. Otherwise I'm gonna end up using another piece of paper that I want to use later. It's just the way that, you know, I get kind of in a trance. Sometimes I use the wrong piece of paper so that that I know that this is what I used to Teoh to apply my my glue all right. Something start with this and then I'm gonna use this shape, but I want it is gonna cut it in half. Oh, and see, this one here worked pretty well When I did it in the other video. I wasn't sure if it was gonna drive properly, but actually did. So You can't use the paint and let's do a circle. So I really like, and I've never cut it. And I like to use sheet music. - Uh , yeah.
8. Your Class Project: for your class projects. You can work on this little exercise that is really fun, because it's gonna help you just get comfortable with collage and play with shapes and mix and matching texture and color and out to do that. So you start by cutting 15 circles about two inches wide. Each know roughly, and you just cut him individually because you don't want him to be all exactly the same shape. And I don't want him to be all, like, perfectly around either. So start with that and just use a variety of different tissue and craft and books and anything you have, like maybe one of each of your zip, lock and load. So take him out together way. You can also use all of these little things here for other collage. It's really hard to throw away anything when you do this. Okay, so now what we're gonna do is we're gonna take our role stash and cut it enough like that, Okay? And we're going to start to build up our little stacks of circle. Well, we got a mix and match along the way, So let's do this. I'm gonna go like that. I just have to match perfectly. It's really just a little exercise in playing around and trim them later. Summer Too big. It's OK. Okay. So now you have your whole pattern created here and what we're gonna actually. Then you could maybe move things around. Exactly what? These two close. I'm gonna move that from somewhere else, maybe move it. Here. This here. Okay, so when you're done with that, you're gonna cut three half doing that. Pulls and place him somewhere else. So when the glue out of this together, and then I'm going to add some lines afterwards. So now I glued all my pieces together, and I'm gonna add some detail and line work with my why Gel pin and my posca paint pen my black drawing. So I maybe I want to add some details here. So there you go on, they look pretty cool, and you could make a bunch of them and put them together, and they look pretty good lined up, uh, next to each other. The other thing that you can do instead of doing that is just picking your own theme. This is what I did with the papers that I collected from my trip to Italy. I had old ticket stubs and maps and ah, placemats and and and stuff like that that I collected, and I made it this little collage and ended up being a little souvenir from my trip to Italy. So pick a theme or do the circle exercise. But just grab some scissors and paper and glue and collage away. Thanks for watching.
9. Gallery of Collages: So a lot of you have
been asking me to show more example of the work
that I do and my collages. So I decided to put this
little presentation for you to give you
some inspiration and some ideas of the stuff
that you can do with just cut paper and little
marks here and there. And that's it. Enjoy. Okay.
10. Thank you: Thank you so much for taking the class. I can't wait to see what you do and make sure to upload your projects in the project section below. And if you're on instagram, use the hash tag collage and go on and share your work so I can see what you're doing. I don't forget defoe meal skill share because I have a lot more techniques to show you, so see you soon enjoy.
Lucie Duclos, Design + Mixed Media
