Collage a Collection

1. Introduction : [MUSIC] Hi, I'm Rebecca. I'm an art tutor from the UK and I'm back with my second Skillshare class, which is called Collage a Collection. In this class, you will learn how to create a collage collection, which is the collection of elements that have a cohesive theme and color scheme. It could be a collection of anything. You will decide on the subject matter. I will take you through my process from the initial design right through to the final digitization. I have always loved paper cut collage ever since I discovered it at our college. I've been teaching up now for nearly 10 years, and one thing I really love about this is that I've got to try all the materials. In this class, I'm really going to encourage you to explore different materials and mix them together to create some beautiful textured papers for collage. [MUSIC] A collage collection is a really good piece for your portfolio because it's just so versatile. It could be made into a pattern that you could put on products, you could create spot illustrations from the individual elements, and the list is endless. This course really is for everyone, whether you're a complete beginner or a more experienced illustrator or artist. Collage is fun, accessible, and it's really going to spark your creativity. [MUSIC] 2. Class Project : [MUSIC] Hi and welcome to class. Our class project is to create a paper cut collage collection. I'm going to be showing you all the things that I did right from the initial beginning where I was inspired by the objects to the final digitization. I would really like to share with you my experience, my tips, my advice. But of course I would like you to take on the project as your own and to be inspired by your own ideas and interests. By the end of the project you will have completed a paper cut collage of a collection and you'll also perhaps have gone further and manipulated the elements in the collection and created perhaps something that is digital. I think that you're going to learn a lot along the way. We're going to be thinking about composition design, how to put elements together so that they work in a pleasing way thinking about how to make it look cohesive in terms of color and shape, and you're also going to be exploring how to make these textured papers for collage. That will involve looking at materials, mixing materials, and really experimenting and having fun with all the art materials you have. Of course you're going to learn how to create a paper cut collage. I can't wait to get started and I can't wait to see the final projects in the project gallery, so please do share. Lastly you will consider the topic of your collection. You will look for inspiration and give us some objects. You will then draw the objects so that you can consider which ones might be in the collection. Once you have your drawings, these form the basis of the tracings which you can then use to cut out your papers. You will create a range of textured papers by exploring materials that you can use to create your elements. [MUSIC] Once you have your papers ready you can then cut, glue, and arrange your final collage. [MUSIC] Digitize your collage if you wish so that you can manipulate it further. I can't wait to see what you come up with. Please do share your projects in the project gallery. It really inspires everybody to see what you've done. If you do have any questions, please do reach out along the way. Let's get started. [MUSIC] 3. Materials : [MUSIC] I have listed all the materials in the resources section, but let's have a look at what we need. Paper. Any paper will do for collage but the thinner paper is better because it's easier to cut. I like to use a range of different colored papers because it gives different effects. But mostly, I've just used white printer copy paper. You will need a pencil, pen, rubber, and tracing paper for drawing and tracing. Glue. I have used a latex craft PVA glue. It's really good because it dries fast, which means I can move the components around without fear of them falling apart. It's also drawing clear so it doesn't leave those yellow marks, and it's also very strong. A small pair of scissors is absolutely ideal for this project. You could also use a scalpel and a cutting board. To create my textured papers I have used a whole range of materials. You can get experimental here. But just to give you some ideas, I have used acrylics, watercolor, ink, pastel, color pencil, and I've also used some mark-making tools to create some marks and some lines with the paint and the ink book. For the digitization aspect of this class, you'll need a scanner to scan in your work and digitize it or you could take a photograph on your smartphone and you will need an app such as Photoshop to edit your paper cut collage. We're ready to move on. See you in the next video. [MUSIC] 4. What is a Collection?: [MUSIC] Collections are absolutely everywhere. If you look around, you can usually find some popular themes, such as flowers, teapots, bakery items. Now if you would like to create a piece for your portfolio that is a little bit more commercial. Then perhaps you'd like to research some of those popular trends. However, I would really just encourage you to pick objects that you're interested in. To start my process, I simply just looked around my own home. I was looking for objects where I was attracted to something about them, whether it was their color, their shape, their texture, and things that I could imagine I would enjoy collaging. [MUSIC] You could choose anything for your own collection. I started by creating a mind map of objects that I might like to draw on collage. I then came up with a shortlist. I have created a list of ideas in the resources section. [MUSIC] To gather inspiration, I looked and gathered some real-life objects. I looked at leaves, shells, art materials, cosmetics, sewing materials, and fruit and vegetables. Now, of course, you could use some imagery. You don't have to go out and find real objects. But I always like to look at the real thing if I can so, for me, I physically go and collect those items and gather them together. Now that we have gathered ideas for our collection, perhaps you've decided on a theme. We're now going to start creating the design so I'll see you in the next video. [MUSIC] 5. Creating the Design: [MUSIC] Now that I've collected my collection of items, which in my case is leaves, I'm going to start drawing them. I'm going to draw as many as I can so probably about 10 different types of leaf that I've collected. But in the actual collection, I may have as few as maybe five so I'm going to be able to really examine them by drawing them and decide which ones to keep in the collection and which ones maybe not to have there. Drawing is a really good start because you get to really observe. The other thing about the drawing is that I like to use my drawings to then collage from because it has my hand in it if you like my look. Whereas, if I just took an image and I traced it and collaged from that, then it's less of my own. But there's nothing wrong if you do want to do it that way. But I would encourage you to draw because it's just going to get you really looking at the items and exploring what it is about them that interests you. Now that I've created lots of drawings of leaves, I've got a variety and a choice for my collection. I aim for at least five different elements for my collection but I probably drew at least eight different types of leaf. I drew the leaves at the size I was happy with so that I could collage them and I didn't want a really fiddly small drawing because I knew that would be really hard to collage. If you would like to use my leaf drawings, you'll find those in the resources section. I chose leaves for my collection because I was inspired by the coming of spring here in the UK but it's also because I like the shape of leaves and I also like the color of leaves so I'm going to keep my color scheme quite true to the real-life greens that I see in my collection. It's really important to have a cohesive color theme so that the objects look like they belong together so I would recommend choosing a limited palette. If I was experimenting with the colors, then I would perhaps just put some colors next to each other and see how they work together. We have created some drawings and hopefully, you've got at least five different elements of different size and texture. Now we're ready to move on so I'll see you in the next video. [MUSIC] 6. Creating The Papers : [MUSIC] Now we've reached the part of the course which is really fun and that is creating our papers. I've got all my materials out here and I'm just going to be experimenting and mixing them and just seeing what textures marks I can make to create some interesting papers. I've got a variety and a choice. Let's have a look at some of the ways that I made my papers. [MUSIC] As you can see, I've had a lot of fun making my papers, and I've used all my materials and ended up with a range of colors and textures and a wide range of choice so that I can choose which ones work for my elements and which ones don't. You could use the color and texture of the objects themselves, such as these vegetables here have lovely color and texture. [MUSIC] Now that we have created our papers and hopefully you've created some really lovely textures and you've got this big range of papers to choose from. We can now move on and start cutting out our elements. I'll see you in the next video. [MUSIC] 7. Cutting : [MUSIC] We have now reached the part of the course where we're going to cut out our elements. I have one big tip for you and that is get a good cutting tool or tools. By that I mean get the scissors for the job. If it's a really fiddly area, you really don't want to be struggling with a larger pair of scissors. Just scaling them down to an embroidery sizes, which is this one here, from this one is going to make a massive difference to how easy the fiddly areas are to cut out. If you're struggling, scale down your scissor. You also might consider using a scalpel and a cutting board. Let's get cutting. [MUSIC] I gathered my papers and selected the ones I wish to use for my collection. I also cut them down into manageable sizes. I used my drawings to make tracings. From these tracings, I can now cut out from the papers. The idea of the tracing is that it's transparent, so you can see through to the paper and see what you're cutting out at the same time. Once I had produced lots of tracings, it was then just process of going through and cutting from the papers I had selected. [MUSIC] Do make sure that you have your tracings at the correct size that you want to cut out your papers because if the tracing is too small, then that means that it's going to be quite fiddly. [MUSIC] Now, you can see that I have cut out my entire collection. It is unstuck, but I have spent some time arranging them into where I want to stick them. We have now cut out our elements so we're ready to move on to some gluing. Let's move on to the next video. See you there. [MUSIC] 8. Gluing and Arranging : [MUSIC] All the elements cut out now, so we just have to glue them together. Now just a little tip here. I have glued my elements together so that they are independent of one another and I can move them around at the end so that I can decide on this composition and see which shapes and colors look better next to each other. Now, if I had stuck them down onto a board or paper as I went, then I wouldn't have that option. So just something to think about. Now, I want them independently because I'm actually going to scan them into my computer. But even if you were working on a physical paper cut collage, I would still be advising you to stick them independently because you've just got the option of moving them around at the end and seeing how they all look together. Let's get on with this gluing. A few tips for gluing. Using a brush and a liquid glue is really important because it gives you that precision on where the glue goes. Also make sure that each part is stuck completely before you move it around, and I'd also suggest having a gluing area to keep things neat. I found I had a problem with the paper sticking to the board which I didn't want. Just be aware of this because you can be sticking your elements together and then realize that it's actually stuck down to the gluing board. Just check that it's not being stuck down, and if it is then you can gently prise it carefully off the board with some tweezers. [MUSIC] Here we have it, my completed glued collection. Now I can move around each element and decide how I want it to look, and get an idea of the composition. [MUSIC] We have now glued together all of our elements and we're ready to start digitizing them and manipulating them in Photoshop. If you're not interested in this part of the class, then you can physically move around your elements, decide on a pleasing composition and stick them physically down to a piece of board or card and the job's done. However, if you'd like to move on with me to the next session, we'll go through the digitization process. I'll see you there. [MUSIC] 9. Digitization: [MUSIC] We have reached the last stage of our class and that is digitization. You can do so much with your artwork once it's digitized. I really wanted to show you this, but it isn't a session about Photoshop, so please don't expect a lot of detail and a step-by-step tutorial. However, what it is, is a chance to show you my complete process from the drawing to the digitization and what I do to finish off my paper cut collage. I'm just going to give you a quick overview of the things that I did. Let's have a look at what I do with my college once I digitize it. I scanned my elements and used the blue background because it's easier to remove than a white background, which the scanner will create automatically. I scan my elements into the scanner at a very high resolution, 600 DPI. This isn't completely necessary, but I just like to do it because it's a way to ensure the quality if I scale it up, print it off, and really I can do what I like at 600 DPI. There are a few things I can do immediately on my scanner software, such as increase the contrast, if needed, cropping the image. It's always good to do them at the earliest stage if you can. I'm now opening up my scan in the Photoshop application, where I remove the blue background by using the Magic 1 selection tool. Because I wish to move around each element separately to work out the best composition, that means I need to separate each element and put it on its own layer. Therefore, I select each element and cut it out using the selection tool, and then paste it into a new layer. The way I do this is by using the Lasso tool and then adding a new layer, pasting it into a new layer, and repeating the process for each element. Once I have each element on a new layer, I clean up the edges by creating a black background. This is really so that I can see everything. The black really shows up everything. I just go around and either use the eraser to erase some of the smudges and marks. I use the Lasso tool to go around the edges and just create a slightly clean edge. I'm selecting the areas I don't want and then deleting them. Once I have each element on its own layer and cleaned up, I can now move them around independently. Really, I can do quite a few things now. I can size them, rotate them, duplicate them, change the colors of each individual element, and so on. Once I'm happy with the composition, I can merge the layers, so I'm dealing with just one layer with all the elements now on it. This way, it's just easier to deal with and I can change the background much more easily this way by creating a new layer and just trying out different colors. Once I'm happy with my arrangement, I save my document as a JPEG, but I also keep the Photoshop version, so I can go back to it and change things. I duplicated my first document by creating another layer. I then created a pattern or a slightly bigger document because I've duplicated the elements. This was the file that I use to create these mockups. I hope that you have been inspired now that you've seen all the possibilities of the things you can do once you digitize your artwork. We have now completed the process from drawing to digitization. Well done and hopefully you're really pleased with what you've created. I can't wait to see it in the project gallery. I'll see you in the next video. [MUSIC] 10. Congratulations: [MUSIC] You have created your collage collection. Well done. If you got this far, you should have learned a lot in the process such as how to use materials, how to mix materials, how to create some fantastic textures, and how to create a pleasing composition and color scheme. I hope that you have ended up with a piece of work that looks unique to you and your preferences and style. I can't wait to see these projects, so please do post them in the project gallery. Please feel free to follow me so that you can be alerted of any new Skillshare classes. If you enjoyed this class, you may well enjoy my other class, which is called how to create inky collage animals. Thank you for joining me. [MUSIC]