Transcripts
1. Welcome: Hello and welcome. I'm Sue Gibbins, a service designer from the UK, also known as Rocket & Indigo. Lately, I've been finding that cutting flowers from various papers is a relaxing and inspiring way to create florals, and I think you'll enjoy it too. This class is suitable for everyone from those wishing to dabble in collaging and have fun with basic materials to those who'd like to explore the topic deeper and perhaps create a portfolio piece. The project provides options to create a collage in the traditional sense. So I finished out works took down on paper, or alternatively to digitize elements and made designs such as repeat patterns. I'll cover all of the processes step-by-step. Just pick up the lessons that suit your needs and develop your project in whichever direction you prefer. I've chosen florals as the subject for the project because petals and leaves are easy shapes to cut with loads of scope for variety. However, the techniques are transferable to other subject matter. So feel free to modify the project if you wish. I'm excited to share my floral collage process with you. So let's get started.
2. Materials & Project: Hello again. The only materials that are absolutely required for this class in your project are scissors, glue, paper, and some coloring media. There are a few extra things that I like to use as well, so let's take a look. I use small to medium size scissors for collage. I sometimes also cut out small circles with an office hole punch and I have a larger craft punch as well, but these are optional. Any paper glue will work for collaging. I like to use PVA-based glues applied with a spreader or old brush. During gluing, it's handy to have tweezers or forceps to guide small pieces into place and sturdy tissues or a cloth to dab off any excess glue. Basic white paper is enough to get going, but it's fun to try different thicknesses and colors of paper as well. You can also up-cycle things like envelopes and packaging in your collage. There are so many ways to add color and textures to collage papers. Experiment with various media that you have to hand like pencils, pens, natural dyes such as tea, inks, and paints. For interesting paint textures, I like to use big brushes with coarse bristles or sometimes found objects like feathers. Have a jar of water and a dish to mix paints on. It's a good idea to have something to cover your table with as you paint papers and I find a piece of cardboard works well. Stamping paper can be done using specialized materials like linocut, using everyday objects such as veggies or using the method I'll show you in this class with craft foam stuck to wood offcuts. I find that craft foam combined with ready ink stamp pads is the quickest and least messy. There are many other ways to add interesting textures such as with glitter or even with more unusual techniques, for example, sun printing. If you have extra materials to hand, feel free to experiment with them for your collage papers as well. Digitizing your collage isn't required, but if you'd like to follow that section of class, then you'll need some extra items. A high-resolution flatbed scanner is the best method to digitize, and that's what I'll use. If you don't have one, then you can instead photograph the work in even natural light with a digital camera, tablet, or a smartphone. A camera is also handy for making quick snaps or compositions for reference later. You'll also want a device with editing software such as Adobe Photoshop or a similar program. I'll be demonstrating using Photoshop on my Mac and I've put some useful software links and resources for you. After digitizing, if you would like to store your loose cutout motifs, I suggest to have some form of envelope or sealable pouch. Alternatively, you might stick the motifs down on paper to make a finished piece of art. If you are making original artworks that you might want to sell, consider using acid-free glue on paper to avoid yellowing and invest in professional artist quality colors with pigments rated as light-fast to avoid fading. Such materials can be expensive though. So if you're digitizing your work for surface designs, feel free to use inexpensive versions and experiment with any materials you like. You'll find a list of all the items mentioned in the resources section for your reference. Grab the basic materials, and any of the extra items you'd like to use. For this class, your project will be to make a floral collage design, either as a finished paper piece or a digital design if you prefer. In the next lesson, we'll start collecting and painting papers.
3. Papers: Collecting & Painting: Welcome back. One option for collage is to collect papers such as used envelopes, tissue paper, and packaging. Textured papers, ones with very generic patterns like simple spots and stripes, and plain ones in interesting colors are best. If you haven't been collecting papers already, don't worry, because often times I used papers I have colored myself. That's what we'll look at now. I'm going to go for a vibrant pallet with contrasting hues, but you may prefer a different approach. I like to start with a favorite color, so I've chosen pink, and maybe pick a complementary hue from the other side of the color well, for example, green. Then I added similar analogous hues and included pastel versions of each. To help me decide on the exact combination, I switched out some colors with acrylic paints earlier. Since I digitize my collages for surface designs rather than creating original one offs, I tend to prefer inexpensive materials, especially paints. I feel less precious about splashing them around, and therefore I made more types of paper to use in my work. I often use the acrylics that come in big tubes at a good price. I've already put most of these out on a pallet, so I just need to put out the orange and mix a peach tender wet. I've got a jar of water on my desk too for rinsing brushes. I'm using quite a lot of colors here, and I'm going to make eight papers in total because I like to have plenty to choose from, but you could use just two or three colors and make less papers if you prefer. To begin, I'll put cardboard down on my desk, so I can paint right over the edges of my paper. I often use colored paper rather than white as it feels like having that background gives me a head start. I'll use a big bristly brush, this is a size 12. Using it as a dry brush gives nice textured strokes. I'm going to work with similar paint hues that match with the background color to create a tone on tone effect, but you could go from more contrasting colors on the page if you prefer. I will also use a bit of water, but still try to keep a somewhat textured look rather than smoothing everything out completely. As you can see, there's nothing special about the technique. The main thing is to get a bit of an even color down as a starting point. I'm using a brush here, but you could use anything to apply the paint such as a sponge. It might be fun to get the kids involved with this step actually. If you don't have paints, then you can take a similar approach with pencils or pens by scribbling down some color. As you apply color, remember that we'll only be using these papers in small pieces. What the overall sheets look like doesn't matter at all. I'll speed the painting up a little bit now that you've got the general idea, and I'll talk you through a few considerations with paperweight and the media you use. The first consideration for your project is what kind of paper base to work on? The weight of the paper you choose to use can have an impact on the collage in a few different ways. Firstly, if using wet media like paints, thin papers can curl up and warp, especially if a lot of water is used. However, since we'll be cutting out little pieces and sticking them down, this doesn't matter too much. Secondly, very thin papers like tissue paper, can create some lovely translucent effects and collage, but it can be tricky to paint, cut and stick. If you're using tissue paper, I like to lay it on top of another paper, which we'll look at in the next lesson. Thirdly, it can be more difficult to cut into good shapes from very thick paper. Thick paper can also cast shadows in the collage. These shadows may add to the charm, but if digitizing it can sometimes be tricky to work with the shadows when isolating the collage elements. For this project, I'm mostly using a medium thickness colored sheet that's smooth and somewhere between a paper and a card as about 200 GSM weight. I have a range of different colors of this type of paper, so I like to use it for that reason as well. At the end, I also plan to make a couple of sheets on white watercolor practice paper that's 300 GSM, and it has a slightly textured finish. Another consideration is the media you use for color. Personally, I prefer using waterproof media for collage because I've found that the glue can cause non waterproof color to run. This is less likely to happen if you're using a thicker absorbent paper, so watercolors on water color paper probably would hold up okay. There are lots of suitable waterproof media to try, such as acrylic paints as I'm using here, acryla gouache, certain inks and some pens. I'm going to add some of this Winsor and Newton scarlet ink. This fan brush will work well to make stripes of vibrant pink. I'll probably get it, or let my fingers dip into brush like this, and I know it doesn't come off easily. This lovely color is worth it though. I let these dry, and we can look at layering and stamping on top of them in the next lesson.
4. Papers: Layering & Stamping: Hello again. Here I have my papers now that they have dried. Sometimes I'll decide to keep the painted paper with just this one layer. But often I'll add more on top. This could be another layer of paint or ink, mark making pencils or pens, sticking on tissue paper, stamping textures or patterns, even using a little bit of metallic glitter. Often I will experiment with different techniques on small areas of the same sheet, and it means I'll have lots of different textures to choose from when I start to cut. Tissue paper can be used to achieve translucent effects. I have quite a few colors of tissue paper that could work well in this project. It seems to go on easier if added in small pieces. Simply apply PVA glue and stick it down. The glue can make tissue paper crinkle. If you like the crinkling effects and want more of that texture, then screw up the tissue paper in your hand first, then open it out, glue, and stick. With this patterned tissue paper, I've decided to flip it over so the front is stuck down and the dots are much more subtle. This need to dry now and meanwhile, I'll show you how I made my own stamps. My favorite way to make stamps is with foam and wood. Craft foam is thin and can be cut easily with scissors. I like creating wonky stripes with strips of foam. I then carefully used super glue to stick the foam to wood I've cuts. I highly recommend using tweezers or forceps rather than your fingers, as it can be rather fiddly and you definitely don't want to stick yourself to the wood. Super glue is my choice because I can use the stamps almost straight away, but you could use a different method of attachment like double-sided sticky tape or different glue if you feel more comfortable with that. As you stick the foam down, be careful not to accidentally press into the stamping surface of the foam as it will show on the printing. Another way to make stripes is with elastic bands wrapped around a piece of wood. Office hole punches are a great way to make foam circles for stamps. I first empty the hole punch and remove the backing so that my foam circles end up on the desk. You might find that you create little moons as well. Again, I can glue the pieces to wood. For small pieces like the moon, I stick them on the end of pencils to create handy little individual stamps. Once, I even made a really tiny stamp on the end of a barbecue stick. [inaudible] are great for housing stamps too. I already cut a circle to fit the end. I'll just let the glue dry. An additional technique is to sculpt designs into the front surface with a fingernail, a pencil, or similar pointed tip. Let's see how that looks when I test the stamps with an ink stamp pad. I have a large black stamp pad that I use for various purposes in my work. Recently, I found these little color pads in my collage work as well. I'll try these on a piece of basic white paper first. The sculpt design shows up rarely clearly. The texture of the foam comes through in the print really well with the black ink, but I like the color flinks for my project. If the stamp pad is smaller than the stamp, then just move it around until all of it is inked. In case I want to change color with the same stamp, patch the ink out first by stamping on a test paper. I'm ready to stamp the collage papers. I'm going to continue to work with similar heat to the base color and I'll create areas of the paper with different stamps so I have lots to choose from when cutting out later. Quite often I don't want the effect of a fully-loaded stamp, particularly on the paler papers. So I may do a few test stamps first so that the print becomes lighter. I won't cover all the sheets with stamps. I'll try to keep the sections where I really liked the brush strokes from the paint. Is also an option to stamp first then add tissue paper or paint over the top. A dash of metallic painting glitter does also make an appearance in my work sometimes. If you want to stamp with paint, spread it out in a container. The application won't be as even as with stamp pads, but you can make interesting effects. I use these lines to make sparks and stripes. They're really good for doing thin lines. The white base dries clear leaving a glitter, is another fun way to layer up the textures. But if you plan to try this, do be aware that scanning and cleaning up glittery motifs can be tricky. I'll let these dry and we can see how they turned out in the next lesson.
5. Scanning Before Cutting (optional): Welcome back. Here are my papers after the second layer is dry. Before cutting into the papers, I recommend to scan them or photograph them if you don't have a scanner. Firstly, this will help to check how the scanner or camera handles colors, especially fluorescence and shiny finishes that may not scan well, before you commit to cutting your motifs. You also build up a bank of digitized textures to use in other projects as well. You can see here that I have quite a few already. Be sure that the scanner bed is clean. In scanning papers that have glitter or other such loose textures, I clean the scanner between each scan to remove any specs. I'll put one of the collage papers face down and close the lid fully so the paper lays flat. Open up the scanner window on your device. Usually there's an overview option so you can preview the layout on the flatbed. Of course, we want to scan in color. When scanning, I recommend to use a high resolution in case you need to enlarge later. My scanner goes up to 1,200 DPI, but yours might have different settings. I have an A3 scanner, but I'm using smaller A4 sheets. I can set the paper size or select a customized area depending on how I position the sheet on the flatbed. I'll be scanning to my Desktop folder and I'll give the file a suitable name. Scanning at highest resolution can take a while. In case you don't have a flatbed scanner, take a photo straight onto the paper in natural light. Get the lighting as even as possible and be sure that the whole of the paper is in focus. Again, use the best resolution the camera will allow. Scanning all of my papers will take about half-an-hour and there's not much for you to see. I'll pause the video and come back when it's nearly done. There we go. I'll bring up the desktop folder so we can see the scans. I'm happy how these colors turned out. Let's take a closer look at one so you can see the texture that has been picked upon the scan. Later, I'll show you how you can recreate a collage effect digitally using clipping masks on the scanned sheets. Although clipping masks are great, cutting papers by hand gives the motifs a special character. I feel that exploring away from the screen with hands-on media really helps my creative process. In the next lesson, let's cut the papers with scissors.
6. Cutting & Constructing Flowers: Hello again. These are the papers I created earlier. I also have scissors, glue, spreader, forceps, and a cloth, plus a sheet of black paper so that I can check motif colors on a dark background, as well as the light background of my desk. I roughly sketched some ideas out to guide me. Keeping it simple with one flower and a bit of foliage is definitely an option for your project, but I want to demonstrate a few different types of flowers and foliage, so I'll go for more of a varied arrangement. If you're stuck for ideas for your project, start off with a simple concept. Look to nature for inspiration, but also allow yourself to create new flowers from your imagination if you wish. Alternatively, just start cutting out elements and playing around with them on your desk until an idea clicks. Circles are useful for the centers of face on flowers and can be use to construct simple stylized florals. I'm going to start from really small and then work bigger. I'm going to shape the circles. My tip is to cut out a rough shape, separate it from the sheet first, and then finesse the shape once it's detached. One option for shaping pieces is to draw a pencil guide on the paper. Drawing on the back is best, but if you need a really specific section of texture, you may need to draw lightly in pencil on the front, then gently rub it out afterwards. Simple flowers can be used as filler elements or as the starting point for a larger construction. I'll add another cycle to build this up. This time I'm going to shape the circle freehand. I find that having the smaller parts in the center is a really useful guide for shaping the larger circle. Sometimes I hold the smaller parts in place while I cut. I might add one more circle. If I'm really confident with my color choices, I might stick down the intersection first. It's best to keep the glue thin but spread it all the way to the edges if possible. My art table is already covered in paint and glue, but you may like to protect your work surface while you do this. I use tweezers to get the parts into position. After sticking, I'll dab away excess glue with a paper towel. I find it natural to work at quite a small scale, when I tried to scale up somehow the shapes lose some of their charm. But small shapes can be fiddly to cut, if you want to include lots of detail then a larger scale will be better. Working larger also means that when digitized, motifs can be printed at a larger size. That's a great start for the center of my main flower. Let's look at petals next. Various types of petals can be made from simple elliptical shapes and these will see both face-on and side view flowers. As I cut I'm looking at the textures and patterns in the paper, and I'm trying to choose areas that will be interesting for petals, but I don't want every element in the flower to be highly patterned because that might be too much. I'll have a mix of patterned and more subtle textures. I mostly use my main colors for the petals especially for the larger flowers, so I'll use these pinks. Petals can be pointed or rounded, wide or narrow. I find it easiest to add shape details after separating the petals from the main sheet. I might cut a v-shape from the end afterwards. I'll cut a few petals in various shapes, so I have enough to show you ways to use them. I've placed some of the petals behind small circular centers, changing shape and number of petals in each. Once I'm happy, I'll glue the parts together, but I'm not going to stick the motif itself onto a background. If the area where the parts join is very small, it can help to add a paper strengthening piece to the back. Make it small enough that it won't be visible from the front. I'll apply a little bit of glue. Then I'll guide the pieces into position. Add some extra glue if you think it needs it. Be watchful for little paper off cuts or dust being attracted to the glue as you work and remove them before the glue dries. Later, I will also show you how to digitally remove any unwanted specs for your motifs. Dab away all excess glue by front and back before leaving the flower to dry. To construct the main flower with the layered center I created earlier, the procedure is similar. I'll cutout a backing piece. For this one, I'd like to have a couple of layers of petals. I'll choose slightly darker ones for the layer at the back. I'll get the back layer stuck down onto the support piece first. Now I can overlap the petals from the second layer. I'm not totally happy with the colors in the center now I that I see it with the petals. I think they need to be a bit lighter. It's going to be my centerpiece so it needs to be right. I won't to stick this onto the petals just yet. Petals can also be arranged into side view flowers or buds. Construct them in a similar way to face some flowers, but use less petals. Using deeper colors at the back can be especially effective for buds. Remember that I added some glitter line spots to my papers earlier. Parts of my signature collage style is to use glitter as little pounds specks on the end of flower filaments. I like them to be a bit curvy to add some personality. Is nice to have the details, but they can be a bit fiddly to cut. I'll get them out of the paper first and then finish shaping the glittery ends. I think I'll need one more for this flower. Now I'll make smaller ones for the other flower. I might flip this one over for some variety. Feel like a couple of these flowers need a bit more detail to make them complete. I can add a little crown shape to this side view flower. I'll cut a few thin lance shapes to form the veins on some of the petals as well. I'll stick these down. For the filaments, stick them on the back, but be sure to check how they look from the front and adjust the angles before they're dry. Or you can stick them from the front and tilt the glued filament behind. Earlier, I wasn't happy with the colors in the center of my main flower and I decided to re-cut it. The colors are a bit sweeter now and the orange part is more cheery. I'll just do some final reshaping then I'll be ready to stick this down. Sometimes I embellish the papers afterwards. I'm going to stamp a little circle at the very center for some extra contrast. I'll just add some final touches of glitter as well. Sometimes it's difficult to know when to stop with embellishments. I think that's enough now, so I'll let those dry. There we have a range of flowers. In the next lesson, I'll give you some tips for foliage and filler elements.
7. Cutting Foliage & Fillers: Welcome back. In the last lesson, we looked at the flower elements. Let's now cut some foliage to go with it. To cook basic single leaves, I use the same technique as for petals. To cut serrated edges into the leaf after it is separated from the sheet, I find it best to cut down into the groove from both sides rather than trying to turn the corner with the scissors. So I'm cutting a V from the outside edge. Just like with the petals, I can add veins as well. I really liked the contrast created by using the tissue paper sections. It's great to make some leaves curvy to add flow to the design. I'll carry on cutting more leaves varying the color, texture, shape, and size. I also like to add some curves to my stems too. Again, how I'll get the roof shape out of the sheet and then do some further shaping. Stems and leaves are useful to tap behind flowers. It helps to keep stems a bit longer for positioning. For layout flexibility, I don't usually glue the foliage to the flowers at this stage. Sometimes I even keep the leaves separate from the stems as well. For branches and sprigs, one technique is to cut foliage arrangements outs in one single piece. This can be quite tricky when the sheet is large as it can get in the way. I generally prefer freehand cutting. If you'd like to use the single piece technique, you may prefer to draw out the shape on the back of the paper to guide you. I tend to cut small sprigs like this, but I usually use a different technique for larger pieces of foliage. My favorite foliage technique is to construct arrangements by gluing leaves onto stems. The great thing about this method is that the leaves can vary quite a bit in color and texture, and you have a lot of control over the motif. The downside of this technique is that gluing is a bit fiddly. Sometimes I need to have a few tries to get the tip of the leaf to stick to the fence down at the angle I want. Be sure to clean any glue from the back before it gets stuck down to the surface. When the paper is thicker, the leaf will be heavier, I might need a bit more glow. It's also handy to have some filler elements like simple small flowers. This is the same technique as I showed you at the beginning of the last lesson when I made the center of the flower. But I'm going to keep these a bit simpler. So I'll cut circles often choosing a stamped or embellished area of the paper as a starting point. Once stuck down the outer circle is then shaped into very simple petals. Sometimes I looked through my rough cuts of paper for fillers as well. This maroon circle reminds me of the cherry. I'll add some tiny leaves to complete the little filler motif. I can make a few more berries in a similar way. I've also decided to create some clusters of tiny berries, and I'll be making some branching stems. I first cut out the rough shape, which is like a fan on a stick. Then I'm cutting down into a V from both sides. I'll do that several times around the fans to make many branches. Since the stems are very thin, I need to be careful not to cut too far into the V. I made a lot of berries for these. Usually, I prefer to cook freehand because I don't want the shapes to be too perfect. But I'm going to experiment with using the hole punch this time. I found that the ends of many branches curl up off the desk and it's easiest to add a blob of glue to each, then drop the berry on top. I can then flip it over to dry a bit before patting off the glue on the back. I'll just finish this last coaster and then meet you in the next lesson to look at composition.
8. Design Composition: Hello again. It's time to think about composition. Here are a few examples I made earlier so you can see some different layouts in action. If you are creating a pattern, a few composition options to consider are clusters of motifs, scattered or tossed motifs, elements growing in one direction, or a formal layout with a very regular repetition of elements. If you don't want to do a pattern, think about ways to compose the motifs on a sheet of paper. I've done the cluster here, but other ideas include a side on bouquet, vase of flowers, a circular wreath, or even scattering elements around some lettering for a greeting card. Of course, please don't copy my motifs or designs. In any case, there are so many options with floral collage that you should easily be able to come up with something unique to you. Remember that I had some sketches earlier with composition ideas, one simple and another more complex. After cutting, I like to test out groupings of motifs on the desk before moving to the computer. Sometimes in trying out compositions, I realize that I need another element to complete the design, or I decide the shapes need a little more finessing with the scissors. It's well worth doing this before moving to the next stage. If you find a composition you like, snap a quick photo with your phone so you can recreate it later. If you'd like to digitize, then you need to keep the pieces loose in order to scan them in, as we'll do in the next lesson. Even if you plan to stick them down to make an artwork on paper, you can always scan and photograph them first. We'll revisit sticking the motifs down on a paper background later in class. But first, let's look at how paper motifs can be digitized.
9. Digitising Paper Elements: Welcome back. Digitizing paper elements is best done with a scanner, as I'm going to do. But if you don't have one, then take digital photos in even natural light at an angle straight onto the paper so the silhouette is in focus. To prepare for scanning, I'll arrange the elements on the scanner flatbed face down and so that they do not touch each other. Then, I place a piece of black paper or card on top. Gently close the scanner lid so as not to move the pieces of paper. A preview of the scanning color. Now, I'll choose the highest resolution. In my case, it's 1200 dpi. I'll make sure all of my artwork is selected for scanning. I'll type a name so I can identify easily on my desktop or Projects folder. Now, I'll set the high resolution scan going, which will take a while. Meanwhile, let me explain the purpose of the background paper. Later, I'll be isolating each element from the background. Because I want to separate the background from the motifs, it's helps that there's plenty of contrasts between them. Additionally, I like to remove shadows cast onto the background by thicker areas of paper, and the easiest way to do that is to scan with the dark background behind. My first choice of the background is black. I also like to do a second scan with a white background which is the default for most scanners. If I have motifs with dark colors, the white background will be a better choice, but I'll need to do a little extra work in Photoshop to remove unwanted shadows. One extra tip for you, if you ever create black and white motifs, try using a bright colored sheet, something like an orange in the background to get enough contrast to isolate them. Now that the first scan is done, I'll very gently open the lid and remove the black paper. Then, get an overview to make sure the motifs is still properly separated and within the scan area. I'll set the scan off again. There isn't much for you to see here, and it'll take a while to do this on the foliage. I'll pause the video and come back to in a few minutes. Here are the scans on my desktop. They can now be opened up in editing software such as Adobe Photoshop. Normally, scanners will create RGB files, and I usually stick without setting for collage work because switching to CMYK can cause loss of vibrance. It's always possible to switch later, but I recommend to keep the main file in RGB when working with scanned out work, so you retain the richness of the colors. In the next lesson, I'll show a couple of ways to isolate the motifs from the background and clean up edges.
10. Digital Isolating & Cleaning: Hello again. Here we are in Photoshop with our scanned high-resolution flower elements open. We'll mainly be using the Layers panel, which is usually docked to the right, but can also be accessed via the Window menu. I'll double click on the background in the Layers panel and say Okay to unlock it to an editable layer. The very first thing I'm going to do after that is save the file with a new name and as a PSD file so I'm working on a copy and not the original scan. I'll do that for both my files. Let's look at the difference between the black and the white background scans. I'll zoom in on a flower. On the white background scan, there is good contrast between the motif colors and the white, but the shadow cast by the paper is clearly visible. On the black background scan, the shadows can't really be seen. Most of the colors I've used in my motif stand out well in the black, although the blue is less contrasting. The first isolation technique I'll show you is plotting around the motif shape with the Pen tool, shortcut key P. This works well if you have shadows around it that you want to remove. Drop a point down, preferably at a corner to start, then move to where the shape changes, such as the extreme of the curve and add another point, but holding drag to get the curve before releasing. Continue around the shape using extra points to capture the imperfections of the shape if you can. After plotting the shape, use the Direct Selection tool, shortcut key A, to select and move points and curve handles to get the shape just right. Open the Paths panel, which I have on the right, but it can also be opened from the Window menu. Optionally, you can save that shape as a path if you wish. The plotted shape can be converted to a selection using this dotted circle icon at the bottom of the Paths panel here. Now, I'll cut and paste this onto its own layer in the exact same spot. Use the Edit menu or shortcut Command X to cut, and then shortcut Shift and Command V to paste in place. If you're using a Windows machine instead of Mac, use your Control key instead of Command. The motif is now on its own layer. If you like the Pen tool, you can potentially isolate all your motifs using it. However, the elements might lose some of their hand-cooked charm unless you follow the scissor cuts faithfully. The method I prefer for collage motifs is the magic wand. This works best when there are no shadows, so I'm going to switch to my black background. I'm going to try to select just the background with the Magic Wand Tool here, shortcut key W. Click on the background and the wand will select similar colors to where you click as indicated by the moving dashes. The Magic Wand Tool has some settings we could alter. An important one is tolerance. The higher the number, the more it will be selected by the wand. Adjust and recollect the background to try different tolerances. The contiguous checkbox can also have a big impact on selection. When it is unchecked, everything similar will be selected, even if it is bordered by a totally different color. The dark center of the main flower has been selected. When it is checked, the wand picks up connected sections only. Usually, I check contiguous when selecting backgrounds. If there are additional areas I want to include, hold Shift key, and click again with the wands to add them to the selection. Once you got most of the way to selecting the background, there's a chance to do some fine tuning. I'm going to zoom right in. You can probably see there is a little bit of dark from the background that hasn't been selected. I like to expand the selection area by one or two pixels to make sure there's no slight halo of the background drawn on the motifs. Use Select menu and choose Modify, Expand, then input the number of pixels. Larger, high resolution files may need the selection expanding by more pixels. Now I'm going to turn this selection into a mass to hide the background using the Layer menu with Layer Mask, Hide Selection. I haven't deleted the background at this stage because I may find on close inspection that a few areas have too much removed, so I'll just mask it off for the moment. In the Layers panel, the mask is shown as a black and white thumbnail with the hidden parts in black and the revealed parts in white. Actually, let me make these thumbnails a bit bigger for you. It is possible to change the mask shape directly when this thumbnail is active. I recommend to zoom right in and have a close look while adjusting the mask. Use tools, such as the Brush, shortcut key B. The brush size can be made larger or smaller depending on the area. I use the square bracket keys to change brush size. Using black when the Mask thumbnail is active will hide sections. Using white will reveal sections. You can switch quickly between black and white as the foreground color by using shortcut key X. I'm going to go around all the edges and tidy them up. Sometimes it's useful to create a layer below as a temporary background. It's easier to see textured areas where a little more tidying is needed when there is a solid background rather than the checkerboard. Also, closely inspect the motifs themselves for any bits that accidentally got stuck on when gluing. To fix this, first make sure the main artwork thumbnail, not the mask thumbnail, is active. Select the Clone Stamp Tool, shortcut key S. Use a small solid brush. Nearby to the blemish, identify a zone with very similar appearance. Hold down the Option button on Mac or Alt button on Windows, so the cursor changes to a target and then click. Now brush a little on the blemish to clone the good area over the top and fix the problem. I'll remove the temporary background and save the file. I'm going to do the same with the foliage file as well. I'll just recap these early stages for you, and then I want to get onto color adjustment in a moment. Remember that to start, I unlocked the layer and saved the file as a PSD with a new name. The next step is the magic wand. Expand that selection to prevent halos. Now create the mask. After that, tidy up the edges well on the mask thumbnail. Also, clone over any blemishes while on the artwork thumbnail. If any color or contrast adjustment is needed across all the elements, you can do that now. Create one or more adjustment layers using this icon. You can adjust brightness and contrast, color balance and more. I'm wondering if I'd like my greens to be a little less saturated, so I'll make a hue in Saturation Adjustment layer. I'll select green so my other colors aren't affected and reduce the saturation. Actually, I think it might be the cyan that is bothering me with these leaves. Test the changes by switching the visibility of the adjustment layer off and on. I'll save this file. Now, save an additional copy of the file for the next stage, which will be to commit the mask and any adjustment layers, and then separate each motif onto its own layer. To commit the mask, make sure the masked layer is selected. Go to the Layers menu and choose Layer Mask, Apply. To commit the adjustment layer, make sure that layer is selected. Go to the Layers menu again and choose Merge Down. Now use the Lasso tool, shortcut key L, to select a motif. Cut it via the menu or using Command X, then paste on to a new layer in the same place. The shortcut is to hold Shift while pressing Command V. It's very useful to name the layer. In the Layers panel, select the original layer again and repeat the process until each motif is on its own layer. Save the file. If you have more files like I do, repeat until all motifs on all files are on their own layers.
11. Digital ‘Cutting’ with Clipping Masks: Welcome back. I've got both my flowers and my foliage isolated now and each is on its own layer. Occasionally, I get to this stage and realize that I don't like the way a section of texture looks in one of the motifs. If it's not a key motif, rather than go back to papers, sometimes I digitally re-cut the element out from my scanned whole papers. I'm finding the texture in this stripe leaf a bit too strong. I've opened up the scanned paper that I cut this one out from. There is an area of stripes that is a bit softer. Using the Marquee Tool, shortcut key M, select the area that looks suitable, but make the selection a bit larger so that you can move the texture around. Copy the selection with command C and go back to the main file. Select the layer that you want to do the replacement on. This is where having the layers named comes in handy. Now, paste the texture into the file with Command V. It will be pasted on a layer just above. Use the Move Tool, shortcut key V, to place it over the motif. With the new texture layer selected, use the Layer Menu, and choose "Create Clipping Mask". The new texture is clipped to the shape of the motif layer below. Use the Move Tool again to position the texture and the shape. The texture can also be transformed, for example, rotated via Edit, Free Transform, or shortcut command T. Earlier, I made some subtle saturation adjustment to the cyan in the foliage. I can add the same adjustment layer with cyan desaturate it to minus 30. That is applying to all the layers below at the moment, so I'll apply that adjustment layer as a clipping mask as well so that only the new texture is adjusted. When I'm happy with the changes to that leaf, I can select all three layers by holding Shift when selecting them. Now, go to Layers Menu and choose "Merge Layers". Clipping textures into shapes can be very useful and it's a common feature found in many design programs, but before you run out to do lots of clipping, let's first look at making a pattern with our floral collage motifs.
12. Digital Pattern Methods: Hello again. Let's start a new file for making a pattern, and select a size and resolution. I usually work in metric, the inches are more useful when thinking about resolution since it's in pixels per inch. I can show you here how the resolution affects the canvas size and the amount of information it holds. I'll use a 10-inch square canvas, so the numbers are easy to work with, and I'll make resolution 300 ppi, which is fairly standard. The number of pixels will be 10 times 300 on each side. If I show it in pixels now, it's 3,000 pixels by 3,000 pixels. That will be five, we're printing it around 10 inches. If I have a 10-inch canvas at 1,200 ppi, the amount of information in the canvas is now much more, so 12,000 pixels on each side. Since my motif is scanned at 1,200 dpi resolution, I plan to set my pattern at the same, so that it can be scaled to its maximum potential if required. Looking at the actual size of my paper motifs, I think the pattern will work well as a 12-inch square. That will be 14,400 pixels. It's very large indeed. If your motif is scanned at a lower resolution, then that's absolutely fine, just match your pattern file to it. I can name that now as well. I'll begin with something simple, so one flower and one piece of foliage. I'll go to the foliage file and choose my branch in the Layers Panel, then "Command C" to copy. I'll paste that into my new pattern file with "Command V". I'll go and get the main flower in the same way. I'll just quickly arrange that as if it's growing up. So I am just using Command T to transform, and then put my mouse near the corners to get the rotate handles. Click the tick mark to apply the transformation or hit the "Enter" key on the keyboard. This can already be a pattern. Just go to Edit, Define Pattern, and give it a name. I'll make a new file for testing out the pattern. The size of this test file isn't important because a pattern can be scaled to fit. In the Layers Panel, I can create a new fill layer and choose "Pattern". Then scroll down past the folders, and my newly created pattern will be at the end. That's too large, so reduce the scale. By defining the pattern, the motif repeats, but it needs a bit to flow, so let's upgrade the layout. Back in the Pattern file, I want to copy these elements and use them again. To keep things organized, I'm going to group them. Do that by holding "Shift" and selecting both layers. Then in the Layers Panel menu, choose new group from layers. Give that a name. I can now duplicate the whole group by dragging it down to the Plus icon at the bottom of the layers panel. I'm going to use the Move tool shortcut key to move the copy. Note that the move tool has settings are paired to Auto-Select, and you can choose individual layers or groups. I want to move these up to the top left corner, so I'll drag them. For patterns to repeat seamlessly, anything that falls off on one side of the repeat tile, must appear on the other. That means copying motifs vertically or horizontally by the exact tile dimensions. In my case, 14,400 pixels whenever they overlap an edge. I'll make a copy of this group and use Command T to transform the new copy. In transform mode, there are details up top about the position of the motif. The x-positioning is left and right, the y-positioning is up and down. Rather than doing maths, I'll set the x and y counters to relative with this little triangle shaped icon, so it I can start from zero. Now, I'll move it across relative to its current position by 14,400 pixels on the x-axis, and click to commit the transformation. Now, I'm going to grab the two copies of these groups and copy both again. To move these downwards, I'll use the y-axis. Let's define another pattern now and see if it repeat seamlessly. I'll double-click the 'Pattern Layer" and I can select the new pattern and then say "Okay". Great, it works well. I am noticing that the spacing isn't quite even though, because I moved the first copy roughly by eye. To get the exact spacing right, I'll use what's called a half-drop. The principle is to copy motifs diagonally. I'll remove this middle group. Now, I'll copy this corner motif. When I turn the visibility of the layer off and on, I can see it's the bottom right one. I want to bring it to the center so it's perfectly positioned in the middle of the four corner motifs. This time, I'm going left and up, which is the opposite way to earlier, so I need to put a minus sign in front of the number. I'll go both horizontally and vertically by half of the tile width and height. So that's 7,200 pixels on both x and y-axis for my pattern. Let's define it and have a look. Yes, that spacing is better. One more trick to improve flow is to reflect the central group so that it flips the opposite way to the corners. I will use edit, transform, flip horizontal. Define the pattern again, and that one has a nicer flow. Now I want to show you the pattern preview technique, which is new in Photoshop 2021. I'll delete the corner groups. Pattern preview is activated via the view menu. It's advising me here about smart objects that we'll come to in a few minutes, so just ignore that for now. Zoom out to see how the pattern repeats. I'll use the command and minus keys to zoom out, command and plus to zoom in. I'll make a copy of this group while in patent preview, and move it to the corner. Things might go a little bit slower in pattern preview, especially when zoomed out because there are lots of copies of the artwork. The software makes the duplicate show on the other edges for you to make a seamless repeat. This makes it easy to get the spacing correct as well. One thing to be careful of is transformations when motifs are over the edges. Flipping will work okay, but scaling and rotating over hanging motifs will give strange results. I'll use command Z to undo that and bring the flower back to the center. I'll rotate it within the canvas area and then move it. The X and Y movements I showed you earlier can still be used in pattern preview. So if you want to do diagonals, then that's all possible. I can define this as a pattern from inside the preview. I'll close pattern preview for now. In this case, the duplicates the software has made are still there at the corners after closing the preview. You can see the corner sections on the thumbnails. Remember that message I got earlier advising me to use smart objects? Basically, when you transform pixel-based motifs like we have here, quality can be lost, especially when scaling down. Using smart objects protects the original quality. You might have noticed when I demonstrated pattern preview, that as I duplicated the high-resolution motifs, things started to slow down, and that's going to cause me problems if I make a complex pattern. So I convert to smart objects and scale the main file down to get the best of both; motif resolution and file efficiency. I'll remove the corners and convert the central motif. To turn a layer into a smart object, first select the layer. Use the layer menu, smart objects, convert to smart objects. An even quick way is to right-click on the layer name and convert from there. Now I can reduce my main file down to 300 PPI via the image menu under image size. I do this knowing that it won't affect my motifs because they are protected by smart objects. So I could scale back up in future if needed. I will also take a note of the new pixel size, which is 3,600 pixels on both sides. I'll go into pattern preview, and I'll copy the flower group. I'll move the mass before, but now the numbers will be different because the file has smaller pixel dimensions. I will define the pattern from inside the preview. Now when I test the pattern, it is much smaller because the file has less pixels. I'll scale the pattern up so we can see it. If I exit pattern preview, this time the duplicated areas disappear. I do have my pattern defined and it can be used. But if I need a layered pattern tile, then I'll need to do that part manually with the X and Y moves. Having to do this manual step at the end to get a layered version of the pattern is a disadvantage. But I think smart objects are still worth using to preserve motif quality. I showed you both methods so you can make your own choices. In future, Adobe may change the way smart objects work in pattern preview as they further develop this feature. This tile should be the same as the one I defined already. But if you make repeat tiles manually, be sure to check for any mistakes. This one is fine, so I'll save the file. If you want to see the patterns you have defined and organize them, the patterns' panel can be accessed from the Window menu. Patterns can be grouped with the folder icon, defined with the plus icon, and any unwanted patterns can be moved with the trash icon. If you wish, you can [inaudible] the panel on the right for easy access. So they are the methods using a simple flower. In the next lesson, I'm going to make my more complex floral design.
13. Digital Pattern Design: Welcome back. Now I have covered the methods. This lesson will primarily focus on the artistic aspects of pattern making. To get started, I'll close this example pattern and create a new file that's 12 inches and 1,200 PPI initially. To bring in all the motifs, I'll select all in the Layers panel by holding down Shift while selecting the layers. Command C to copy, then command V to paste into the pattern file. I'll do that for both sets of motifs. I'll now convert each layer to a smart object so that the high resolution of these motifs can be protected. The fastest way is to right-click on the layer name and convert it to a smart object from there. It may take a few minutes to convert these many layers. Now, I'm going to change the resolution of the main file to 300 PPI so it's efficient to work on the pattern. But remember that my smart objects will retain their high resolution. My pattern file is now 3,600 pixels square. I'll save the pattern file at this stage, and I can close the motif files as well. You may recall that I took a photo of a composition earlier when I was working with the paid motifs. I'll have that image open now as a rough guide while I begin the pattern layout. I'm going to turn off visibility of most of the layers that aren't needed immediately. As a general rule, I like to place the larger elements first and work down to the smaller ones to fill in the gaps later. Having the layers named is very useful at this stage as I find what I need and reorder them. I'll start with my main flower, larger foliage, and berry clusters. I'll transform elements and move them into position on the canvas. Any elements took behind need to be lower in the layer stack. I'll be a while getting the positioning of this centerpiece just right, so I'll speed this part up. I'll be thinking about distributing shapes and colors in a balanced way. For example, I'll put the cluster of berries around the central flower and also with the other sprigs of foliage; I'll think about their color and shape. There's nothing going on with the edges at the moment, so I'm just working in normal view. I'll make sure the file is saved at this stage. Now I'd like to see how that looks in repeat and begin to work on the overhanging parts. Go to the "View" menu and select "Pattern Preview." I'm going to group all the elements in the main cluster now. I'll duplicate the group and move it diagonally by half the canvas width and half the height. My canvas is 3,600 pixels square, so half is 1800 pixels. I can try rotating or reflecting it to see how that fits with the other cluster. Now I just need to fill in the gaps with my other flowers, loose berries, and small leaves. I probably could move these smaller elements around some more, but I think I'll call it done for now. Go to "Edit" menu and choose "Define Pattern", then give the pattern tile a name. Let's see how that looks on the test file. Now that we have finished making the pattern and defining the tile, turn off Pattern Preview via the View menu. As I mentioned in the last lesson, the duplicated motifs won't show once Pattern Preview is closed if you're using smart objects, at least in this version of the software. Therefore, to have my layered files a seamless pattern, I'll need to duplicate and move the elements on the edges manually. With this pattern, the easiest way will be to put all the loose pieces at the corners back into one cluster first, and then duplicate and move the whole cluster to the other corners. Sometimes the relative positioning icon doesn't zero the numbers, but don't worry because Photoshop can actually do maths for us. Just put plus on the number at the end of the current number, or minus in the number if going the other way. My whole tile at 300 PPI is 3,600 pixels on each side, so I'll use that number for my x and y moves. My cluster is made of many pieces and it would take me a while to get them all back like this. For repetitive tasks, I prefer to semi-automate the process with actions. I'll open the Actions panel from the Window menu. The idea is to record myself doing something and then I can play it back from this panel and save myself time. I'll make a new layer and draw a temporary blob. I'll move that to the corner. Now I'll set up an actions folder called 3,600 pixels pattern. I'll create a new action within the folder and name it 3,600 pixels right and record. I'll transform my blob to the right, so 3,600 pixels on the x. Now I need to stop the recording straight away. I'll create another action for down. Record myself moving 3,600 pixels on the y and then press "Stop". Now left, on this time, minus on the x. Finally, up. Now I switch to button mode so that these actions can be done in one click. I'll delete that blur, blur now. To use the actions, I just find the layer I need to move and click the action button. It's much faster this way and prevents me making mistakes when typing in the x, y numbers. My cluster is back together. I'll duplicate that and use actions to move it. I'll duplicate those two clusters and move again. Now we go. I'll duplicate and move the scattered elements that overhang as well. I'll put all the scattered motives into a group just to keep everything tidy. I'll save that file. Since I created the repeat manually, is worth defining the pattern again to test it and make sure there are no mistakes. That looks good. Now I have a layer design file in repeat as well. The final part is to try out some different background colors. With these really vibrant flowers and foliage, I think a neutral backdrop will definitely do best. I like to use warm cream and dark and keep backgrounds. You can mix with the color picker. Then fill the background layer with the paint buckets. I can have two background layers so that I can switch easily between dark and light versions. I already have some colors in my swatches panel, so I'll see how that warm cream looks. I'll define patterns for both options. Let's see how they look in a test file. I had a break from the pattern and with fresh eyes decided that the orange flowers needed separating to distribute that purple color more evenly. So I moved some elements around to accommodate that. I redefine this and test it. I'm happy with the orange flowers now. The magenta flower with the heart-shaped petals maybe needs a partner to balance it as well. Rather than duplicate it, I might recolor this pink flower here. I'll keep my original but turn off visibility. I'll add a hue and saturation adjustment and clip it to the flower. I'll adjust the slide as for all colors this time. I'm happy with the color change, so I merge the flower and adjustment layers. Now I'll duplicate it and move over to the other edge with my actions. Let's define and test that one. I'm happy with all the color distribution now and how it affects the flow of the pattern. I'll define the other background also and save the file. Sometimes I also put the pattern on mock-ups to visualize how it could look on objects. If you'd like to learn about this, please take a look at my other class called All About Mock-Ups, where I cover sourcing, using, creating, and organizing mock-up files. In the next lesson, we'll get away from the computer and create a finished piece of art on paper.
14. Artwork on Paper & Storage: Hello again. Creating a finished piece of art, stuck down onto paper is one option for your paper motifs. I'm going to make a cluster similar to my digital design, but I'm going to simplify it a little bit. I have a frame that I want to use and the size is 8 inches so it's a smaller area than I had for my pattern. I've decided to work on a black background, and I've chosen a slightly textured paper for the base. I already cut an eight inch square. On a separate piece of scrap paper, I experimented with compositions and this is the one I decided to use. If layering elements, the lower layers need to be glued on before the upper layers. For example, a leaf popping out from below a flower needs to be stuck down beneath the flower or stuck to the back of the flower first. With most of my foliage, I decided to stick it to the back of the flower first, so that it comes out at the correct angle from behind the petals. But I also need to be sure it fits nicely on the page. I'll be gluing it while it's laid loosely on my test sheet of black paper. I'll carefully slide a piece of foliage out, add a little bit of glue to the part that will be behind the petals. Then carefully slide it back in and press it down. I can't easily turn it over so I need to be careful not to allow it to stick down to the test sheet. I'll do that for the other foliage that I want to stick to the back of the main flower. For the branch, I'm less concerned about the angle relative to the petals but it's important to make that it's positioned at a good angle and distance from the corner. I'll stick this one down on the actual background paper first. As something needs precise positioning on the background, I like to make some light pencil marks beforehand. I find three marks helps to getting the position and angle of the elements right. Gently dab off any excess glue as you go. Gently rub out any visible pencil marks. That's all the elements that need to go below the main flower taken care of now. I'm ready to glue this down. I mark the position of the main flower and glue the back. When the flower is loose, the ends of the petals curve upwards a bit and I rather like that, so I've decided not to glue the very tips of the petals down and allow them to curl in the frame too. To accommodate that I'll be using a triple thickness mount to make room between the artwork and the glass. Now, I just need to add the smaller flowers and little leaf on top. I'm going to leave this to dry. While the glue was drying, I noticed that there is a bit too much space in the top right corner, and I want to add a small loose leaf. This one works so I'll glue it and stick it down. I like that better. For the elements that I haven't used in my artwork, I like to store them flat in envelops of sealed pouches. I suggest acid free paper envelops or polypropylene freezer bags. Although I dislike using plastic, the freezer bag option does have the benefit of protection against moisture and they are totally reasonable for other motifs so there's no need for them to end up in the trash. When motifs are embellished with finishes that may rub off like glitter, either separate them with pieces of acid free paper or keep them in separate envelops so as not to get the glitter pieces on the other motifs. Once the glue is completely dry, I like to make a scan of the finished artwork at highest resolution. This is totally optional, but a good idea if you have the facility to do it. Here is my finished piece with the black mount in its frame. Now is your turn. I'd love to see what you make. Meet me in the next lesson for a few tips and remind us about your own project.
15. Tips for Your Project: Okay, folks. For your project, I'd like you to make a Floral Collage. It can be a design made from paper elements and finished digitally or a piece of art on paper. To help you get started, you'll find my complete materials list in the Resources section. The joy of creating comes through in art work, so remember to have lots of fun making papers and exploring shapes with scissors. Feel free to put your own twist on the techniques I've shown you to try different color combinations, make textures in new ways, or work at a different scale. There's plenty of scope to make something absolutely unique to you. If you decide to go digital, the tricky step is probably isolating the collage elements after digitizing. So be patient with that in order to get a good finish. If you are making a paper piece, take your time to plan the arrangement before sticking so that you achieve a lovely composition. Please do post in the project gallery here in class so that I can see and comment on your work. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you create.
16. Thank you: Thank you very much for joining me in this class. I hope you have enjoyed it and learned some useful techniques, and then inspired to make your own collages. If you have any questions, you're welcome to e-mail me directly by a hello@rocketandindigo.com, or you can post in the discussion's tab and I'll get back to you there. Please do post your work in progress and finished design in the project gallery so that myself and classmates can see the art you have created. If you're also posting your class project on social media, remember to tag me at Rocket & Indigo so I can see your fabulous collages there too. Feel free to use the #rocketskillshare. If you found this class helpful, please do leave a review. If you would like to be notified when my future classes launch, please be sure to follow me here on Skillshare as well. That's it. Many thanks and see you next time.
Sue Gibbins, Designer at Rocket & Indigo
