The Ultimate Collage Ideas Course

1. The Ultimate Collage Ideas Course Intro: Have you ever wondered how a collage comes to life? You two can unlock your collage creativity with expert guidance. Collage is a fantastic art form that's accessible to everyone. It's quick, affordable, and incredibly versatile. How do you elevate your skills beyond the basics and improve your confidence? I'm Frank Kerkhovk, and in this dynamic course, I'll show you how to take your collage artistry to new heights. With over 20 years of teaching experience from kindergarten to high school, I've curated and tested a range of collage ideas just for you. Join me as I reveal creative techniques, strategies, and prompts with unique composition ideas designed to transform your approach to collage. You'll learn to rethink your materials, master new arrangements, and refine your compositions. By the end of this course, you'll have a wealth of ideas and a portfolio of captivating collage work ready to showcase your newfound skills. In this course, you'll explore over 60 inspiring collage pomps. We'll dive into things like surrealism, juxtaposition, abstract art, color, and more. We'll view over 250 collage examples with engaging critiques and some time lapse video footage. You will learn to implement the elements and principles of design to improve your work. At the end of the course, you'll submit your best collages as a portfolio to share and receive feedback. Whether you're a beginner, eager to get started or an experienced artist looking to refine your craft. This course has something for you. Let's embark on this creative journey together and elevate your collage art to the next level. 2. Materials Needed: The size of your collage work is entirely up to you, and this may depend on the sizes of your source material. For the activities in this course, I often started with smaller pieces around ten to 15 centimeters. You can work on loose cards or in a sketch book. While sketchbook paper is generally fine, be aware that I can curl or warp when glue is applied. T remedy this, simply flatten the page afterwards by placing it under heavy books. Here are some of the essential tools or materials that you will need. Obviously, you're going to need some scissors or exacto knives, and I have three different size scissors here, like a large medium and a small, but I usually just use these ones most of the time as they're more comfortable for my fingers. I got two kinds of exacto knives here. You just see there's slight variation with the size of the blades. I tend to use this one more frequently. I tend to mount my collages on like a craft paper like this. You see it's 250 grams. It's a little bit thicker like cartridge and I usually use this A five size or A four. You'll also need some glue, but I prefer mod podge, and this is the gloss one. This also comes in a Mt. Another option is to use gil medium, and they work the same, but I find that the mod podge, it might be because I'm in Singapore and it's a lot more humid. But after The collage is completed, I'll sometimes put a layer of mod podge on to give it a shine. If something is stacked on top of it like another collage. I find that after some time, they could stick together. Probably think of it as if it's like melting and attaching to another piece, and it has damaged some collages in the past. It hasn't happened to me with this brand so far, but since it's happened with this one, I'm not going to try and experiment to see if it does happen. Connected to that, I will often place my collage work in these k sleeves. I'm using the really cheap kinds. They're really flimsy, but I find it just helps protect the work a little bit more securely. With the gel medium and the mad page, I also just pour some into a little container like this. You could also use a yogurt container, but I find that's quite large. For the sizes I've used, this has been more than adequate, and I'll just use a cheap old paint brush to apply it on. I'll often have a scrap piece of paper down where I can dip this in and make sure that I go right to the edge of the cut pieces that I'm using. One mistake I often find students doing is that they apply too much glue or the mod podge and they don't apply it directly to the edge, or they apply too little and they get some air bubbles. I make sure to cover the entire piece of the cut piece that I'm using. I also use a metal ruler for obvious reasons. If I'm using the exact knife against a plastic ruler, it could cut into the plastic and damage the ruler. I find that this is better. Some other optional tools I use. Obviously, one I use quite frequently is Posca paint pens. These come in different sizes. Recently, they've been getting a little bit expensive, but I like them because they cover other colors very well. Another alternative could be sharpies or any type of oil based or permanent marker. Colored pencils are another things that you could use to make some scribbles or decorative elements within your work. I also find this paper cutter rather useful. It's just for faster cuts, especially if I'm using a magazine image and want to trim that down to the size of the mounting paper that I'm using. It's a lot more accurate and a lot more faster. I also have this circle cutter, which I'll demonstrate an activity in the course. Basically, you can adjust the length and it just cuts a perfect circle for you. Not essential, but can sometimes be useful. It's useful when you need it. I also have this rotary cutter, works like a pizza cutter. No super essential, but I think I got it for around $15. With thick cardboard, I find that this works quite well. This little thing here is just a cheap thin piece of plastic, it's called a bone folder. No super essential, but I find when I'm gluing larger pieces of images down, sometimes you'll get some air pockets or air bubbles, and I use this to squee or push those air bubbles out. You could do the same with your finger like this, but I think I picked this up for $1 or dollar 50. For your collages, you'll need a variety of source materials. These can include naturally magazines, newspapers, children's storybooks, junk mail, ephemera, like old books or envelopes, tissue paper, tracing paper, Origami paper, colored paper, wrapping paper, and any type of product packaging, like cardboard or plastic wrappers that you find attractive can all be used within collage. As you create more collages, consider setting up some type of storage system for your materials. Initially, a simple box may be fine, but as your collection grows, organizing with a filing system or storage boxes can be a game changer. At first, I would store all my collected images in these plastic sleeves, but then they just kept growing and growing. Then I move to these plastic boxes, which I also bought at DSO, I believe. I have lots of different categories for these. I'll collect images from magazines that include people or humans, animals, patterns, typography, places, plants, et cetera. You just collect what you find is interesting, and then as that collection starts to grow, you find yourself buying a lot more of these. Enjoy the process of gathering and organizing your materials. It's all part of the creative journey. Let's talk next about the creative process. 3. The Creative Process: Before we dive into the activities, let's talk about the creative journey ahead. Remember, the creative process is exactly that, a process. Not every idea will hit the mark, and that's okay. Every attempt is a valuable learning experience. Throughout the course, I'll guide you through the key skills and composition strategies. As you explore, you'll gain a deeper understanding of how to use the elements and principles of design. Embrace the process, experiment boldly and enjoy each step of your artistic development. Next, let me briefly explain the elements and principles of design and some composition strategies. 4. Composition Strategies: Might be wondering why the video intro had someone baking. It should hopefully make sense by the end of this video segment. As you explore collage making, you'll gain a deeper understanding of how to use the elements of design. These are line, shape, texture, color, value, and space. Think of these as the essential ingredients for your collage creations. We'll also delve into the principles of design, balance, proportion, emphasis, unity, and rhythm. These principles act as the recipe for structuring your artwork, helping you create visually compelling and cohesive collages. When it comes to creating great collages, composition is key. Instead of placing elements randomly, you'll learn to use strategic techniques to enhance your artwork. One of the most effective and popular methods is the rule of thirds. Imagine your frame divided into nine equal parts by two horizontal and two vertical lines. Place focal points where these lines intersect. Our brains naturally find these spots visually appealing. Other simple, yet powerful composition techniques include the centered rule, where you place the main element in the middle, as well as vertical, horizontal, symmetrical, asymmetrical, cruciform or L shape, radial, All over compositions, which basically means that stuff is everywhere. Each approach offers a unique way to organize your elements and create engaging visuals. Layering is a cornerstone of collage art. Think about incorporating background, middle ground, and foreground, to add depth and balance into your work. Experiment with contrasts, such as big versus small, light versus dark, versus torn, to create dynamic tension and interest. However, simple collages can also work when focused through an element or principle of art. Sometimes a collage may also celebrate a technique, such as de collage or an approach such as color. The goal is to experiment and explore various collage techniques to expand your personal visual vocabulary. Blage allows us to deconstruct materials and reassemble them into fresh innovative creations. Ready to transform your ideas into art, let's dive in and start creating with the activities. 5. Collage Idea 1: Nifty Fifty: For our first activity, we're going to start off really simple. It's called 50 50. This simple composition strategy will force you to realize the relationships images can have when montage next to each other. All you need to do is find two images to collage together and cut each image to take up 50% of the frame. In my first example here, you see I've used two side profile portraits and divided it vertically. I've done the same thing with this other example here, you see I've arranged it a little bit better by aligning the chins and the top of the head more effectively. In this third example. Again, I've used two portraits, but I've divided it horizontally. Bases are probably easiest to get started with, but you can utilize and explore whatever you have available. Source material can be portraits, animals, objects, or even patterns. Sometimes things that are completely unrelated can make striking compositions. Our brains will often make their own connections and create stories. With this fourth example I have here, I've used these two architectural structures. You can do something similar with patterns or fashion. You can also get more creative with this in the future, as in this example, where two images were divided with circular cuts. We'll explore this in activity 20, circle cuts. Feel free to experiment and place random images together or even play off opposites, complimentary colors, or explore themes such as gender, identity, wealth, et cetera. In the next video, we'll slightly adapt this. 6. Collage Idea 2: Shifty Nifty Fifty: The building off the previous task will do something similar, but expand it slightly. Again, find two images to collage together and cut each image to take up 50% of the frame. These images can be portraits, animals, or objects, et cetera. This won't greatly matter as you previously discovered in activity one. Our brains will go ahead and make their own connections. The difference with this shifty Nifty activity in the previous one is that you will place one of the images upside down. Here's an example. I didn't do a very good job at centering the images, as you can see, they are too much off to the side, both of them actually. In the second example, it's a little bit better. I started to find my way a little bit more. I cut along the actual figure here and turned it upside down, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. In the next example, I repeat this strategy as the previous one by cutting out this whole entire figure, and added some pencil scribbles and co or colored pencil and some other papers as well. And it's much more interesting than say from the very first one that I showed you. As you start creating more, this technique starts to become more ingrained. In this last example here, I've placed the image of the boat sideways instead. This quick collage tactic forces you to reconsider orientation as a collage strategy. In the next module, we'll take a look at thirds. 7. Collage Idea 3: Thirds: Composition strategy in this module will explore montage as a clash tactic that can create a narrative and help build your artistic awareness and ability. This activity is called thirds. Building further from the previous two activities, now you will find three images to cash together and cut each image to take up one third of the frame. Contrasting images with verticals and horizontals can be more interesting. Let me show you. To understand this, look at this example. The first image is considered a horizontal. The second has vertical trees, and the third is again horizontal. None of the images were initially related, but a story is emerging. The second section also contrasts nicely with the two others through color. Here's another one and the images are a little bit more connected. We get this feeling of the open space in a sense of travel or escape. This next example is a little bit more thematic as it delves with colonialism. I tried it vertically this time, dividing it into the thirds, but I'm not sure it's as effective as the other examples. To recap, find three images to collage together with each taking up about 30% of the frame. 8. Collage Idea 4: Partners: For this partner's prompt, you'll actually create two collage pieces, so you'll need two frames or two boards to mount your collage on. This activity demonstrates that collage works can have connections and relationships through theme and imagery. First, find an image that can fill your frame and then cut it in half. We will use each half separately on each collage frame. In this first example here, I had this image of a plane had and a half with each taking up half of the frame. I then added secondary pictures, and you can see this uses the cruciform or L shape composition strategy. My secondary pictures are connected as I've used images of black and white birds, and then a blue image and a pattern. This next example had this image from a children's book, and my secondary images use origami paper and scientific illustrations. I played a bit more with the sizing of the secondary images, as opposed to the first example, which were even. Th, however, still use the cruciform or L shaped composition strategy. Your secondary images can connect thematically or be united through color or completely random. In this next example, the same strategy was used, but you can see instead, I had a picture of an embrace couple, and I split it in half right down the middle of their embrace. In this last example here, I've worked horizontally instead of in portrait mode. I also added this blue band at the bottom of each one, modifying the cruciform approach slightly, and I also found two images which I cut in half. To recap, find a main image to use that will fill up your frame and then divide it in half, creating two collage works. Fill in the remainder area with secondary images that connect thematically, connect by color, or be completely random. Try the cruciform or L shaped strategy to get yourself started. 9. Collage Idea 5: Black & White: Welcome to Activity five. This activity has a creative constraint by forcing you to go monochromatic and consider your use of contrast, value, and tone. We are going to try and make a collage using only black and white imagery. Your source material could include images from magazines, coloring books, old encyclopedias, and whatever you have available. It could also include patterns, numbers, and text, et cetera. Remember, you could also go and print personal photos as well if you desire. Here, we will further consider how we frame and structure our collage as outlined earlier with the composition strategies. Experiment and move things around before committing them to glue. In my first example here, a cruciform composition was used as outlined in the previous activity. I use this torn band here to give it a little more texture. In the second example here, you see there's been some damage to the collage. This is what I was mentioning before about storing them in plastic sleeves. I had this one sitting on top like this and because of the humidity here in Singapore, the stuck together and removed the paper from this collage. But this one almost does the same thing with the cruciform approach. You can see I have one image here at the bottom, which is placed sideways. Then I just use this small number piece to create an anchor and to hide the edges of the images and just to add another layer to the collage. Here in this next one, I've done something completely different. I've gone more abstract and used typography with a vertical composition strategy or horizontal depending on how you look at it, and we'll explore typography further down in the course with activity 29. Then here in this last example, the composition is asymmetrical, meaning it's heavier on one side than the other. It also uses this black circular motif here and some other hand drawn elements. What I did with these is I just first drew on tracing paper. Both for this circular thing and this I just traced another scientific illustration. And when you put the glue on them and mount them down, it becomes almost transparent. For this activity, you're going to have to start making decisions on your own on how you wish to arrange your composition. Refer to the earlier video if you need some further guidance. It might also depend on what kind of source material that you have available to yourself. I look forward to seeing what you create. 10. Collage Idea 6: B&W With Colour Accent: This activity will force some unity in your work through handmade expressive marks or through a solid band or block of color that can add a new dimension to your work in a striking way. Just like in the previous activity five, black and white, we will make a collage using only black and white imagery, but include an element of color as well. This can be done directly with magazine images or by using paints, crayons, or markers to add a few accent marks or a band of solid color. In this first example here, I kind of have a cruciform composition and have this pink letter B. It's placed near the Rule of thirds area. This example has elements of two portraits and they are separated by this big red band. The scale of the portraits are also a little humorous as this one is larger than the other. This example also has a red band here and it runs vertically on one side, acting like a composition divider. You notice these three examples all have an element of red. It, and that's a nice little trick design trick when you're using with black and white imagery because it can be quite visually striking. This next example uses more of like a graphic design approach. The collage uses just this one black and white image here. What I've done is I cut along the building edges here and then tuck this colored paper circle just behind here. I don't know if you can tell but you can see a little bit of a bulge where that paper has been inserted behind. Then I just remove this one car through a cut out hole or a cutout window, giving it that more design approach to the work. With this next collage, the black dots were done on tracing paper first and then glued, hence, a little bit of transparency with the paper as well. They were just done with permanent marker. You can see it overlaps the other images as well. These red marks were then placed last on top and they were done with Posca paint pens. Again, you're going to have to start thinking a little bit more on a composition strategy. Again, that will depend on the type of images that you use within the frame itself, but feel free to experiment and play and see what you can come up with. 11. Collage Idea 7: One Colour: Activity seven forces you to consider your use of color to create a collage. You will create a collage using various shades of one color. You can consider using old book pages, envelopes, tissue paper, and, of course, magazine images. To start, gather all your source material first into a pile. In my first example here, I love the minimalist approach and the negative space that's been used. H papers like this look great in a collage in my opinion. You can also try mimicking this effect by pouring coffee onto some of your papers to kind of give it an aged appearance. But I'm not sure it would work well with glossy magazine pages. Here in this next example, here I used a singular page from a magazine and cut it up into rectangles to mimic a mosaic effect. I'm not sure how effective the end result is for this, though. With an abstract approach, you can be much more free. We will explore this later in the course, but you can create different textures by deciding if you wish to cut with scissors or by tearing your pages for a textural effect. In this example here, you can see I have a mix between cut papers as well as torn papers. It's using a vertical composition strategy, which are contrasted with some rectangular blocks. I really like all the red with some of the elements of white text. This one is similar, but it uses a stacks approach and we'll explore this later on in the course. But it basically it's a series of square or rectangular cut pieces that are mounted on top of each other. This next one is similar, but uses more pieces and is considered an all over approach covering the entire frame. And we also have this number three here, which is aligning on the rule of thirds. This is just colored in with a posca pen. This next one here uses a bunch of blues and has a horizontal approach for the composition. You can see with the torn papers, it's much more textured than the other examples we've looked at. These examples utilize colored papers and not many images were used. If you plan to use colored images, check an experiment to see which image could be a main focal point and build the other materials around it. Play an experiment with your layout before committing to gluing the images down. So in this example, I use some images as well as the colored papers. Before gluing, I experimented and played around with where to put certain elements. I often start out filling the background areas with color and then use the main elements afterwards experimenting and deciding on their placement. This last one is less abstract. I remember finding this image of men with guns, and it did have this kind of purple effect on it. So then I looked for other source material that could match through the purple color. He gets weighed down or anchored down by this black polka dot pattern at the bottom here. It was a semi translucent origami paper. So consider your use of color to create your collage. Gather all your source materials first and experiment with your layout. Try also experimenting with the torn paper versus cut paper. 12. Collage Idea 8: Colour Scheme: Previous activity explored one color, and now we're going to take it further and explore different color schemes. This activity will build your awareness on color schemes and implementing them to create harmony within your work. First, go ahead and have a look online at a color wheel. On it, complimentary colors are located opposite of each other. Using complimentary colors is an easy way to create harmony in your work. Alternatively, you can also think of analogous colors, which are three colors next to each other on the color. Look through your source material for solid blocks of color or images with certain colors. Utilize a selected color scheme to start creating a collage. This can be done abstractly or through colored images. In my first example here, the focus is on pale colors with gray, white, and yellow. The sculptured bust here is placed near the rule of thirds, and in this next example, an analogous color scheme was used. Here we have warm colors with yellow, orange, and red. This next one, a somewhat complimentary color scheme was used. Remember, this means opposite on the color wheel. Blue, a cool color, is contrasted with the warmer colors that are used in the collage. Finally, a complimentary color scheme has been used again, but here with like a red and green, as well as the des collage technique, which will be explored in activity 30. As we start working further into this course, increased independent decisions will start to be made more by you. Keep an open mind. Start gathering colors from your source material with a color scheme in mind. Think warm, cool, complimentary, or analogous. 13. Collage Idea 9: Pattern Fillers: Indy nine pattern fillers forces you to examine your source material in new ways while developing your awareness on composition through the principle of pattern. Gather some patterns from wrapping papers, origami paper, wallpaper, or magazines. These can make attractive collage pieces. Use these creatively as a focus for your work or to fill empty areas within a frame. Your work can also be a patchwork of patterns or lean towards abstraction. Consider contrast, line and color schemes as strategies to incorporate as well. I have some examples here that all utilize line as a pattern that I'll share with you. This first one here is an image of address, and I believe the red one here was also a fashion fabric that I've cut out, and I like the color combination within it. The next one here has a complimentary color scheme with the red and the green. And it's divided by one third and two thirds. And we also have this one that kind of has a horizontal approach, but then the line work on this one goes a little bit more vertical creating a contrast within the work. And in this one, it was just some wallpaper design that I think was from some type of architectural magazine, and then just contrasted with this pcadat pattern and then a color accent given here. So this next example here is where this activity can be fruitful. I have two portrait images here that we use, and I love this bright pink background. The lower two thirds is filled with this blue pattern, which was the same from this one here. So the challenges to use pattern in a creative way, whether as working with pictorial images or as an element on its own. Feel free to also create your own hand drawn patterns to utilize within the work. If you decide to do this on glossy magazine images, make sure that you're using permanent markers such as Sharpies or Posca paint pens. If you use water based markers on those glossy magazine images, it'll probably just wipe off. Up next, we're going to look at texture. 14. Collage Idea 10: Cardboard Texture: Uh me to activity ten cardboard texture. This activity will involve manipulating your source material as a textural technique for artistic effect and will help you to re examine the use and possibilities of your materials. Technically, this collage activity is fairly straightforward. Gather different types of cardboard and manipulate them for artistic effect. This can be done through color and lettering that appears on the packaging or the type of cardboard and its texture. Use these different elements to build a composition. So have a look here. Nice thing about cardboard is that it can be peeled, exposing the corrugated area in between. It could also be torn or cut, highlighting texture that is not evident with normal paper. This collage uses a complimentary color scheme of red and green. The red here was packing tape that said fragile. I also played with the direction of the arrows here with one going up and one going down. Overall, this composition is using a cruciform or L shaped composition strategy. This next one is using a horizontal strips approach. It is anchored by the band of black at the bottom here. The thick lines of the barcode here also add some medium weight. For some of these, I use this rotarary cutting tool here. It works like a pizza cutter, as I mentioned in the materials video, and it's nice to have, not super essential, but I think I only paid maybe about $15 for this. It comes in handy when I do need it. One thing to keep in mind with this activity is that it would work better if you use gel medium or mod podge instead of the glue due to the thickness of the cardboard. The Mg podge and the gel medium will hold much better than normal glue. I haven't tried it with PVA glue, but that could be another possible option. Go ahead and create a cloge at a cardboard and see how you can incorporate the element of texture into your work. 15. Collage Idea 11: Negative Space: This useful technique will force you to pay attention to negative space and how it can be used as a collage technique. This negative space activity will explore cutout silhouettes or negative space. This can be used with an image cutout and leaving the negative space blank as in this example here. In this next one, the same thing was done, but the image was cut out on the reverse side. In this next third one, the same thing was done. We have a cutout here, and then another cutout here, which was on the other side of the page. These three examples are the most basic to illustrate the point of the activity. Here in this one, the same thing was done with only the hands being removed, and since the hands run off the frame, it also makes it look a little more graphic. If you cut an element out, you can also fill it with another image placed behind the window cutout as I've done here. And the same thing was done in this example just with the lenses of the sun glasses. Using negative space can be a good tactic to have in the back of your mind. Here, I had a figure cutout and I use that for another collage, and then I use this scrap cutout piece as part of this collage. Give it a try yourself. How can you creatively make negative space work? We'll look at this further in the next module, but with a slight twist. 16. Collage Idea 12: Shifted Space: T We're going to further explore our use of negative or empty space by simply cutting and shifting an element to reveal the negative space. Find an image of an object or a person to use. Cut the person or object out and slightly shift it over either to the left or right or even up and down. Leave the empty space showing or place another image or colored paper behind it. Let's see some examples. Here, the figure has been cut out and placed slightly behind the cutout window here, creating a slight sense of mystery. You could also decide to do this with a single element within an image, like in this example here. Here, the eyes have been cut out in a horizontal band. And slightly shifted to the right. And then I just put this little image behind the window cutout here. This next one, this one has been cut out and placed behind the cutout area on a diagonal to make it appear like the figure is peeking out of the cut. The blue paper area was added to help show some depth and color variation. Here in this next one, the figures were cut out and colored paper was then placed behind the cutouts, and the figures were then mounted, slightly shifted over, and these two figures could also have been placed on opposite sides or even upside down. With part of an image being cut and moved, this technique will force you to utilize negative space and create a sense of mystery or humor in your work. Don't forget to explore. 17. Collage Idea 13: See 'scapes: In this activity, we will experiment with space and implementing a torn or cut paper technique. Each have their own personality and texture. We're going to create a landscape or a sea scape, hence the prompt title seascapes. There are two ways to approach this, either by tearing paper or cutting with scissors. You can see the difference in these two examples. This one here has utilized torn papers, whereas this one here has been cut with scissors. With your source material, you could try and find a similar color combination to use, especially if you wish to create a mountain range. Meaning if I plan on using red, I need to find about four tones of red ranging from a dark to a light, and this will mimic atmosphere perspective. With atmospheric perspective, the color generally lightens as we move further back creating the illusion of debt. But to be honest, finding these colors can sometimes be difficult depending on how much source material you have available. You can also experiment with where to place your horizon line to highlight the use of space. You see in these two examples here, one is placed low, and the other one is placed high. The low horizon line emphasizes more sky, and the high horizon line would emphasize more land. This activity is a simple experiment to get you thinking on how to divide your frame and whether to explore clean cuts or jagged tears. These jagged tears can have personality and add to your collage as in this example here. Where tearing the paper actually helped create the wave surf. Using cleaner cuts is another option as I have in this example here. Here, a simple colorful landscape collage what's created. Another option is to mix images with colored paper. The sky and water is colored paper with the mountains and boat being cut from magazines. So try creating a landscape or seascape, experimenting with clean cuts or tears. Consider where to place your horizon line, either low to highlight the sky area or place a high, to show more land. 18. Collage Idea 14: Stacks: This approach is a technique I use rather frequently, and it's called stacks. It's going to help you develop a strategy on how to layer or stack your work using squares or rectangles instead of accurately cutting individual images. So we're going to utilize this composition strategy to fill our frame and use an all over approach. First, you're going to find a main image you wish to use. You may also have secondary images related to this as well or have colors that could also match. Here, an image of an animal was used, which was then supported by other papers that also had green. As you can see, it was created by stacking and rotating the cut squares and rectangular pieces as the main element of the composition. It's a more abstracted approach. With this next one, I use chewing gum wrappers, cutting them into various strips. Repetition and the element of color has been utilized. And with the next one here, Various images were cut and then stacked or piled on top of each other. As opposed to the other two, this one is much more lose and has a completely different feel than precisely cutting out individual images. This strategy can help create semi abstracted work. It's also useful creating a background layer if you wish to pursue mixed media work and superimpose something on top. Give it a try by cutting your papers into squares and rectangles and stacking them up. I usually use emptier pieces first to fill out the background areas. 19. Collage Idea 15: Arranged Grid: This activity develops a simple compositional strategy by using a grid. At times, repetition can also be incorporated. This grid approach can have advantages. It can help create a graphic approach or add stability or structure to your work. Here, a series of camera images we organized creating repetition in the work. A narrative can also be created by having images that link with each other. In this example, an equal horizontal and vertical grid was first created by drawing it out on the mounting board to assist with the alignment. The theme of travel exploration was pursued. As your work progresses, you do need to keep a sense of balance in mind. Here's something that's a little bit different. A grid was first drawn out over the image. Each squared section was then further trimmed, a few millimeters around each square. These pieces were then reassembled, and as you can see, some areas of the image have been removed for artistic effect. In this one, we have a more of a graphic approach. One image was used with repetitive circular shapes added in a grid format. Similar to the third example, using a grid approach over an existing image is another possibility as a decorative technique. However, if you look at this collage example here, it could use more contrast between the overlaid animal pattern paper and the background image. As designers, we need to keep things like this in mind. So go ahead and try giving an arranged grid a go. Arrange various images into a grid, creating a grid narrative, or overlay a second image over another image, or create a grid, and then trim the edges further or take more of a design approach. 20. Collage Idea 16: Strip Slips & Flips: This activity allows you to create an experiment with cutting strips and altering their position for artistic effect. We're going to cut an entire image into strips. The first thing you want to do is find an image you would like to use. As in this example here, we cut the image into equal strips and then glue them down on a smaller piece of card. As you glue each strip, slightly slide each one of the strips up or down. It's important to note that since each slip is moving up or down, the mounting paper or board needs to be smaller than the image strips. Otherwise, your mounting board will be exposed. However, this could also have an interesting effect. In this example, a secondary image was cut horizontally and then mounted over an existing image, which has a different effect than the other example. Another thing we can do is place a singular strip upside down. Here's a simple example with one image and only one strip, which was flipped. We can take this a little bit further. Here, various strips were made with each second strip flipped upside down. Note, I also didn't create strips across the entire image. The same was done in this example, but with a diagonal cut. The image was originally a Mexican wrestler, and the result is rather more abstract. Have an exploration with these strips by sliding them up or down or superimposing them over other existing images. You can also try vertical, horizontal, or diagonal strips. How could this technique look if you altered the thickness of each strip? In the next activity, we're going to take this further. 21. Collage Idea 17: Alternating Strips: Welcome to alternating strips. We will build on the previous exercise by subtly morphing two images into one through cut strips for artistic effect. We will need to use two images for this task and we alternate between the cut strips. There are two ways to do this. First, select your two images and cut them so they have the same dimensions. We will then cut one of the images into even strips. These cuts can be done vertically or horizontally. You will get better results if the images contrast or have different colors. Let me explain by using this first example here. Once the strips have been cut for an image, place them in order off to the side. We will take the second uncut image and mount the entire image down onto our card. With pencil, mark out the strip measurements onto this piece. Meaning, if your strips are 5 millimeters thick, you will mark out a dash every 5 millimeters on your image. We will then glue every second strip on top of this image. Since we are using every second strip, don't forget to leave a blank area. We are then only using half of our cut strips. With the leftover strips, you can find another image with the same dimensions and do the same thing. Therefore, we've created two collages using three images. For the second approach, we will again need two images that have the same dimensions. We will evenly cut both images into equal strips. We create and mount the collage by assembling alternating image strips from the two cut images. Meaning you glue a strip from image one, then the second strip from image two, and then the third strip from image one again, and so on and so on. You will be able to create two collages if you use two images. If you want to try, you could also create three collage works if you use three images. As an extension, you'll be introduced to circle cuts in activity 20. Here, an alternating circle cut between two images has created two partnered collage works. Good luck, giving these alternating strips approach to try. Coming up next, we'll try rearranged mosaic. 22. Collage Idea 18: Rearranged Mosaic: Continuing with our CuT strategies approach, this activity will demonstrate how to build a collage using only one image and how to repurpose it through a rearranged grid or mosaic approach. Take an image and cut it into equal squares. It may prove easier to start off with a basic grid as in these two examples. Once cut, place them in order off to the side. Using a piece of card, reassemble and mount the cut pieces into a new arrangement. It is easier if you draw this grid onto your card and start mounting in a corner and work along an edge first. This will help keep the other pieces aligned and straight. After that, you could try working your way up to something more challenging as in this one. This one followed the same steps as before, but you can see I have left some parts of the image in the same place as I still wanted it to be recognizable. Here, you can also get an interesting effect by using the same technique, but only apply it to certain areas of an image. As an extension, feel free to explore different shapes like triangles or diamonds instead of squares as we have here. This one was a little bit more difficult, and I did have to Google a cube template, which I traced with tracing paper and then transferred it on top of the image. As a reminder, this activity demonstrates building a collage using only one image and how to repurpose it through a rearranged grid or mosaic approach. What I'm doing first here is I'm just measuring to make an accurate grid over the facial section that I plan to cut out. I'm just doing this with pencil. I. Now I'm just going in, I'm cutting that square out, and I'm going to mount this magazine page onto my card. And then I'll begin cutting out the mosaic piece. Now I'm just going to cut out the mosaic pieces, keeping it in order off to the side. Now I'm just mounting them in and playing with the rearrangement of it. And I'm just applying the eel medium directly onto the card and then sticking the cut piece right onto that. And then put a layer of the gel medium on top just to act as a sealant. 23. Collage Idea 19: Decorative Cut: Building our cutting strategy approaches, this activity will allow you to use the actual cuts as a creative strategy and decorative technique. For this, you're going to need a singular image to use. Once found, use a sharp blade and cut into the image revealing the negative space. Here, my cuts are patterns cut in relation to the image. Here I'm just using some organic shapes that kind of follow the contour of the face. You can also ignore the image and use the decorative cut as the main focus as I've done here. Both of these examples have just left the cut areas empty. It is a little tricky to then glue these down. I suggest taking some care and start by gluing an edge or one side first. Here's another example, but a red magazine image has been placed behind the cuts. Here, I have used more of an overall shape inspired by butterfly wings. Your cuts can be patterns, shapes, symbols, or even letters, et cetera. Note that if you plan on using a smaller image, it's a little more difficult to create these smaller cuts. Here, vertical and horizontal cuts were used with colored paper placed behind them. Here, I tried a chevron pattern using a stencil and I won't lie. It was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. Try creating something that uses cuts as a decorative technique. Note that some magazine cover pages are a little harder to cut due to their thickness. Good luck. So what I'm doing here is I'm just taking my magazine image and trimming it down to the size of my mounting board. And I'm just removing the background here, and I'm starting to go in with my exacto knife here, making these cuts. And I'm trying to observe the contour or the direction of the face itself. So some of my cuts will reflect that curve, for example, if it's in the chin or in a cheek area. And I find it a lot easier when cutting shapes like this that you rotate your source image so that you're kind of cutting towards yourself. And you'll notice with my index finger, I kind of hold an area down right next to the area that I'm cutting so that the paper doesn't buckle and perhaps tear. Then I just take my gel medium here, mount it down. And I'm just putting this on top, just kind of act as a sealant. 24. Collage Idea 20: Circle Cuts: This activity will allow you to repurpose an image and use your cuts as a creative strategy and decorative technique. You can also alter the orientation for artistic effect. This activity will conclude using cuts as a decorative collage strategy. Here I have a circle cutter. I bought it on Amazon Japan for maybe about $17. The price I guess can vary as here in Singapore, I've seen it in stores for about $30. It has a tiny blade on the underside here and comes with this plastic guide, which helps you find the center for placing over your image. You simply just unscrew it like this to adjust the size. And I'll give you a demo cutting with it now. You just put it there, put it on top of your image, you can adjust the size, just tighten it to hold. You push down here and just rotate like this. There it is. It's not an essential tool, but it does speed up the process more accurately. For this activity, find a singular image to use. Using my circle cutter, I created a series of circular cuts here, and I place them off to the side and first glue down the main image here, which is the outside. And then as I added the circular cuts, I rotated them or changed their orientation. If you do not have a circle cutter, you can draw the various circles over your image with a compass, and then carefully cut them out with scissors, as I've done here. You circles can be equal size cuts or can vary in thickness as I've done here in this example. I've used different magazine pages, which also takes an abstract approach. In activity 17, where we alternated cut strips, you can do something similar here, bind two images to use and create the same measured cuts for each image. As you glue them down, alternate the pieces from each cut. 25. Collage Idea 21: Face Off: This face off activity is fun and will re examine identity and negative space as a creative strategy. Using a portrait image, you will cut out the face. In this example, I simply cut out the contour, leaving the hair in place, and I also remove the ears. I then used origami paper and glued it behind of the window cutout. You could also try out leaving it completely blank or use a solid colored paper. Once done, I then mounted it onto the card. In this example, I've done the same thing, but experimented by leaving the mouth, eyebrows, and eyes. Personally, I prefer the first one, leaving the facial elements out. With this one, I removed Wonder woman's face and substituted it with polka dot paper. I also used pattern paper in the background here. Feel free to try what you find interesting. The approach of removing or hiding parts will be again utilized in upcoming activities 25 Gestalt and 27 Persona. 26. Collage Idea 22: Renegades: This playful activity transforms an image into a mysterious mass figure or rebel. These massed rebellious portraits are an extension from activity 21, face off. Go ahead and find a portrait image and cut out the head. It's better to cut along the head instead of the hair. This example here, cut along the long hair, and the result is not as good. After cutting around the head, use this to trace the outline onto black paper, and then cut this out as well as if it was a silhouette. On the actual portrait image, draw out the eye hole shapes as if a ski mask was being worn and then cut these out. Using the cut head with missing eyes, trace out eye holes onto the black paper. This will help place the cut eyes into the correct place. Finally, mounted onto white or colored paper. Have a look here at this example. I didn't mount onto white card, and you see the result is not as good as the other one as there isn't enough contrast between the figure and the background. As an extension, feel free to try bright colors or pattern paper instead of a black silhouette. You can then decide if it's better to mount on a light or dark background. 27. Collage Idea 23: Hybrid Creatures: Hybrid creatures utilizes mashing as a reminder to have a sense of humor. Not everything has to be so serious all the time. Let's have some lighthearted fun. We are simply going to mix heads and bodies with animals, insects, and humans. I particularly look at scale to see if an animal head could match the proportions of a human body. That's what I've done here in this example. When attaching different body parts, I usually mount behind. For example, for this one, I've cut here, and then before I glued the figure down, I've glued this animal head on the inside of the shoulder area here. Here's some other examples. I like this penguin one as a human clothes are black and white as well. This one plays with the hunted as the hunter. I also cut along this tree line here and tuck the figure behind it to create a sense of depth. This next one is quite Simple. All I've done was simply add sheep heads to the figures. You can also go more silly or more humorous. Here I've added human eyes and lips to this image of a gorilla. In this next one, I added human arms to this baby giraffe. You can also try adding food or plants to human or animal parts as well. Here we have a walking hamburger, a donut fashion show. These are all fairly simple collages. Have some fun with it, and don't worry about being silly. 28. Collage Idea 24: Mirror Mirror: In this mirror mirror activity, you will pay attention to symmetry, negative space, and possibly repetition as a design tactic. We are going to use symmetrical balance as inspiration here. Symmetry is where we have equal parts balanced within our frame. Find an image of someone doing something active, such as exercise or playing a sport, et cetera. With my first example here, I first cut out the figure, and then use the remaining scrap cut piece to mirror against the cutout image, and you will have to flip this paper over to create the mirror effect. I filled my cutout window with blue paper to match the man's blue paddle. Glue them down next to each other. I added this band at the bottom, just to create a little bit more interest. You see mine takes up 50% of the frame, similar to the very first 50 50 activity we did. Alternatively, if you have duplicates of the same image as I have here, you can also play with repetition and reflection as I've done. I've not glued them down as a perfect mirror, though, as you see it's not perfectly aligned. I could maybe in retrospect, tried putting it more in a perfect alignment like this, but I would probably have to trim the images a little bit further. Then I added these basic shapes just to decorate it further. After doing some of the other activities and doing this one, your brain will start to store these strategies as a bank of ideas, and you may start employing diverse ideas into a singular work. Here I've used the mirror mirror strategy with this figure, which I've cut out from this piece and then have it flipped over. Then I also added some of these circle cuts just as a decorative technique. For this activity, you could also print your own personal photos and mirror or flip your second copy of your photo to achieve this effect. It could produce some interesting results. Reflect on your process after completion. Just did a joke there, Mr mirror reflection. Never mind. 29. Collage Idea 25: Gestalt: This activity demonstrates Gestalt, which allows a viewer to see a whole, though only certain parts are visible. Humans naturally create a sense of spatial relationships between images, even in the absence of visual cues. Gestalt theory attempts to make sense of how our brains process visual stimuli or create meaning out of chaos. For this activity, create a clause using a person, but only use the head and limbs of the figure. Let the negative space be highlighted as in this example here. To help assist with the correct places of the limbs, use the cuto area to mark where they should go in pencil. L eave your petal areas blank on the mounting card or feel free to make marks with pencil, markers, or paints, as in the last two examples here that I've shown. Our brains still connect where the body should be, even though it is not fully visible. Here, some empty space has been left blank and some substituted with solid blocks of colored paper. I've substituted the clothing here with colored paper, and this is an extension of Gestalt and illustrates how the process can be adapted and applied in other ways. Look at some of the screen prints of British pop artist Gerald Lang, if this is something you like. So I've gathered my source materials here, and I'm just taking this image of a woman, and I'm going to remove her face, as well as her forearm. And I'm using the original magazine page here, and I'm just tracing out the cut area just so I can get the measurements correct for the relationship between the head and the arm. Using some of these old scrap pieces of paper to layer into the background, and I'll just make some pencil marks to decorate the mounting board further, and just ripping some paper here just to create a bit more texture. I've marked where I'm going to be gluing, and I'm just applying that gel medium there. Using the bone folder to squeeze out any air bubbles and mounting the other two pieces of the figure in and we're done. 30. Collage Idea 26: Fashion Passion: Building on from the previous activity, we will now substitute clothing with this fashion passion activity. This activity asks you to reconsider elements of your collage through substitution and pattern. Fashion passion is a fun and relaxed way to alter or transform individuals. Using pattern paper such as Origami paper, we will decorate new clothing onto people. To do this, cut out the clothing from your image and substitute it with pattern paper instead. It is more effective to glue this on the backside, showing through the window cut that you just made. Here I've changed the jacket, the shirt, and the bench she's sitting on. In this next one, I've done the same thing and just change the shirt and the pants with the Oregami paper. In this next one, I've substituted the entire clothes with a single piece of Oregami paper. Feel free to also create your own figures as done here. We will explore something like this further in activity 45 designed graphic. This activity is a simple little process similar to some of the other activities, but involves a bit of substitution. So I gathered my patterned Oregai paper here, and I'm just going to first start off by cutting out the skirt area. And it's always good to rotate your source image and always cut towards yourself. And I'm just testing out some of the different patterns to see how it matches with the figure. And I'm applying the gel medium behind the window cut and then just cutting out the rectangle of the Oregami paper to glue behind the window cut. Now, I'm just repeating the same process as before for the jacket, testing again out different patterns of Oregami paper to see which one looks best. And finally, moving on to the boot area. Cutting that out and testing which color would match better. And you see gluing behind the window cut is a much faster process. And I'm just putting the gel medium here or mod podge onto my mounting card and using the bone folder to squeeze out any air bubbles. 31. Collage Idea 27: Persona: This activity 27 is one of my favorites, as there are so many possibilities to do. We will use creative strategies such as eliminating, hiding, substituting, and combining to help build techniques to recontextualize existing images. We are going to consider different ways to use the face or persona. There are so many different options for this, and it is useful, as many of the images you find in magazines will revolve heavily around portraits. One strategy that is fun to use with good results is the anti portrait. This is where we hide or eliminate parts of the face or the face entirely. I got lucky with this one as this glass cup match the size of the head rather well. Here, I just place a simple square over the face. I was inspired by David Bowie's album cover for the next day. American artist John Baldasari, was well known for his dot artworks. He played circles over faces. We can easily do this with collage as illustrated here. In these next two examples, I've completely removed the head. I added these colored circles as a graphic element that I feel work relatively well. Another idea is to take your image and slice a thin section out to create an abnormal portrait as done here. Look at the work of John Steseker, if you find this interesting. With these next two, smaller face has been aligned and placed upside down over another face, which is fun. The only difficult thing is finding two portraits that are both facing forward. With this next one, I cut out two heads on this first image here. I drew a line down in pencil, paying attention to the contour of the shape and the nose in the mouth, and then cut it. I place this second head in between the two cut pieces, so it looks like a second head is emerging out of the first head. Gathering several portrait images to use first, you can also take the facial elements from the different photos and create an entirely new person by mashing the several parts into a new hole. I remember this one was pretty fun to do and was rather spontaneous. You see, there is so much you can do with people's faces, hide them, eliminate them, substitute them, combine them, or even eliminate them completely. Experiment with this activity and try several ideas out. 32. Collage Idea 28: Number: Number is another one of my favorite collage activities. Obviously, you will create a collage that uses numerals. This activity will force you to apply design elements and principles while it's reconsidering your use of forms and layout. You will need to think about how to arrange various elements within your frame, especially if your source material has varied weights or font styles. The element of scale or size and or color can be a focal point as in this example here. This is still one of my favorite collages due to the color and the large graphic numeral elements. You see, it's not very big, it's a rather small work of art. I often start with an aspect I like. For example, here, it was this yellow paper area. I'll then rummage through my folder picking pieces that could possibly match and then play around with the composition moving different parts around before I glue them down. I'll sometimes photograph these different arrangements to review which one looks the best. In this next piece, I took an all over approach. Here, the numerals were cut into squares and rectangles or stacks, which was outlined in Activity 14. I had to take care as I didn't have enough numerals to fill the frame, so I also use some neutral colors to fill the space. If this next one, I really like the large numeral three. It's the focal point and was placed on the rule of thirds within the frame, surrounded by mostly white and a few complimentary color accents. This last one uses mostly warm colors and started off by using the L shape or cruciform composition strategy. The red number eight was done with marker on tracing paper and super imposed on top. The orientation of the numbers were also played with. Before gluing, remember to experiment with orientation by rotating elements and having sections run off the frame as a creative strategy. You can approach this literally by highlighting the aspects of the numerals or take a more abstract approach where you focus more on using the form or shape of the numerals. Next, we will do something similar, but focus on typography. So I've gathered all the source material that I plan to use. And the first thing I'm doing is to quickly figure out how can I fill out the background. So I'm just testing some of the various papers and trimming some down to size if needed, trying to think how to create balance within that background as well. And I usually tend to do this with scale or size of different elements as well as through color. Playing with the orientation, turning some upside down, some sideways, and now just layering in some parts with different numerals. And here, I'm just using tracing paper, tracing over this number eight, I'll glue that down, and it'll come a bit transparent. Usually there's a little bit of cloud left over, but I'm okay with that. Now just trying to think how to fill in other elements, taking into account again, color. This is a plastic stencil, and I'm just using a sharpie marker just to add a little hand drawn decorative element. And trimming off any excess parts, and we're finished. 33. Collage Idea 29: Typography: This activity forces you to apply design elements and principles while us reconsidering your use of forms and layout. Similar to activity 28 number, you will instead construct a clause using found type from magazines, et cetera. Think how to arrange the elements on your frame, especially if your source material has varied weights and fonts. Color, contrast, and space can also be considerations to experiment with. You can approach this literally highlighting the characteristics of the individual letters or take an abstract approach. Let me show you some examples. These two, letters were cut into squares and rectangles or stacks, which was explored in Activity 14. When this is done, you focus more on the element of form and color while it's creating your work. Here with this one, a minimalist and symmetrical approach was used. We have this orange E at the top and some Japanese text at the bottom. The torn white band adds some texture and is unified through the use of color. Here's another one of my favorite collages. I love the bright use of color and the fonts included. If you look closely, it spells. In this next one, here's something a little more subtle with type. Only one letter is used here in the corner, but it's bright and it's complimentary with the blue. Two thirds of the composition is taken up by two patterns, which was explored in Activity nine pattern fillers. Lastly, we have this one which uses text directly taken from a cardboard package. It's also a nice polite manners reminder. So, do look through your source material, pulling out all the type you find interesting. You can be literal and actually create words or work more abstractly, focusing on forms and stacking elements. You can also find secondary elements to use that complement through color, scale, or contrast. Do explore and try different ideas and arrangements out. So here, I've gathered the papers that I plan to use in the collage, and I've looked for things that are basically yellow and black. And I just start cutting out sections and just trying to consider balance as I move along. And the first step is I'm just trying to basically fill out the space, checking how each individual letter might interact with that space in the other collage elements. And I also cut shapes in half to kind of fill in maybe blank areas or to create some type of variety with the line that's being utilized. And as the collage grows, I'm constantly thinking about balance within the work, unity, the contrast between the yellow and the black as well. I don't do any planning with this. It's just kind of a piece of work that evolves. And then I just trim off the excess pieces here along the edges, put a layer of gel meetum on top to kind of act as a sealant, and it's done. 34. Collage Idea 30: Décollage: This activity demonstrates that ephemera can be an interesting textural technique that can communicate the passage of time. In French, de collage translates to unstick. For this de collage activity, we're going to create by using the process of destruction. Sounds so dramatic, doesn't it? Let's start off simply by looking at this first example which used pages from a coloring book. It uses three images and started off with a shifty 50 50 arrangement, like all the way we did at the beginning of this course in Activity two. As this is being built up, and while the glue is beginning to dry, begin tearing and ripping parts away. This will create texture in your work. Try reattaching some of these torn pieces as well. This next example follows the same instructions, but started off with the stacks approach. As it progressed, I kept adding and removing different elements. You'll have to trial and error to see how long to let your paper sit before tearing them off. I didn't have to wait too long, but it also varies depending on the type of paper as well. As the work progressed, I then started looking at adding colors and different paper types. Thick glossy magazine pages are a little harder to do this with as the glue takes longer to bind and dry. Thinner papers tend to work better. Imagine viewing years of display boards around your city that have been removed, weathered, torn, and layered with new ads. This activity aims to replicate that. The collage also makes a good textured background for other collage works. If interested in other textures, try crinkling your image or sending them down with sandpaper. So I've collected the materials that I will use here, focusing on color. And the first step I'm doing is just filling in the background, using the stacks approach, and sometimes using the bone folder to squeeze out any air bubbles. I start to decolage some elements, I do this as they begin to dry, and I just keep adding additional pieces, paying attention to how it fits in conjunction with the other pieces or other colors around it. I just keep building it up, decolaging, and reattaching some of the rip pieces back on just to kind of create some more interesting textures. Also throw in some additional color with the purple. Now I'm kind of using almost like a triatic scheme with the purple orange and green. The newsprint paper tears a lot more easier as it's very thin. And I keep all those rip scraps, as I mentioned before, reattaching them in different places. And I'll just add these other pieces that are in black just to kind of create some visual weight. And I'll go and trim off those excess along the edges. And we're done. A. 35. Collage Idea 31: Child's Play: Well, congratulations, we have reached the halfway point of activities. You will now begin making more independent decisions regarding your compositions. This activity will allow you to focus on specific content or source material and to independently consider ways to structure your layout in composition. Children's literature, such as comics, storybooks, coloring books, and even encyclopedias, can be excellent source material for collage works. Utilize aspects of these to create a collage. Gather what you find interesting. Consider your composition ayo and some of the other techniques utilized up to this point. With this example, we have a rather simple layo. It's reminiscent of our very first activity, 50 50. Some pencil marks have been added with some scribbles. These three examples all have similar composition strategies with some variations to the L or cruciform strategy. Experiment further by considering the rule of thirds symmetry or an all over composition arrangement, as I've done here. It utilizes the stacks approach in activity 14. Some previous strategies could also be applied, such as utilizing only black and white, a color accent, or a color scheme, et cetera. Refer back near the beginning mastering composition to review compositional strategies if needed. 36. Collage Idea 32: Abstract Garden: This abstract garden activity frees you from the worry of precision and instead offers a playful, illustrative approach. You can use bright colored papers or colored pages from magazines. We'll be inspired by plants or your garden, and we'll make it more abstracted, so we don't have to worry about realism. Let's look at some examples. In this first one, color paper was used with a focus on color. If you don't have any plants around your house, you could use an online reference photo as a guide. To make something like this, you'll need to start from the background and work your way forward. Here's another one inspired by a potted plant. Some of the leaves are from magazine pages, some as well are from Oregami paper, and the pot is also Oregami paper. Here again, we work from the back and move our ways forward. Don't worry about precision or realism. Instead, create shapes that can fill and decorate your frame. Here's another one inspired by a potted plant with decorative elements added with all of these circles. It's very flat and more abstracted. This piece here was made from the scraps of this collage. Don't forget to save some of your scrap pieces as you may need them towards the end of the course. So instead of worrying about realism, create playful illustrative collages, focusing on plants. Imagine you're illustrating a children's book and focus on composition and color. So I gathered all my various types of paper and colors that I plan on using. And I've sketched out my image first on this sheet of paper. And here with the black orgami paper, I'm just kind of measuring and marking out how big to make it. I'm pressing down hard over this magazine page here with my drawing as I'm just tracing the outline of the shape. So it kind of makes an indent in the paper, so it's easier for me to see and faster for me to cut. I'm not super worried about the accuracy for it. As long as it's just close enough, that's fine by me for this task. And I'm just comparing the sizing here just to see if it matches well, and I'm also doing it to compare to see the visual weight and the balance of the color. And you notice I've kind of started off with the darker greens moving to the lighter greens. And I'm just tracing out the whole of the pot here, just for its placement because I'll add this piece on top, so it actually looks like it's coming out. And I just start attaching the pieces. Some of them, I've done half light green and half darker green or a different pattern just for the variety. And that's all there was to it. 37. Collage Idea 33: Hands: Utilizing hands can be an interesting aspect to involve viewers in your work. This simple tactic allows you to create an anchor point or visual focus in your work through a hand motif. It could be a singular hand, a pair of hands, or even repetitive, multiple hands filling the frame. This activity, you will make a collage that incorporates a hand or hands in some way. You can make considerations to the age of the hands, their gesture, or the style or type from your source material. Meaning you may have hands from art history works, or even cartoon hands, et cetera. You can think how these can create a mood or atmosphere in your art. This first example is rather simple and somewhat political connected to the M two movement. In contrast, this next one is much busier with various hands filling the entire frame coming from two directions. If doing something like this, the larger hands are in the back and the smaller ones are in the front, which helps show depth in the work. You could try it in reverse, but the larger hands may cover all the smaller ones. Let's call this next one a bit more artistic. The background has been layered with black and white text. We have the pair of hands here in the top right corner, balanced with the blue and red at the bottom. The asymmetry of the work is somewhat counterbalanced by the torn brown segment here in the bottom left. The colors placed towards the bottom create an anchor in the work. You will probably encounter a lot of hands in your magazines, and they can be good visual motifs in your collage works. So I've gathered all the materials that I plan to use within this collage. And the first thing I'm doing is just cutting out the hands that I've decided to use and just cutting around it accurately at this stage. Next, I'll think about how to layer in a background. And here I'm just thinking about black and white and just using some scrap papers I've had playing with the orientation and the positioning of it as well. And I'm just kind of looking as I do this, how it interacts with the other pieces around it, and, you know, the balance between the black and white. And here, I'm kind of looking at what pieces could work within it. And sometimes I base that on color. Sometimes I base it on texture. I'm also adding some de collage techniques in here just to build up some interest. And since the hand had that corner piece, I've decided to leave it in the corner. And I'll have to think about what to put in the lower space to try to create further interest or balance within the work. Red always looks good with black and white. So I have that little band there and connected with that, blue should make a good match. So I'll just put that in and it's finished. 38. Collage Idea 34: Cartoon Parts: As we progress in this course, you may notice that things are becoming a little more open ended. We are moving away from the techniques to strategies, and some may depend on the source material that you gather. This cartoon parts activity mixes real world with fantasy in a playful manner by substituting in jxtaposing cho elements. As mentioned earlier in child's play activity one, children's books can be a great source of material to work from. What happens if we mix them with the images from the real world? This juxtaposition can be an interesting strategy or even humorous. You will have to find and gather images of people or places from magazines, Browse comics, coloring books, and children's fiction to see what can match in a playful way. This could include using singular body parts such as limbs, eyes, or objects as in this example here, where sponge bobs eyes have been added. Then I have another example here with pretty much the same thing being done. The challenge is to consider the size and scale of the mixed images to create a unified hole. In these two examples, fine art reproductions were used with elements from a children's book. Have the potted plants and the birds, as well as the eyes here on this character. The same thing was done here with this fashion ad, with the head and hands being replaced. The two butterflies are stickers. Juxtaposition can also be used as with this example here. Here, elements from a Star Wars coloring book have been added. I like the mystery figure approach here hiding behind the wall. Here we have something similar with a Power Puff girl head being added. If you look closely, the storm trooper is reading the Golden Girls. I added color pencil to make it a bit more subtle. Ramage through your old coloring books or storybooks and see what elements you can pull out of them. Mix these fantasy elements with real world pictures to see what you can come up with. We'll look further at Juxtaposition in the next activity. 39. Collage Idea 35: Scale & Juxtaposition: This activity will show you how scale can be used as a creative strategy and will demonstrate that juxtaposition can be used to play with viewer expectations. This activity is also connected to the following surrealism activity. Try creating a cloge that plays with size for dramatic effect. This would mean pairing images that have different scales into a unified hole. It is easier to begin by finding a wide long shot image, such as a landscape to use as a background and have your secondary images interact with that. The easiest way to tackle this would be to make people appear as giants as we have here in this example. Only two images were used. This landscape one and this figure walking. As you can see, it was done in my sketchbook. Here's another where I found a desert landscape and added this worker sweeping or raking the sand. Here in this next one, it's a little hard to see these small little people, but the boy, this dinosaur animal, and the Star Wars vehicle were added into the landscape. These two examples continue with the giant approach, but in both examples, you see the children are all turned into hunter type characters. Connected with this could be juxtaposition. Juxtaposition involves placing two things together that are not usually associated with each other or contrast each other. This could include time periods, art styles, et cetera. Be playful with it. In this next one here, the giant role is a little reversed with this baby fetus here being large, and the secondary image security guard here being smaller. Here in this next one, we have Miley Cyrus approaching into the landscape with some figures here from a children's social studies book in the foreground. Last, we have this one with a giant figure and a giant bird. It reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock movie, the Birds. I particularly like this casta shadow here, which is caused by the steeple here. However, it looks like it could also be casted by the bird. In this one as well, I've played with these three images of children, which were from an old national geographic magazine playing or something I can't even remember, but the angle matched this city landscape quite well. I've just added these with paint and marker. Dry using scale as a creative strategy and or jx to position to play with viewer expectations. This activity is also connected to the following surrealism activity. So for these type of collages, I usually pre select what I possibly will include within it. And the first thing I've done here is just select kind of like a background layer, and I've just cut it to the same dimensions as my mounting board. I've then taken the secondary images of the boy and this creature that I've cut out precisely along the edges. And to make it look like it's coming out of this hole or this crevice, I've just sliced along one of the edges and just squeeze the image of the creature through that. And then I've just wondered, you know, to maybe to fill in the space further, it needs something in the top right corner. So I just put this image from Star Wars. Just to add a little bit of a surrealist element to it as well. 40. Collage Idea 36: Surrealism : Growing from the data movement, Surrealism was an art movement in the early to mid 20th century, which sought the creative potential of the unconscious mind to create ilogical, dream like and bizarre scenes. Look further at the artworks of Salvador Dali and Renee Magrit from this time period. Here in Activity 36, you will reconsider the context of particular objects and settings and to use them in surrealist and creative ways. For this surrealism activity, think how you can use images out of their usual context or setting. Substitute body parts, locations, and specific functions of particular objects. Scale and juxtaposition from the previous activity will also be useful to incorporate. Very simple and fun one is a blind car. And when I mentioned replacing body parts, this here is an example. Note the head was replaced with an upside down house. Here, scale was used where instead of reclining on a pillow, she's on a mountain range. I trimmed along the edge of the mountain here and tucked the figure in behind it. Scale was again used in this one, and it was almost like a perfect fit and match with the woman sleeping in the bed as if the children have found her. I just painted in the speech bubble by hand. If you Google cereals collage, you'll see a lot of examples that pop up with outer space. Here, I cut out a landing strip and superimposed it over this moon image here, which makes it appear like some type of floating ship. In this next one, this image here was a woman coming through plastic curtains, and I trimmed along the waterfall and tucked the figure behind it to make it appear as if she's peeking through the waterfall. For this surrealism task, use images out of their usual context. Change expectations, B weird. Scale and juxtaposition from the previous activity will also be useful to incorporate. 41. Collage Idea 37: Absurdist: This absurdist activity asks you to further recontextualize objects and settings in a creative, strange, or playful way. We're going to continue and build from the previous two activities. Activities 35, scale injxtaposition, and 36 surrealism, as there is a lot of overlap. With this activity, we will go further extreme by mixing things together that normally wouldn't be associated together and hopefully get weirder. Similar to the surrealist activity. Here I have a car that's simply replacing the eyes. And with this one, the jaw or chin has been cut, lowered in a figure placed in the mouth. I like the red contrasted with the black and white. In this one, cutting along the man's jacket here, I added this woman creeping out by tucking it inside of that cut. Her hand here really adds a bizarre element. Using scale and surrealism here. I've juxtapose this girl and aligned her removed head with one of the eyes. In this next one, I have this poor elderly woman who has two new arms and two smaller figures on her shoulders. Reminds me of the cartoons where you would have an angel and devil whispering into the character's ear to influence them. In this next one, it was also influenced by John Stesaker, that we mentioned earlier in the course. But instead of combining portraits, a different arm here has been added to the original image. I like the torn element here and left it exposed in the colage. This next one is a little bit similar. Reminds me of the collage work of American artist Deborah Roberts, who does this with child images. Here again, you see this is one piece. This jacket here is a second piece, and the head is the third piece. As in the prior mentioned activities, scale, juxtaposition, and surrealism can play roles. Try mixing limbs, substituting eyes, and disregard normal conventions. As an artist, you'll have to decide your layout, composition, and whether you wish to collage simple or be busy. Nothing has to make sense. Your weirdness is what will set you apart. So I knew I wanted to keep this collage kind of simple, and I have this black and white image of a man, and then this smaller image of a woman in a red dress, and I thought the red could play off the black and white rather well. So I'm just cutting out the image of the woman here precisely. Not really sure what to do with it. I was thinking about putting it in his chest pocket. Then I thought it might be interesting if I lower the man's jaw. So I'm just cutting that out here. Having a look to see what it would look like and just marking out where the placement would be, attaching the woman into the chin, and then onto the picture of the man itself. Here what I've done. I've just traced out the window cut of the mouth, colored it in black, just so it looks like it's solid when I put it onto the mounting board. And just using the bone folder here to squeeze out any air bubbles and trimming down the mounting board here. 42. Collage Idea 38: Geometric Combos: This activity rearranges images into geometric forms, either individually or through a combination of two images for artistic effect. In activity 17, where we did alternating cut strips, in activity 18, where we did rearranged mosaics, we'll change gears and do another cutting technique with geometric combos. You will need to find two images to combine into two new collages. You will cut each image following a certain pattern as in these four template options. Each template has been assigned a letter for illustrative purposes. Draw out these patterns on the back of your image and then cut them out. To illustrate this, let me start off simple by showing one image with the first template. On the back of your found image, draw diagonals like an x from the corners. Draw a line down the middle horizontally and vertically. Then draw diagonals connecting the middle horizontal to the middle vertical. Once drawn, cut along your lines and place the pieces off to the side in order. On your mounting card, draw the same pattern lines as before. Start gluing your pieces into a mixed arrangement. W. This second example follows a similar procedure as before, but uses template D with two alternating images. Now, let's do the same thing as the first pattern before. But make it a little more difficult following this pattern, and let's use two images. Make sure you cut your two images so they have the same dimensions, and then draw the pattern on the back of both. Cut this pattern and arrange them in order off to the side. On your two mounting cards, draw the same pattern lines as on the images. Start gluing by combining and alternating the pieces between the two images onto the card. It's easier to start in the corner and work along the edges first. For example, you'll take a piece from image one and then take another piece from image two and so on and so on and so on. You'll end up making two collages like this. Here's another example using template C. As before, there are two images creating two collage pieces as the pieces are divided and shared. This one appears more abstract and graphic, due to the orange bands and limited color palette. This technique requires some careful planning and patience, but can produce some very cool results. So I've selected the two images that I'm going to use. And on the first image here, I've turned it over to draw the pattern out in pencil on the back. And I first just start off with the grid and then put in the diagonals. And then I just repeat that process with the second photo. And I just do this on the back so the pencil marks don't show on the image on the front. Start cutting them into the verticals. And then I'll go into them and cut out the horizontals and the diagonals and put them in order off to the side. I'll do the same thing with the second image. And I've drawn that pattern grid onto the paper here, and I'm just taking pieces from image one and image two to combine them into this collage. You'll notice I am alternating every second piece. But sometimes I mix it up. And on my second mounting card, I do the same thing using the remaining pieces. And because it has a limited color palette, as I mentioned before in the video, and because of the diagonal cuts, it looks a little bit more abstract. 43. Collage Idea 39: Architecture: This architecture activity asks you to consider forms and possibly locations within architectural elements to create a collage. You will need to first collect various images related to buildings, homes, and structures. You will use them to create a collage considering the arrangement that may also focus on scale, color, or textures. Try rotating elements to put individual items out of their context. Let me show you some examples. In this first one here, this collage uses contrast and juxtaposition, which was explored in Activity five. These black and white buildings here are actually pencil drawings, and I've placed them over a landscape painting, completely changing the context. And in this next one, here I've gathered a few Asian buildings to create this piece. So this activity could also include specific elements such as staircases, walls, countertops, cupboards, flooring, et cetera, as I've done here in this example. Here, I've continued using different elements such as stairs and placed some images sideways. Had origami paper was also used as a decorative element. These organic cut shapes contrast with the angular architectural aspects. If this really isn't your thing, you could even take a playful illustrative approach and create your own building. Here, a child like castle was created using basic shapes and colored paper. Take a chance. Good luck. So I've gathered all the images that I plan to use in this collage, and they've all been pre cut. And I'm just playing around with a possible arrangement here, making any adjustments to the pieces that I plan to use, experimenting with some rotation and testing out layout ideas. And I use this pencil here just to draft out onto the mounting paper where I plan to put the pieces that will assist me when I glue them down. And using the pattern Origami paper, just tracing out the outline of the shape that I plan to use, and I marked this placement down as well. I have some of the pieces going in the background and some in the middle ground area. Then I just take my gel medium and start mounting all the various pieces, kind of starting from the background and working my way to the front. And then I just take my eraser and erase all the pencil lines I had before, and we are finished. 44. Collage Idea 40: Still Life: T. This activity asks you to consider a compositional arrangement for still life objects, either through cutting actual object images or creating objects through colored paper. Start off by gathering various images of objects to create a still life collage. These objects can be anything ranging from food to personal items or appliances that you may find in store advertisements or junk mail. In this collage here, images of food were gathered through a supermarket advertisement. So the paper quality of the ad was rather cheap, almost like a newsprint, and I think it matches the dull blue background paper here rather well. In this next example, it's a little bit larger, but we have something similar. Various objects through time periods and cultures have been assembled with the larger objects placed in the background to assist in showing depth. The bright yellow colored paper helps create a pop artifact. And this next collage is a little bit different. It was done with colored paper, and I took inspiration from an online image and first drew it out on tracing paper. Doing this assists in transferring the shapes onto the colored paper. Using the tracing paper, you can simply place it over the colored paper and trace over the line so it makes an indent on the colored paper, which you can then cut out. Naturally, I started working from the back and moved my ways forward. Different colored paper was used to show the different tones and shadows. So give still life a try using real objects or create your own through colored paper. So I've gathered all the paper that I'm going to use, and I've drawn out the still life arrangement here on tracing paper. And first, I'm just working out on the background here and kind of like a table surface. And I just mount those down onto my card. And obviously, that's going to be the background. So what I'm doing here is I'm just tracing out the outline of my drawing with a soft pencil lead and turn flip it over, so it's kind of mirrored so that when I cut it out, it's in the right way. And as I trace it over that second time, that lead transfers onto the paper, so it's easy for me to see. Then I just cut it out. And I've worked on the shadow area here with a darker yellow. Glue that on top. Do the same with the next bowl object here. Same technique, draw on one side, transfer the line onto the colored paper. Do it with the shadow on the bowl as well here. Now, I'm just cutting out the oranges and making this slit here, so it looks like it's actually sitting inside the bowl. And just using the red to create a different tone or shadow on the orange. Now doing the shadow on the surface table. Doing one more fruit with its shadow tone and just mounting it onto the card. And I'm doing this starting with the images in the back and working my way forward to help show the depth. 45. Collage Idea 41: Empty Space: This activity asks you to carefully consider composition by utilizing the rule of thirds or asymmetry to develop negative space in your work. Less can be more. This empty space activity celebrates negative space or the rule of thirds as a compositional tactic. Here's an example of using the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is when you divide the frame into thirds either vertically or horizontally or both. Placing elements at intersecting lines will create interest in your work. To start, you may wish to find a large main image to use as a focal point for your collage. Consider placing the main element on the rule of thirds. Other elements can be placed around in your composition, but the main element is caught by the eye due to its size placement and the other areas being more Mt. Here again, I've collaged a textured background with some torn pages and placed the main figure here on the Rule of thirds. These three collage pieces were all created from a Japanese magazine I found from, I think 1967. Another option is to take an abstract approach as in this example here. This could include images or not. Here, I don't have any images, but instead focus on using different papers. I've used negative or empty space to create interest in the work. This next one here has a similar asymmetrical arrangement strategy as the previous collage with elements being placed off to the left. I crinkled the image of the woman here, give it some texture and made her head run off the frame. The blue area is actually acrylic paint over the magazine image. In this last example here, I use typography as explored in activity 29. I focused on contrast between the black and white and the letter forms, cutting them up and stacking them. I've left the top right area here all black. Use the rule of thirds or divide your composition in half with one side being left more empty. This approach is the complete opposite of the all over composition approach where the frame is completely filled and busy. 46. Collage Idea 42: Small Against Big: This small against big activity asks you to reconsider your use of space as we looked at in the previous task and how your images can relate or interact within the frame. We are going to use smaller images we find interesting and arrange them within a larger frame. It's similar to the empty space activity 41, but instead, you will consider the overall use of scale and space. Let me explain by showing this collage. It's rather large, so it won't fit properly into the frame. I'm going to turn it sideways and then I'll adjust it in editing. Here, I've cut rats and mounted them into this larger paper and leaving all this space here empty. In this next one here, this one is a bit of nonsense, but I use the images sparsely with lots of space. If the paper was half the size, the mood of the collage would probably be very different. This next example shows the real purpose of this activity. I've created this beach scene here with this craft paper, I have this torn blue colored paper here, and these people cut out, and it looks like they're on the beach. These people are also placed here along the rule of thirds. What I like about this piece is it really shows the vastness of the beach with this small element against a big wide open space. With this task, note how a different atmosphere can be created by having a large frame with smaller collaged elements. 47. Collage Idea 43: Culture Jam: Culture Jam. This activity will mix elements of popular culture. With it, you can make social or political statements, if you wish. Culture jamming is a form of subversive protest to media culture in its domination in mass society. Culture Jammers critique companies, products, and trends. Tactics include rhetoric, irony, or satire. They often use what is known as advertising. For this activity, you can go full political or simply mash and jam images that juxtapose against each other to create new transformative work. My first example here is a cultural mash up with no political overtones. We have this large sculpted head with a pink flower in the hair against blue circles, set against a coca cola package. In the foreground, we have a red vintage car ad and off to the right, a retro female figure in a red dress. I also added these bend dots pattern with a stencil in marker. This piece is unified through its color palette of white, red, and blue. The next one uses a background with a shot of Osaka City in Japan. In the foreground at the bottom, we have various characters in a matched up setting. At the top, this header was added to make it look like a comic book cover. This next example shifts gears and goes full political. The figure relates to the prisoner mistreatment scandal at Quantao Bay that occurred in 2002. This is contrasted against the backdrop with the Louis Vuitton pattern. Here's another one that deals with the same issue. The prisoner images set against a Bulgaria ad. These prisoner images are juxtaposed against high brand ads. If this is something you are interested in, do check out the work of artists Martha Rossler and Barbara Kruger. So I've gathered all the materials that I'm thinking of possibly using in this collage. And the first thing I'm going to do is just start off with the different various images and try cutting them out precisely. At this stage, I don't have an idea for the layout. I'm just cutting out the various elements that I'm planning on possibly using. And I know the only thing I knew that I wanted to do was to mount it on this Coca Cola packaging background. And I kind of just experimented a little bit, thinking of a main image as a focal point and using the other elements to support it. And I kind of like using the circular motifs in the work. And here, I'm just using a stencil to kind of create some visual weight towards the bottom. And just placing the circles in the background. It's a little bit tricky to glue these down. Should take care with it. Put that portrait in the foreground here was the main element. And that was pretty much it. Y. 48. Collage Idea 44: Narrative: T The various activities throughout this course, have demonstrated that through combining and montaging images together, new images or stories can be created. This activity goes full storytelling mode. Here we will recontextualize images to create new stories or narratives by combining various images or parts. It may prove useful to first gather various images you intend to use and then experiment with the layout of the composition. We'll use these various combined images to create a new story or narrative. Once your possible images are gathered, it's helpful to consider background, middle ground, and foreground. In this collage example here, an outer space or science fiction story has been created as I collected the images thematically. Before gluing, I do play around with the arrangement to see what could work best. I also consider the sizings to see if they can help at a sense of depth. In this collage, imaginary characters have been created by utilizing cartoon parts as done in activity 34 and elements of hybrid creatures, as done in activity 23. In this third example, it's a mixed approach between the previous two. It also plays with scale as done in activity 35 and has some surrealist and absurdist elements as done in activities 36 and 37 respectively. If you like this approach, do check out the collage work of Lou Beach. What kind of stories or narrative can you make with collage? I look forward to seeing your results. So I've gathered all the materials that I plan to use in this collage and have pre cut some of them already. And the first thing I'm doing here is just working out the background, middle ground and possible foreground here, seeing how things could possibly fit together. And with this building, I'm just cutting out some of the negative space. I'm testing it on this white paper because that's my original plan of how big to make it. But the sizing of the pieces that I have, I've decided to go a little bit smaller. And I'm just experimenting with the layout with some of the secondary pieces, and I'm just beginning to mount the background middle ground and foreground here. Marking off where to place the building and inserting some of the other elements into it. Just trying to have some fun with this collage and not necessarily worrying about it, making sense. And it's done. 49. Collage Idea 45: Designed Graphic: T We're going to switch gears for those that prefer more of a design approach. In this activity, you will simplify figures and reconsider how you use color, shape, and incorporate design principles into your work. First, find an image of a person or an object that you plan to use. Here I have three simple examples that only use one to two images each. The colored elements were done with acylc paint. This one here was done with colored paper and a small figure here in the bottom left corner, utilizing the small against big strategy from activity 42. It's a lot more graphic than realistic, but still communicates the same thing. Now, switching more to figures here. Colored paper shapes have been used to create the body. With this approach, think as a designer utilizing composition and minimalistic design elements. I have one more following the same style. When using a person, feel free to take it a step further by creating new stylized bodies with these design blocks of color. You do not need to follow correct proportions while it's doing this. Feel free to add further ornamentation, should you desire. Take these real life people or objects and modify them into new transformative compositions with the design elements of shape and color. 50. Collage Idea 46: All Over Repeater: This activity focuses on a specific image motif and repeats it across the entire frame. Looking through magazines, you may encounter advertisements that continually repeat. This could include ads for products and foods, et cetera. You may also have a series of comics or children's books that have certain characters repeated throughout. Collect these images and create a collage that has this repeated element and fill your entire frame with them. Just so you know, it's also possible to print multiple copies of your own personal photos for this activity. You can decide whether to print them at a repeated same size or vary the sizes. To do this activity, collect all your images. Precisely cut around the pictures, as in this example I have here, which I've collected from my son's book and it's quite large and it's not going to fit the frame very well, so I'll have to squeeze it in in editing. For this one, I started at the top and worked my way down to help show the depth. In the magazines that I collected, there were loads of ads for watches. Here in this example, I cut around each watch and filled the composition with some of them running off the frame. I usually start with the bigger ones to help fill the frame more quickly. This next one is a little bit more of a variation. It repeats birds, but they are all different types of birds. I precisely cut around the birds and then place them off to the side. I then created the background layer first by adding different images of trees. I then added the different birds, taking size and scale into account to show depth. This last one uses squares and rectangle cuts as an activity 14 stacks and the junk mail activity coming up next in Activity 47. I am repeating the bicycles throughout the composition, focusing on the wheels. Using repetition and filling the frame is a fast strategy to create a collage. 51. Collage Idea 47: Junk Mail: Collages can be created from any type of source material, and it is in fact the artist that creates the beauty in the work through design elements. Here, we will create a collage using materials from junk mail. You can also try and limit yourself by using materials from just one advertisement. You will have to carefully consider a use of balance with this. Do you prefer layered torn papers for added texture as here or clean cuts with squares and rectangles as here? When creating, ignore the text in the ad. Instead, treat them as shapes and blocks of color. P textural effects. Here, Day collage was utilized as done in activity 30 with an all over approach in an abstract manner. We mostly have warm colors with white. When doing something like this, we need to consider color balance in the work. As the collage builds, it will be a push and pull where you will adapt and modify the work as you progress. In this example, we have a stacked approach of cut squares and rectangles as explored in activity 14. The frame is entirely covered as in the first example with color balance also being considered. These are two very different approaches with different results, and as the designer, you will need to consider the placements of the various pieces. I'd suggest giving both options a try to see which you prefer. In the next activity, we'll do something different and move into portraiture. 52. Collage Idea 48: Portrait: This activity demonstrates a technique to access and utilize a portrait process without worrying about measurements. So here's an example of what we'll be creating. The first thing you will want to do is print a personal photo of a person or an animal that you would like to create into a collage. Printing the image at least 10 centimeters is recommended, but 15 to 20 centimeters would be better. You could also go A four, A three, or even A two. Sometimes going larger for this activity is actually easier. Once you print this image, glue it down onto your card, board, or wood. You will clodge directly onto this printed image. With this example here, I've done black and white, so I look through magazines and junk mail to find the colors or values that I needed for the printed portrait. It doesn't need to be super exact. We're doing this to create the different tones for the shadows and highlights on the face. You can decide whether to tear or cut your papers. Do this into varied small pieces and mount them down over the photo to create your collage. It is recommended to start collaging from the background and work your way forward. You see I've started with the white background and then move to the top outline of the hair. The mouth was a little challenging due to its size. I use tracing paper to capture the basic shape and then transferred it to my magazine page. As mentioned in Activity 13 S scapes, Torn papers can create a different effect than cutting with scissors. Here's the example with torn papers. It follow the same procedure as the first one, starting with the background and moving forward. You can also feel free to substitute certain colors to your liking. If this is something you like, look at the work of Dereck Gores for further inspiration. Take the time with yours. The result can be pleasing and you don't need to worry about accuracy since you are gluing on top of a photo. So for this collage, I've gathered all my papers, varied by tones from a light tone to a dark tone. And I've printed out my photo, which I've mounted on the painting board here. And starting off the background, I'm just using pages that are white just to fill in the space. And then I'm moving on to the shirt, which is kind of a dark black, and then going into the hair, and then the hair areas where I kind of clean up the edges, covering some of the white that was overlapping. And I'm moving on to the face, looking at the different tones and filling in possibly with a light medium and a dark tone for the skin. And with the mouth area here, you see, I've traced it, flipped the tracing paper over, transferred the shape onto the paper that I needed, and I've put that out and mounted it on. I've done that with the teeth and the lips. And then I'm doing the same with the eyebrows and the eyes. And I'm not doing any details with the eyes. I'm just looking for the black spots. Then I flipped it over here using my cutter and just trimming off some of the excess papers. And that was all to it. I think the whole thing took me around an hour and a half. 53. Collage Idea 49: Organic Shape: We are now going to start moving into abstract work, but we will do it slowly with a few exercises to build knowledge first. This activity will demonstrate that compositions can be created abstractly or through narrative approaches using only organic shapes. As the activity title suggests, we will create a collage using only cut organic shapes. This means cutting elements into curvy shapes instead of cutting out actual objects or using angled corners. You can approach this task abstractly, paying attention to color as practice in activity seven, one color, and activity eight color schemes. So let's start off simple. Here I found two colored magazine pages that matched well and just cut out these yellow curves to mount it on top. This one was inspired by the paper cut works of Henry Matis. I divided the frame into these different sections with different color combinations, shapes, and patterns. Alternatively, you can also approach this activity through picture narratives as we have here. We can still see what's occurring, but the scene has been simplified into these basic shapes instead of whole elements. This strategy also frees up some time and accelerates the collage making process as you don't have to worry about precisely cutting the different elements out. Just for clarity, we have this other example, but this one uses design elements a little more than the previous one. Through this activity, we can take a fully abstract or narrative approach through organic shape. You can also use your images symbolically as well as for decorative purposes. Go get cutting. So for this collage, I've gathered the papers that I plan to use, going for warmer colors, and I knew I was going to be doing something relating to the artist Henry Matis. And I've decided to break up my frame into different segments. Each of those segments are color coordinated or following a color scheme. And then I'm mounting these down just so they don't move out of place naturally. And I'm then going to start adding some other layers on top of that, trying to create some contrast as well as some harmony with the color and the unity here. Fairly straightforward and just using kind of, like globs or circular shapes to fill in the space. And I just put a layer of glam on top to act as a sealant and it's finished. 54. Collage Idea 50: Sharp Shape: This activity asks you to create abstract compositions through the use of sharp angular cut shapes. So we're going to create a cloge using only sharp angular cuts. This task contrasts the previous activity where you use soft organic shapes. You will need to pay attention to color and ways to organize your composition. Feel free to take inspiration from the artworks of renowned abstract painters if you're not feeling confident, developing your own arrangements. This first composition here is a little bit primary, though there's nothing wrong with that. You see it's simple with just squares and rectangle. It was done more as a trial in this blue and red section here. I use color paper and I wanted to try making it appear layered with translucency, meaning the pink section is not part of the red, it's a different piece of paper. The next one uses more warm colors, but gets anchored by the use of this heavy black. Ever since I've made this, I can't unsee a boat. In this one, colored papers and magazine pages have been used with the composition taking a vertical strategy with some of the shapes overlapping the others. And similarly, this one uses only bright colors with both vertical and horizontal elements with triangular shapes used more. For this task, just remember to create forms with angular cuts in your work. Use the elements of color to assist in organizing your composition. Keep up the good work. We are in the last stretch now. 55. Collage Idea 51: Art History "isms": This activity shows that historical art and design movements can be sources of inspiration for creating our own work. It is possible to take images from art history and rework them as I've done here in this collage. I have the bust of this black and white statue with some ornamental pieces as decoration. In Activity 36, we explored surrealism. Now let's have a look at design history, starting with the work of the modernists. This movement began in the early 20th century, where designers broke away from the previous styles and relied on structured grid systems and negative space. They created strong graphics with clear type. Some designers to review are Sal Bass and Massimo Vignelli. In this example here, I've been inspired by the work of Sal Bass, who did a lot of modernist movie posters and particularly with the striped red pieces that I have here. Constructivism was an art movement that originated in Russia in the early 20th century that used sparse geometric forms. Look at the work of El Lsitski and Alexander Rochenko. This collage example here takes inspiration from this movement. Do online image searches of these two art and design movements to get inspiration for creating your own work. Some other movements to consider are abstract expressionism, which inspired this piece here. And you can also check out cubism, suprematism, and minimalism. There's a lot of contemporary designers that you could also take inspiration from. In this example that I have here was inspired by the work of April Graman, and I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing her last name correctly. And in this one here, inspired by the graphic design work of David Carson. Here with this one, I was inspired by the graffiti work of street artist Shepherd Ferry. And I have these collage elements here, and this white flower drawing and this skull drawing were just done on tracing paper, Marker and Posca pen. So go ahead and check out your art and design history books for sources of inspiration. So for this collage, I'm just gathering some of the materials that I plan to use. I know I wanted to use some bright bold high contrast letters, and for the background areas, I'm kind of using more neutral colors. I knew I kind of wanted to make it on an angle, just so it looks a little bit more dynamic. Starting with the slight areas in the background, building up in some layers or some stacks. Thinking about how the pieces relate with each other and how the color balance the overall unity as a whole is starting to shape out. I don't have a plan. As you can see, I'm experimenting with where some of the pieces could go before I'm gluing it down. And for this type of collage, that's usually the type of approach I make. I don't really plan it out beforehand. And I put a layer of gel medium on top to act as a sealant, and it's finished. 56. Collage Idea 52: Abstract Structure: This activity forces you to utilize balance within your collage composition with no overlapping parts, considering your use of shape, space, and color. This abstract structure activity is for those that like a little bit of order in their lives. Using basic shapes, create a collage with no overlapping parts. Arrange the pieces within your frame, considering your use of balance in the layout. In this first simplified example I have here, Oregai paper was used with thought placed on a unified color scheme. This next one does the same thing, but it's a little bit bigger, and you can see the pattern paper origami paper that I've used. I did put a lot of thought and effort into trying to match them through the color, as well as with the background mounting cartridge paper that I've used as well. So go ahead and try out using basic shapes in a balanced way to create structure in your work. So for this one, I've gathered all the Origami paper that I plan on using full of patterns and colors that match into a color scheme, which also connects to the color of my mounting board. So I've just kind of created a border lightly in pencil, and I'm cutting out these basic shapes. Starting with the corner area, just so it's easier for me to see the border, and I feel it helps me create kind of more balancing within my work. I usually tend to start off with somewhat larger pieces and then use the smaller pieces to fill in any of the empty blank areas. Here, with the black and the white also helps kind of create an additional element into the collage and adding more visual weight to the piece. And once I've added all the pieces, I just erase my pencil lines and finish. 57. Collage Idea 53: Abstract: This activity involves creating an abstract collage with emphasis on developing your use of space in a compositional strategy. Some people find abstract art challenging. Review the practice activities six to eight that involved color. Naturally, including this element of art in your abstract work will help. In activity 13 C scapes, we also looked at the effects of cut paper versus torn. Texture thus could be another element to include. More importantly, consider a composition strategy. Some strategies are simple, such as horizontal, vertical, and diagonal as outlined at the beginning of this course. Other strategies could include grid, rule of thirds, symmetry, asymmetry, and radial, et cetera. You can also use a central element or focal point with other pieces supporting it. Some of the other previous tasks such as pattern fillers, cardboard texture, stacks, number, typography, de collage, junk mail, organic shape, sharp shape, and abstract structure, all possibly ventured into the abstract realm. Utilize various scraps and types of papers. The key is to experiment. Before gluing parts down, experiment by moving them around to see how parts interact, contrast, or support each other. This first example here was inspired by the artwork of Mark Rothko. In this collage, emphasis has been placed on color and space with an asymmetrical balance. These age papers give a good textural element along with the matching color scheme. This example uses torn papers for artistic effect and a horizontal compositional approach through the various colored strips. Obviously, it could be a vertical approach if we rotate the orientation. This one here does the same, though it differs by the size or thickness of the strips, which also has a more muted or natural color scheme. This one uses a vertical strategy with torn papers again, as well as a hidden or covered image of a face. Consider your use of elements such as color, shape, and texture, along with a compositional strategy to assist you when starting out. With practice and experimentation, your abstract collage work will become more sophisticated. 58. Collage Idea 54: Abstract Packaging: In this activity, you will reconsider your source material and compositional strategies to create an abstract collage relying on color, shape, and texture of packaging materials. Building off the cardboard texture collage presented in Activity ten, this activity asks you to reconsider other possible materials for collage. For this idea, gather various packing materials such as product packaging, wrappings, delivery boxes, and envelopes, et cetera. Examine their qualities and consider how to create an abstract collage. Depending on your source material, you may have to work larger or smaller. Consider your composition strategy and the use of color, texture or any lettering that may be evident as starting points. In this example, I use plastic wrap from a Japanese crackers, chips or crisps packing material, depending on where you're from, it might be called differently. Because of this wrapper material, it takes longer for the glue to adhere. If you're trying this, you may get areas that pop up after gluing them down. Just apply more glue and hold it down for a little bit longer. You could also try sanding it down with some sandpaper to see if it adds more grip for the glue, but I'm yet to try that. I found gel medium tended to hold a lot better. In this work, a stacks technique was used to build the composition. The same thing here was done with this next one, but with a horizontal composition strategy. I like this next one because it highlights the materials so much. It's a fairly simple composition in a vertical format, but I really like the texture of the cardboard, the repetitive white lettering here, and the red arrow. This next one, use the packing folds on the product boxes to produce a geometric abstract design. Gather some packaging materials and have a try at creating an abstract collage based on those materials. 59. Collage Idea 55: Graffiti: Inspired by graffiti, this activity utilizes layers of texture, images, and mark making, asking you to carefully consider compositional balance within your work. For this task, gather various images to use. These could include images of people, advertisements, fonts, numbers, pieces of color, et cetera. Using some of the previous strategies such as de collage, or eliminating parts such as faces or eyes, et cetera. Build up your collage in overlapping layers. This may involve a push and pull strategy where you will add elements and then tear or remove ones to create balance and effects in your work. It's completely fine to add hand drawn elements to with a curl paint pens like Posca or a permanent marker. I like this example here. Simply because of the two heads that come into alignment here, it reminds me of activity 27 persona. I sometimes start off just making some scribble marks with markers on my paper first. Psychologically, it feels better working over a mess than a clean white area. I then look through my scraps and build up some layers in the background. I don't really do any planning for this technique, but just let the collage evolve to what's being added. Often add some marks throughout the process as well. These marks can be simple doodles, but you are welcome to add graffiti tags or drawings if you wish. Here's another example that follows the same procedure. Another thing to keep in mind is that as the colage builds up, don't forget to experiment by rotating elements and letting some of them run off the frame. In this third example here, same thing done as the previous two examples, but I like how these hands work a little bit in alignment. In this next example, you see it's much more abstract with less visual cues. Bakage is very useful for this prompt. I often rip pieces away and then reattach them in different places. You may decide to use a certain image as a starting or focal point. Utilize design elements to assist in placing items within your frame. Scrap pieces with blocks of color or text, can also assist in filling the frame and building your composition. Go ahead and add some drawings, doodles, marks, or scribbles into your works as well. Imagine adds pat it to a city wall that I've been removed and added to over the years. Go get graffiti in. Graffiti, graffiti in. And for this activity, I'm just dirting up my paper first, going through my scrap box here, pulling out anything that I find interesting to fill in the background. This could be the shape of the scrap cuts or the scrap pieces that I have, as well as the possible colors. And I'm just layering in the background just to build up some layers. Adding certain elements, see how they fit in relation to the other pieces. Kind of always thinking about, like balance and unity within the work. Feel free to also use des collage and add additional mark making to your work. And here, I kind of like this piece, as I mentioned before, as the foreheads of the man and the woman come into somewhat of a strange alignment. And then, using my posca pens and markers, I just add some doodle marks to it as well. 60. Collage Idea 56: Extravagant: This activity will allow you to implement the various strategies and techniques previously covered to create your own fully developed and elaborated collage. Hence the title Extravagant. Here we up our game. We are nearing towards the end. It's time to expand, elaborate, and create a fully developed collage independently. Looking through your collection of images, select something that could act as a focal point in your collage. Gather secondary images that you find interesting as well. These images could play off of a theme color or be completely nonsensical. Is there something you wish to communicate? Is there a main item or element you want viewers to see or something that you want to stand out? For this activity, I tend to usually work a lot larger, and I don't think these works will fit well within the frame, I'll properly add them in post production, but I do want you to see them to get an idea of sense of scale. First cut out all your collected images that you plan to use. Have a play experimenting with your layout, trying various arrangements before gluing them down. It's useful to photograph these various arrangements to compare them with each other, as well as having the final plan for reference. When ready, start gluing your images down. It has suggested you start from the background and work your way forward. You see this next one is larger, and I like using the circular shapes with colored paper in mine. I feel they add a graphic element to the work. For these examples that I'm going to show you, you'll notice that they all start off with me gathering an image of a person and then using secondary elements to play off of them. These secondary elements, as I mentioned before, don't necessarily have to make sense. You can see this evident in the third example here, where a lot of the images appear to be completely random, for example, the hammerhead shark or this old war plane. But the colors of pink and blue work well together. I like this big hand here at the bottom that looks a bit like legs. When arranging these pieces, I will often mark out in pencil on the paper to assist where their position is to help me when I glue things down. These marks are then covered once the element is glued. So go gather some elements you find interesting to include. I call the activity extravagant as I couldn't think of another name, but the clog is clean, and I don't use any torn papers in mine. However, you're welcome to in yours, if you wish. Good luck. 61. Collage Idea 57: Creature Feature: In this activity, we'll be reminded that facial elements can be created through the act of tearing, layering, and disregarding proportions. This activity was inspired by the work of street artists mysterious Al. So gather a collection of colored magazine pages or colored papers. And in this first example here, I've torn shapes to create a face or a mask, and I usually start with the large head area, the ears, the eyes, the nose, or so and mouth. Ignore correct facial proportions and layer them up to create the face or mask. Naturally, the face does not have to be human and could take inspiration from animals or insects as well. I like the exposed white areas of the torn papers, and I added these yellow stickers here that I bought at the Dollar store at the end just as an afterthought. Here's another example with torn magazine pages. With this next one, I thought I'd try colored paper and scissors instead of tearing. You can see it creates a different effect than the other two examples. Personally, I prefer the torn paper approach. Have some fun with this one and experiment with tearing versus cutting papers. So I've gathered all the papers that I plan to use, and I'm going to go with this orange one for the basic shape of the head. Thinking of what colors could also possibly match. I'm tearing out the ears here and I'm going to mount that down. I have the ears up obviously tucked behind. Looking at some of the other color combinations. I'm going with these large kind of gold eyes in this large pink nose or snout. And then once you add in the, a black ris or something for the eyes, it really brings out some contrast to the work. Next, moving on to the mouth area, and I've gone all kind of with rip papers just because I like that texture. I'm thinking it needs something else to fill in the space, so I'm adding these kind of whiskers. And the little white ris for the eye area is just those like page reinforcements for your binders. The other dots are just the circle stickers that I've mentioned before in the video. 62. Collage Idea 58: Tribal Notans: With tribal Notans, we'll create stylized facial elements through design in the use of positive and negative space. Notan is a Japanese design concept involving light and dark. For this activity, we will create a contrasted tribal portrait design using a square or rectangular piece of paper as in this example here. This one was made a few years ago, and I do remember using PVA glue, which you can see is now beginning to show here in this area. First, get a square or rectangular piece of paper. You can use colored paper or magazine pages. Begin by drawing a stylized space on it, starting with the eyes. You need to adhere that all the facial features must start from the edges of the paper. You will only be drawing half of the eyes. These will then be cut and mired or flipped over to the outside of the central paper, exposing the negative space and then glued down. Therefore, you will need a larger secondary paper to mount your work on. Two different colored papers may prove beneficial allowing contrast with the cut areas. Here's another example, and I use the nose here flipped over to create like arms. And with this next one, I thought I'd give using a round piece a try instead, and I've used an additional colored paper here. The harder thing with using a round piece is that you see in this eye area, we have this gap due to the angle of the circle. So one thing to be aware of is the color of the other paper that you decide to use or the mounting card. For example, you see in this one, I have a white background. I have this red paper that I drew the design on, but on the other side of the red paper is white, so it doesn't contrast very well with the background. And just one more final example here, it's a little bit more geometric than compared to the others, and I've just played with a square eye and then a round eye. So this activity is a little bit different, but it's a pretty fun craft activity to think how to further push the use of positive and negative space. So as I've mentioned previously in the video, I usually always start off with the eye area, and I'm just going along the edge here, creating this big nose because I know I wanted to flip over to add another dimension into it. And then with these horns and kind of some of the other elements in the work, just trying to think of the balance between the positive and the negative space, and just cutting them out here. Had to move on to a larger piece of paper because of that large nose. And as I mentioned, possibly not a very good choice using the white paper because my original paper is red, and when I flip that over, the reverse side is also kind of like a creamy white. And I don't think there's enough contrast showing between them. 63. Collage Idea 59: Doodle: This activity transforms and recontextualizes an image through different doodles with hand drawn media. For this doodle activity, you will add some hand drawn elements into your work. This activity was inspired by magazine Doodle bombs, where artists draw or doodle over existing magazine covers. Try doing an image search on it for inspiration. You can use a single image or create a collage using various images as well. For this to work, you will need permanent markers, which are oil based, such as Sharpies. If you try with water based markers, the ink will simply wipe off the glossy magazine pages. Posca paint pens are another excellent option. These are very good as colors are able to cover other colors, and they come in different sizes as well. Some drawing skills may be required for this, but it's also possible to just work on the photo, coloring in sections with solid blocks of color or patterns. It's a doodle. So as long as you have the confidence, almost anything is possible. Start with what you are comfortable with. In this first example here, I've only collaged this image of a man, this sm little pony here, and this little poke up pattern at the bottom. This has been colored in with colored pencils, and the rest was done with Posca paint pens. If drawing makes you a little bit nervous, this is what I mean by simply coloring in blocks of color and perhaps layering it with different patterns. Only a singular image was used of the person, and then the Posca paint pens, filling in the clothing with this pattern, making the hair more circular, and then adding some other flourishes and decorative elements. In this next one here. It's a little bit hard to tell, but you see there's this image is collaged. This one here as well. This one, the background layer is collaged, and this is collaged as well. Just the drawings here were added as well as adding the different patterns within the work, and they were all done with Posca paint pens. In this next one here, it's a little bit different. The only thing that's collaged is this one head. And the neck here, it was cut around this edge here and around this edge here. Then with the poscapens, drawn to make it look like the neck is cut and being torn apart. In the next one here, I just collaged some people removing their heads. I then used black poscapen for these areas here and added some white highlight lines. The red circles are stickers from the dollar store, and you can display this this way. Or this way. I haven't decided which one I prefer yet. In this last example here, you could also go very simple. It's just this coag image of a woman, and then we have splatters of ink here, and then some smears or drags of ink. These last few activities slightly moved away from traditional collage, asking you to pursue craftsmanship more and possibly expand your views of what a collage can be. Next up is our last practice task. See you there. 64. Collage Idea 60: Scraps: This scraps activity acts as a conclusion and tests your creativity with you creating a collage, utilizing all your leftover scrap pieces from your previous collage works. So I have my box of scraps here. This activity can go in any direction depending on what type of scrap pieces you have remaining. Utilize a series of scrap images or go completely non representational or abstract. Consider and implement your use of color, typography, number, orientation, de collage, et cetera. Be reminded of the compositional strategies available in the previous techniques explored throughout this course. Good luck. 65. Conclusion: Congratulations on completing the course. Thank you for sticking with me to the very end. In this course, we went over 60 collage prompts and strategies to expand your ideas, knowledge, and skills. A prompts went over some compositional strategies, cutting techniques, and themes such as surrealism, persona, art history, and others. All of these activities were taken from my book, collage as, prompts and strategies to build your skills, which is available on Amazon. There's one thing I want you to all take away from this class, it's to experiment. Try out new things. Not everything has to be amazing, but it will all be a learning opportunity to grow and improve. Don't forget to post your projects to the project gallery. You can do this by uploading your best collage or a series of collage works you're proud of in portfolio format. Thanks again for joining me on this journey, and I look forward to seeing your work. Keep cutting and gluing.