Another Collage

My latest creation is done and not too bad for a beginner. Here is the piece I worked on this week and it is finally finished and hanging in our master bathroom. I tried to somewhat copy the collage that my friend the "First Grade Teacher" made with the word "RELAX" on it but I had a terrible time trying to find large letters to add. So I am still looking for them for future projects. These collages have been so much fun to make. I have been using the pre-stretched canvas frames that you can get at any craft supply store and painting them with a background color that I know I want to be a part of the finished collage. For example, in the piece above, I simply used leftover wall paint that I had from when we painted that bathroom a few months ago. In my laundry room, I used some of the acrylic paints that I used in that collage. For the piece I worked on at "A Fine Mess" in Ottawa, I colored the background black. It is totally up to you.

I then looked for decorative papers in the scrap booking section of the store in patterns and colors that I liked and then cut them into different sized squares, rectangles and a few triangles. I even tore some of them to get a jagged edge. I layed the pieces out on the canvas after the base coat paint dried and played with the pieces till I liked the way it looked. I then used "Mod Podge" and started to decoupage each piece onto the canvas. After all the pieces are decoupaged on and have dried, I looked at the colors in the papers and decided on which paint colors I would start to layer on some color. A stencil brush worked best for this. And I learned to "dry brush" the paint by dabbing it on a paper towel till almost no paint seems like it is left on the brush and that is when you start to dab the paint colors onto the collage around the edges of all the paper pieces you added. The paint softens the edges and it all starts to blend together. The key word is "layers".

You cannot do this wrong. You just keep adding layers...if you add a color you decide you do not like, simply add another layer of a different color over top. Just keep adding as little or as much as you want. But make sure each layer is dry before you add another one or they will blend into a mixed color that you might not like as well and the colors will be less distinct. I like the look of some of the paper peeking out of a heavy area of smeared paint. I might try smearing some plaster on a piece in the future. It can have a wild look or a cleaner look by using more or less paint and layers. Play with it and have fun. The last thing I added in the collage above were the swirls and some dots. These are a little "thicker" than I had wanted but I like them now. I'll have to get a thinner brush for the next time. The dots are so easy....just dip the top end of the brush handle in the paint and bring it down on the canvas. Come down straight and not on an angle and you will have a perfect "dot". I finished it all off with a coat of matte sealer. It is very "matte" and next time I might try one with more of a "gloss" to it. I am very happy with the end result and plan to make more. Oh my poor family and friends.